Preview: Spirit to defend its top spot in Group D of Summer Cup against NJ/NY Gotham FC
Chester, Pa. (07/26/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday evening in the second match of the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage for both sides. The match begins at 6:00 p.m. EDT at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania and will be broadcast on Paramount+ and CBS Sports […]
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Chester, Pa. (07/26/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday evening in the second match of the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup group stage for both sides. The match begins at 6:00 p.m. EDT at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania and will be broadcast on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
The Spirit
In its most recent match, the Spirit displayed a new-look lineup for the inaugural match in the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup. Playing Chivas Femenil, the Spirit Starting XI consisted of only two players who have started all regular season matches this season — goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and defender Tara McKeown. The Starting XI even included two national team replacement (NTR) players, Olivia Stone and Jenna Butler who quickly integrated into the Spirit lineup. Stone and Butler are among a cohort of NTRs filling in after the departure of several Spirit players participating in the 2024 Olympic Games.
The Spirit earned three points and sit atop Group D following a 2-1 victory over Chivas Femenil. Paige Metayer and Lena Silano accounted for the two Spirit goals. Metayer’s goal came in the 13th minute, when she headed in a ball off a corner service from Ashley Hatch. All four of Metayer’s career goals (all competitions) have come off headers from corners. Silano netted a perfectly placed cross from Brittany Ratcliffe for her second goal across all competitions this season.
Looking ahead to Sunday, the Spirit will enter the match having swept the regular season series against Gotham FC. Both matchups yielded 2-0, clean sheet victories for the Spirit against its northeast rival. Despite the scoreline, both matches were extremely hard fought and physical contests — look for that to hold true this weekend. These victories represent half of the Spirit’s season total for clean sheets (4). Finally, all four goals against Gotham FC have come from different goal scorers, half of whom — Courtney Brown and Hatch — remain with the Spirit during this Summer window.
Earlier this week, the Spirit signed additional NTRs who will supplement the roster on a short-term basis. Players to watch for this weekend include Ouleye Sarr who, in only 28 minutes of action last week, registered a team-high four shots and three shots on target. Hatch, despite not scoring, facilitated well, logging a game-high seven final third entries.
Following this match, the Spirit will head to Richmond, Virginia to play the Chicago Red Stars on Wednesday, July 31. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. EDT at City Stadium. Tickets can be found here.
In its next regular season match, the Spirit will play the currently second-ranked Kansas City Current on Sunday, August 25 at 12 p.m. EDT. This match will be the first match of a historic doubleheader at Audi Field. At 4 p.m. EDT that same day, English rivals Chelsea and Arsenal will face off in the sides’ first-ever matchup in the United States. One ticket gets you access to both matches. Fans can find these tickets at WashingtonSpirit.com/friendlies.
The Opposition
Gotham FC secured a rare two points in the team’s first Summer Cup match against the Chicago Red Stars following a penalty shootout victory. Regulation time ended without a goal for either side, resulting in an immediate penalty kick shootout according to Summer Cup match rules. Cassie Miller made the deciding save before Gotham FC’s Kristen Edmonds netted the winning goal. Edmonds made her first appearance since the NWSL semifinal in November 2023. With the win, Gotham FC improved to 2-1-0 in penalty shootouts. Finally, McCall Zerboni made her first start for Gotham FC since August of 2023 — look for her to appear in the lineup on Sunday.
Among non-regular season or playoff matches against Gotham FC, the Spirit holds a slight edge with a 3-2-3 record. These eight matches came from six Challenge Cup matches (2-1-3) and two Fall Series matches (1-1-0) played between 2020 and 2023. In these matches, the Spirit has outscored Gotham by three goals.
Gotham FC replenished its roster with four NTRs — Nicole Baxter, Sabrina Flores, Gabriella Cuevas and Mackenzie Pluck — who will fill in for the team’s seven representatives at this summer’s Olympics. Tierna Davidson, Crystal Dunn, Rose LaVelle, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett and Lynn Williams will represent the United States, while keeper Ann-Katrin Berger will play for Germany. The six USWNT players competing in the Olympics are the most of any team in the NWSL.
Next, Gotham FC will face off against Chivas Femenil on Friday, August 2 at 8 p.m. EDT.
What is the Summer Cup?
Announced in May, the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup debuted this season in a groundbreaking international collaboration between the United States and Mexico’s most talented women’s soccer leagues. All 14 NWSL clubs and the six Liga MX teams with the most points during 2023-24 league play – Tigres UANL, Club América, Chivas Femenil, Rayadas de Monterrey, Pachuca and Tijuana – are participating.
The Spirit is in Group D with the Chicago Red Stars, Chivas Femenil and NJ/NY Gotham FC.
How does it work?
In five groups of four, all clubs will play a three-match group stage with the top four group winners advancing to the semifinals, taking place at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City on Tuesday, August 6. This means one team will win its group and not advance to the Summer Cup semifinals. Winners of the semifinal matches will face off in the Summer Cup final taking place at Toyota Field in San Antonio, Texas on Friday, October 25.
CBS Sports is the exclusive English-language distributor of all Summer Cup matches. All matches will stream live on Paramount+, with 11 matches simulcasting on CBS Sports Golazo Network and 12 matches simulcasting on CBS Sports Network, including the semifinals and championship match.
TUDN, the sports programming branch of Spanish-language network Univision, will air three group stage matches while NWSL+ will serve as the Spanish-language home for the remaining group stage matches in the U.S.
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