The Spirit failed to defend their 2021 championship during the 2022 season, and also failed to qualify for the NWSL Playoffs, finishing in 11th place of 12 teams.[1] The team fired championship-winning Kris Ward after a 1–6–9 start and allegations of misconduct toward players, leaving Albertin Montoya to finish the season as interim head coach. Ward was later banned indefinitely by the NWSL following a league investigation into the allegations.[2] The team also hired Mark Krikorian, formerly head coach of the Florida State Seminoles women's soccer team, as its new general manager in June 2022.[3]
The Spirit hired former manager Mark Parsons as the team's new head coach in November 2022
Hirings
In November 2022, the Spirit announced several technical and front-office hirings, including:
On February 7, 2023, the Spirit signed Olympique Lyon midfielder Inès Jaurena,[7] who had ended her contract with Lyon by mutual consent on January 29.[8]
On March 3, 2023, the Spirit signed midfielder Chloe Ricketts, who at 15 years and 283 days old had signed her NWSL contract at an age three days' younger than Olivia Moultrie in June 2021, setting a new NWSL record for youngest signing.[9] The record was broken again 18 days later, when San Diego Wave FC signed Melanie Barcenas at 15 years and 138 days old. Rickett was signed using the league's new under-18 entry mechanism added by the collective bargaining agreement signed near the start of the NWSL preseason.[10]
Change in colors
The Spirit abandoned its red, white, and blue color scheme for monochromatic white and black kits with a metallic chrome crest. The team debuted the kits and crest to premium season ticket holders, supporters' group members, and sponsors at the Penn Social event space on March 1, 2023.[11] Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang said the changes represent a clean-slate transition toward a planned club rebranding.[12]
Summary
March/April
The Spirit went undefeated in its first five league matches and did not trail an opponent during that span,[13] but lost its 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup opener to NJ/NY Gotham FC 1–0 on April 19.[14] The unbeaten stretch included the professional debut of Ricketts on April 15 against North Carolina Courage.[15]
On April 7, the Spirit announced the hiring of Mami Yamaguchi, a former Japan national team player and former player and assistant coach to Mark Krikorian at Florida State, as an assistant coach. She had most recently served as an assistant coach and player-coach at Detroit City FC and AFC Ann Arbor.[16][17]
May
The Spirit continued winning through the start of May, with wins of 3–1 against San Diego Wave FC on May 6, 4–2 against Orlando Pride in the second match of Challenge Cup group play, and 1–0 against Angel City FC on May 13 to move to the top of the NWSL table. The team's time atop the standings ended with its next match on May 20, its first league loss of the season, falling 2–1 at Orlando Pride.[18] The Spirit finished May tied for second with 16 points with OL Reign, San Diego Wave FC, and Portland Thorns FC after a 1–1 draw against leaders NJ/NY Gotham FC on May 28, equalizing on a Paige Metayer goal in the 69th minute.[19]
Kang bids for OL Féminin
On May 13, Olympique Lyon won the Coupe de France féminine 2–1 over Paris Saint-Germain, its 10th victory in the competition, on a brace by Ada Hegerberg.[20] The match was attended by Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang, who also raised the trophy with Lyon.[21] On May 16, Olympique Lyon holding company OL Groupe and Kang announced the formation of a separate entity that would be composed of the Spirit and Olympique Lyon Féminin. OL Groupe would retain a 48% stake in the resulting new entity, and Kang would become the club's majority owner and CEO, pending regulatory approval.[22][23][24][25]
On June 10, the Spirit ended a three-match winless streak by defeating Angel City FC 2–1 at home on goals by Ashley Hatch and Ashley Sanchez, while the defense limited Angel City to one shot on goal in the second half. Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury suffered a head injury in the 90th minute and was substituted out for backup Nicole Barnhart.[27]
On June 14, the Spirit lost to North Carolina Courage 2–1 at home in a Challenge Cup match, conceding the losing goal in second-half stoppage time. The team played without starters Hatch, Rodman, Sanchez, and Andi Sullivan, while Kingsbury remained out while recovering from the head injury sustained against Angel City.[28] Barnhart was team captain for the match, making her 151st appearance across competitions and passing Ashley Harris for second-most appearances by a goalkeeper in league history. Her start alongside 16-year-old Chloe Ricketts resulted in the largest age gap between starting players in a league match, at 25 years, 7 months, and 13 days. Riley Tanner also made her first career start for the Spirit in the match.[29]
On June 18, the Spirit rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Kansas City Current 3–2 on the road. The first concession was by Michelle Cooper 22 seconds into the match, setting a new league record for the fastest goal scored in a match, followed by a second goal conceded in the 23rd minute by Debinha on a penalty kick called for a Spirit handball foul in the penalty area. The Spirit's rally began with a Sanchez goal in the 37th minute, a Metayer equalizer in the 82nd minute, and an 88th-minute match winner by Tara McKeown, a defender who played as a forward until the start of the 2023 season.[30]
The Spirit then lost 4–2 on the road to Portland Thorns FC on June 23, conceding a hat-trick to Sophia Smith. The Spirit equalized twice, through Hatch in the 13th minute and Sanchez in the 46th minute.[31]
On June 30, the Spirit signed French forward Ouleymata Sarr, whose contract with Paris FC had expired, to a three-year contract.[32]
On June 28, the Spririt signed Mariana Speckmaier and Jordan Thompson to cap-exempt short-term national team replacement player contracts allowed by league rules.[34]
In the Spirit's first regular-season match without its World Cup callups on July 1, the team lost 3–0 at home against Orlando Pride. Nicole Barnhart started in goal for Kingsbury,[33] Hatch took on captaincy of the team, Amber Brooks moved into the midfield, and Nicole Douglas and Lena Silano took on starting roles.[35]
On July 6, the Spirit signed French defender Annaïg Butel, formerly of Paris FC, to a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.[36] The Spirit's last match before the World Cup came on July 8th in San Diego against the Wave, who also had several players called up to national teams for the World Cup. They would score first on a Hatch penalty kick which was awarded after a VAR review, and in the second half they found themselves 2-1 up after Cheyenne Shorts scored at both ends of the pitch. That lead would last until second-half stoppage time when Taylor Flint headed in an equalizer, ensuring the points would be shared. [37]
With the regular season paused until late August, the Spirit still had their last three Challenge Cup group stage games left to play, the first of which was against familiar rivals North Carolina Courage. They conceded six goals in a 22-minute span in the second half, all but knocking them out of contention for the semfinals of the midseason tournament. The following week against NJ/NY Gotham, they would fall behind 2-0 inside 10 minutes, but following a weather delay, they came back to win 4-2, with Hatch scoring a brace and Ricketts and defender Camryn Biegalski scoring their first professional goals.[38] They'd end their Challenge Cup campaign in winning fashion against the Pride a week later on a goal from distance by national team replacement player (NTRP) Mariana Speckmaier, who was in her second stint with the Spirit. [39] Barnhart made seven saves in the match, earning her 56th career clean sheet in the process. [40]
August/September
Regular season play resumed on August 19th on the road for the Spirit against Houston Dash, which marked the 100th appearance for Hatch and Kingsbury with the Spirit, joining Tori Huster as the only members of the Spirit to reach that milestone. [41] After a scoreless first half, Ouleymata Sarr made her Spirit debut and had an impact just moments later, assisting on Ashley Sanchez's 63rd-minute opening goal after the latter made her return from World Cup duty. [42] However, for the second regular season game in a row, the Spirit would concede a stoppage time equalizer, this time to Maria Sánchez, sending both teams home with a point. [43] The Spirit would be the ones to get a stoppage time equalizer the following week as Hatch's penalty in second-half stoppage time cancelled out Morgan Weaver's opener for the Portland Thorns. [44] However, the Spirit would lose their next two games by an 0-2 scoreline, at home to Chicago and away at NJ/NY Gotham, and after being firmly in playoff position for the first three quarters of the season, that began to slip.
On September 30, the Spirit faced Kansas City Current, the last team they won against in regular-season play. Debinha gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot in the first half, before Sarr scored her first goal for the Spirit in the 52nd minute. [45] After several chances in the last few minutes of the game, Trinity Rodman got on the end of a long ball from Gabrielle Carle and slotted home the eventual game winner in the first minute of second half stoppage time, sending the crowd of over 11,000 home ecstatic. [46] This was the Spirit's first league win since June 18th, against the same opponents and was much-needed in the context of the playoff race.
October
The win over Kansas City set up a "win and in" scenario for the Spirit ahead of their game in Seattle against OL Reign, which was to be the final regular season home game for Reign and U.S. women's national team star Megan Rapinoe. Despite playing in front of what was at the time a record-setting crowd of over 34,000, both teams struggled to break through, but it was the Spirit who had several chances to win in the end. Dorian Bailey and Rodman both saw chances saved by Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey, the latter coming deep into second-half stoppage time, and the points would ultimately be shared. [47] However, Tara McKeown would be booked in the waning moments of the match, earning her 5th yellow card of the season and thus a 1-match ban for card accumulation. The Spirit bench was issued a yellow card in the 44th minute, which was attributed to head coach Mark Parsons, giving him a 1-match ban for his third booking of the season. Both would miss the season finale as a result.
For the first time ever, all NWSL teams would play their final matches simultaneously on "Decision Day," as is customary in other leagues around the world, and the Spirit would face North Carolina Courage at home in the crucial match on October 15th. With Parsons suspended, assistant coach Mike Bristol served as acting head coach. The Courage would maintain possession early in the match, but things turned even more in their favor in the 20th minute when Rodman was shown a yellow card by the referee for a reckless challenge on Courage captain Denise O'Sullivan. The video assistant referee recommended an on-field review to upgrade the card to red for serious foul play, and Rodman was given her marching orders after the referee cancelled the yellow and showed red. Two minutes later, Tyler Lussi gave the Courage the lead, and despite suspicions of offside, the goal stood. For the rest of the match, the Spirit would struggle to create chances down a player, and would ultimately lose 1-0, which combined with other results dropped them out of playoff contention and ended their season.
Under newly appointed head coach Mark Parsons, the Spirit deployed a 4–4–2 diamond formation and a fast-paced, direct style of play that relied in the first half of the season on shorter passing sequences than any other team in the NWSL.[50]
Stadium and facilities
The Spirit continued to play in Audi Field, their full-time home since the team's 2022 season. The Spirit moved its training to a temporary facility shared with Major League Soccer franchise D.C. United at Segra Field.[51] As of 26 March 2023[update], Spirit ownership continued searching for available land for plans toward a permanent, stand-alone Spirit training facility.[52]
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