Not long after the disastrous final moments of Sunday’s meeting with Boston Legacy FC, in which a narrow 1-0 deficit ballooned to a 3-0 loss in a matter of minutes, Washington Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt reflected on her team’s apparent inability to put the ball in the back of the net.
“I feel like a lot of our goals are from individual brilliance, because we have individually brilliant players,” Hershfelt said. “But I feel like it’s getting to that point in the season where teams are figuring that out. We need to mix it up and work with each other in attacking moments.”
The Spirit entered Sunday’s game with plenty to feel good about. After a tough August stretch saw Washington go four games without a win, coach Adrián González’s team seemed to be getting back on track with back-to-back victories. It entered the weekend sitting in second place in the National Women’s Soccer League table, only two points behind Gotham FC in the race for the NWSL Shield. Boston came to D.C. in 14th place with the league’s third-worst defense, a perfect visitor for a team looking to maintain momentum.
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Instead, the Spirit’s recent attacking troubles were on display again as it struggled to create any clear-cut scoring opportunities in front of an eager home crowd at Audi Field. With the loss, Washington (13-7-4) fell five points behind Gotham and back into the thick of a tight playoff seeding race.
The Spirit’s only real chances came late in Sunday’s match, after Aïssata Traoré gave Boston a lead in the 81st minute. Not only did the Spirit fail to find an equalizer, it gave up a stoppage-time brace to Amanda Gutierres to seal the team’s worst home defeat since April 2025.
“We need to be better, of course, especially attacking-wise, connecting and trying to create chances,” González said. “Tough one, but as always, good learning. And I do prefer this now than obviously [at the] end of the season or in a potential playoff. We need to learn, we need to be humble and we need to accept it.”
The Spirit struggled to maintain possession while attempting to play through Boston’s press, and when it was able to get forward and find players in dangerous positions, they couldn’t execute the final ball. Washington produced just three shots on target, all of which were straight at experienced Boston goalkeeper Casey Murphy, and was shut out for third time in its last five games at Audi Field.
“They were very patient in a high block, and we probably didn’t shift them left to right as much as we could have done to then open them up,” defender Esme Morgan said. “The moments where we did and we were able to find players in the pocket or Hal through the six, we were then able to progress a bit better, but then didn’t really capitalize on those moments.”
Washington’s 33 goals in 24 league games is only the ninth-most of 16 NWSL teams, and its attacking output has slowed, with just 11 goals in its last 11 matches. The Spirit has been heavily reliant on Trinity Rodman to score and create goals this year and has struggled recently with other key attacking options out injured and a few newcomers forced into bigger roles.
Rodman is already up to 10 league goals and six assists, accounting for nearly half of the attacking production for a team that’s boasted a broader distribution of scoring in recent years — no individual player has notched more than 10 NWSL goals in a season for the Spirit since Crystal Dunn scored 15 times in 2015.
Forward Sofia Cantore and midfielder Leicy Santos have both netted five NWSL goals this year while midfielder Rebeca Bernal, who joined Manchester United on a transfer earlier this month, and forward Claudia Martínez, who returned on Sunday after missing two games with a lower leg injury, have scored three times. Defender Tara Rudd is the only other Spirit player to score multiple NWSL goals this year.
Despite the team’s scoring woes, González has still seen Washington get into dangerous positions in recent weeks and believes the team knows how to play to its strengths.
“Right now we are not in a momentum where you need to change the way that you create chances or you need to start implementing new things,” González said “Of course, we are always open, but I think it’s a matter of knowing what we have and just exploring that.”
While the Spirit got into positive areas at times on Sunday, specifically early in the match when winning the ball high up the pitch, finding the back of the net has proven to be a challenge, especially while bringing new players into the fold and managing the return of others, like Martínez and Ashley Hatch, an experienced attacking option.
Monique Ngock and Mélissa Bethi, who joined the Spirit this summer from French league sides Fleury Merogis U.S. and Nantes, respectively, earned their second starts for their new club in midfield and have shown individual moments of quality — especially Bethi, who scored the 80th-minute winner against Portland and won a penalty kick in the 70th minute against Boston that was overturned after video review — but the duo still need time to develop chemistry with their new teammates.
“They’re great players, and they give us a lot in the midfield and in an attack, but sometimes maybe they’re not on the same page as the people who have been here for years,” Rudd said of Ngock and Bethi. “Those relationships come in training and playing together and knowing each other on the field and what your tendencies are.”
Washington also recently signed 21-year-old Tanzanian striker Clara Luvanga from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a four-year contract, a move that could bolster its front line.
The Spirit doesn’t have an endless amount of time to form new connections as it approaches the business end of the season, but Washington remains in a strong position in the league table with six regular season games remaining. The Spirit will have a great opportunity to bounce back on Sunday when the team travels to take on the last-place Chicago Stars, who have conceded a league-high 54 goals in 24 games this season.