2016 Washington Spirit season
Washington Spirit 2016 soccer season
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The 2016 season was Washington Spirit's fourth season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.
| 2016 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General manager | Chris Hummer | ||
| Head coach | Jim Gabarra | ||
| Stadium | Maryland SoccerPlex | ||
| NWSL | 2nd (finals loss) | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: Estefania Banini (5) All: Estefania Banini (5) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 5,750 (June 18 vs. Orlando Pride)[1] | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 2,930 (July 31 vs. Sky Blue FC)[m 1] | ||
| Average home league attendance | 3,782[2] | ||
|
| |||
Review
Building off the successes of the previous two playoff appearances the Spirit hired former Sky Blue FC manager, Jim Gabarra to replace Mark Parsons.[3]
The Spirit would see their most successful season to date in 2016, being league leaders in the standings throughout most of the season. Only in the final week would the Spirit's loss at Chicago Red Stars finalize them as league runners-up.
Returning to the playoffs, the Spirit earned their first post-season victory in a revenge effort against Chicago Red Stars, who just a week earlier denied them the league title. The match was sent into extra time where Francisca Ordega scored the game-winner in the 111th minute. Advancing to the final for the first time in club history, the Spirit faced Western New York Flash in Houston, Texas.
The 2016 NWSL Final played to a 1–1 draw in regulation, and finished 2–2 at the end of extra time; both Spirit goals scored by Crystal Dunn. Going into penalties, Western New won 3–2 with only Christine Nairn and Katie Stengel slotting their penalties.[4]
National Anthem Protest
The week prior to a match with the Spirit, Seattle Reign FC and U.S. women's national soccer team player Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem in a game on September 5, 2016, explaining that her decision was a "nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now".[5] Anticipating Rapinoe's protest, Spirit owner Bill Lynch, moved the national anthem's performance ahead of the Spirit-Reign match without warning or notice to occur before the players' appearances on the pitch. Jeff Plush, the league's commissioner, was present at the game and told reporters that he was unaware of Lynch's plans and disagreed with the act of moving the anthem's performance.[6] The Spirit's players issued a joint statement also disagreeing with Lynch's decision to move the anthem without first consulting the team's players or coaches.[7]
Club
Roster
The first-team roster of Washington Spirit.[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
- (FP) = Federation player
Team management
| Owner | Bill Lynch |
| General Manager | Jim Gabarra |
| Head Coach | Jim Gabarra |
Source:[8]
Competitions
Preseason
On January 26, the Washington Spirit announced its preseason schedule.[9]
| March 19, Sat | Washington Spirit | 3–0 | University of Virginia | Boyds, Maryland |
| 19:00 EDT (UTC-04) | Banini  3', 15'Stengel 38' |
[p 1] | Stadium: Maryland Soccerplex | |
| Note: Played in three 30-minute periods. | ||||
| March 26, Sat | Washington Spirit | 2–0 | Pennsylvania State University | Boyds, Maryland |
| 16:00 EDT (UTC-04) | Dunn 47' Nairn 73' |
[p 2] | Stadium: Maryland Soccerplex Attendance: 3,000 |
Regular season
| Sat Apr 16 1 | Washington Spirit | 1–0 | Boston Breakers | Boyds, Maryland |
| 7:00 p.m. | Lohman 3' Oyster  86' |
[m 2] | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,578 Referee: Margaret Domka |
| Sun Apr 24 2 | Sky Blue FC | 1–2 | Washington Spirit | Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Hayes 66' (Lytle) O'Hara 74' |
[m 3] | Krieger 40' (Huster) Zadorsky 46+'Matheson 56' (Dunn) |
Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,571 Referee: Matthew Kreitzer |
| Fri Apr 29 3 | Western New York Flash | 0–3 | Washington Spirit | Rochester, New York |
| Eddy 80' |
[m 4][m 5] | Matheson 4' (Dunn), 72' (p.k.) Eddy 82' (o.g.) |
Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 3,615 Referee: Matthew Franz |
| Sat May 7 4 | Washington Spirit | 0–0 | Portland Thorns FC | Boyds, Maryland |
| Oyster 17' |
[m 6] | Sonnett 28' Heath 59'  88'Horan 95+' |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,615 Referee: Matthew Franz |
| Sat May 14 5 | Washington Spirit | 1–0 | Houston Dash | Boyds, Maryland |
| Lohman 39' (Nairn) Kleiner 66'Krieger 89' |
Report | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,545 Referee: Elvis Mahmutovic |
| Sat May 21 6 | Portland Thorns FC | 4–1 | Washington Spirit | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Horan 27' (Heath) 76' Own goal 31' (Kleiner)Heath 45' (Sinclair)Morris 78' (unassisted) 60'Sonnett 32'
Nadim 61' |
[m 7][m 8] | Lohman 55' (Dunn) Nairn 61' |
Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 15,823 Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva |
| Fri May 27 | Houston Dash | PPD | Washington Spirit | Houston, Texas |
| Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium |
| Fri Jun 10 7 | Boston Breakers | 1–1 | Washington Spirit | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Louise Schillgard 15' (pen.) |
[m 9][m 10] | Katie Stengel 13' |
Stadium: Jordan Field Attendance: 4,007 Referee: Margaret Domka |
| Sat Jun 18 8 | Washington Spirit | 2–0 | Orlando Pride | Germantown, Maryland |
| Estefania Banini 9' (Alyssa Kleiner) Francisca Ordega 40' (unassisted) |
[m 11] | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 5,750 Referee: Christopher Spivey |
| Sat Jun 25 9 | Washington Spirit | 1–2 | Sky Blue FC | Boyds, Maryland |
| Diana Matheson 77' (Estefania Banini) |
[m 12] | Raquel Rodriguez 8' (Leah Galton) Samantha Kerr 64' (Leah Galton) |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,448 Referee: Leszek Stalmach |
| Sat Jul 2 10 | Washington Spirit | 2–0 | FC Kansas City | Boyds, Maryland |
| Francisca Ordega 79' Tori Huster 85' |
[m 13] | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,036 Referee: Karen Abt |
| Sat Jul 9 11 | Washington Spirit | 2–0 | Chicago Red Stars | Boyds, Maryland |
| Estefania Banini 24' (Francisca Ordega) Francisca Ordega 47'Katie Stengel 74' (Christine Nairn) |
[m 14][m 15] | Alyssa Mautz 42' |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,631 Referee: Brandon Artis |
| Sat Jul 16 12 | FC Kansas City | 2–3 | Washington Spirit | Boyds, Maryland |
| Frances Silva 69' (Erika Tymrak) Shea Groom 91+' |
[m 16][m 17] | Estefania Banini 48+' (unassisted), 83' (unassisted) Joanna Lohman 58' (unassisted) |
Stadium: Swope Soccer Village Attendance: 2,013 Referee: Elvis Mahmutovic |
| Sat Jul 23 13 | Sky Blue FC | 1–0 | Washington Spirit | Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Leah Galton 24' (Erin Simon) |
[m 18][m 19] | Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 1,552 Referee: Matthew Kreitzer |
| Sat Jul 30 14 | Washington Spirit | 3–1 | Sky Blue FC | Boyds, Maryland |
| Estefania Banini 27' (Joanna Lohman) Cheyna Williams 39' (Caprice Dydasco)Alyssa Kleiner 95+' (unassisted) |
[m 1][m 20] | Tasha Kai 33' (unassisted) |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 2,930 Referee: Victor Rivas |
| Thu Aug 18 15 | Houston Dash | 1–2 | Washington Spirit | Houston |
| Christine Nairn 30' (pen.), 63' (unassisted) |
[m 21] | Kealia Ohai 90' (Stephanie Ochs) |
Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 5,012 Referee: Christina Unkel | |
| Note: rescheduled from May 27 | ||||
| Fri Aug 26 16 | Orlando Pride | 1–2 | Washington Spirit | Orlando, Florida |
| Toni Pressley 28' Sarah Hagen 71' (Cami Levin) |
[m 22] | Ali Krieger 35' Cheyna Williams 37' (Caprice Dydasco)Christine Nairn 57' (Katie Stengel) |
Stadium: Camping World Stadium Attendance: 7,052 Referee: Marco Vega |
| Sat Sep 3 17 | Washington Spirit | 1–1 | Western New York Flash | Boyds, Maryland |
| Katie Stengel 64' (Crystal Dunn) Diana Matheson 85' |
[m 23] | Elizabeth Eddy 40' Samantha Mewis 86' (unassisted) |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 4,527 Referee: Chris Spivey |
| Wed Sep 7 18 | Washington Spirit | 2–1 | Seattle Reign FC | Boyds, Maryland |
| 5:00 p.m. EDT | Crystal Dunn 50+' Cheyna Williams 62' |
[m 24] | Kim Little 70' (penalty) Kendall Fletcher 74' |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,039 Referee: Guido Gonzalez Jr. |
| Sun Sep 11 19 | Seattle Reign FC | 2–0 | Washington Spirit | Seattle, Washington |
| Yanez 27' Winters 78' |
[m 25] | Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 4,711 Referee: Greg Dopka |
| Sat Sep 24 20 | Chicago Red Stars | 3–1 | Washington Spirit | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| Christen Press 6' (Vanessa DiBernardo) Cara Walls 26' (Sofia Herta)Sofia Huerta 46' (unassisted) |
[m 26] | Crystal Dunn 47' (unassisted) |
Stadium: Toyota Park Attendance: 3,712 Referee: Matthew Franz |
Regular-season standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 35 | 19 | +16 | 41 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Washington Spirit | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 39 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Chicago Red Stars | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 33 | |
| 4 | Western New York Flash (C) | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 32 | |
| 5 | Seattle Reign FC | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 30 | |
| 6 | FC Kansas City | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 20 | −2 | 26 | |
| 7 | Sky Blue FC | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 24 | 30 | −6 | 26 | |
| 8 | Houston Dash | 20 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 22 | |
| 9 | Orlando Pride | 20 | 6 | 1 | 13 | 20 | 30 | −10 | 19 | |
| 10 | Boston Breakers | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 14 | 47 | −33 | 11 |
Results summary
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 39 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 16 | −1 |
Last updated: September 11, 2016.
Source: Match reports
Updated to match(es) played on September 24, 2016. Source: Match reports
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss
NWSL Playoffs
| Fri Sept 30 7:00 pm CDT NWSL Playoffs Semifinal | Washington Spirit | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | Chicago Red Stars | Boyds, Maryland |
| 19:00 UTC-05 | Krieger 36' (Zadorsky) Nairn 57'Ordega 111' (Christine Nairn) |
[m 27] | Press 74' (Short) Johnson 120+2' |
Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 4,249 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
| Sun Oct 9 4:00 pm CDT 2016 NWSL Championship | Western New York Flash | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–2 p) | Washington Spirit | Houston, Texas |
| 16:00 UTC-05 | Mewis 14' (Williams) Zerboni 84'Williams 124+' (McDonald) |
Report | Dunn 9' (Oyster) 91' (Krieger) Wys 122+' |
Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 8,255 Referee: Christina Unkel |
| Penalties | ||||
Dahlkemper  Hinkle McDonald  Williams Mewis |
Krieger Nairn Stengel Huster Matheson |
|||
Squad statistics
Source: NWSL
Squad statistics are of regular season only
| N | Pos | Player | GP | GS | Min | G | A | PK | Shot | SOG | SOG% | Cro | CK | Off | Foul | FS | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | F | Estefania Banini | 13 | 9 | 888 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 12 | 52% | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Whitney Church | 11 | 7 | 610 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | Crystal Dunn | 13 | 12 | 1142 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 14 | 38% | 2 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Caprice Dydasco | 12 | 12 | 1080 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 43% | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Cali Farquharson | 16 | 8 | 561 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 20% | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Tori Huster | 19 | 19 | 1665 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 4 | 31% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | Line Jensen | 3 | 2 | 141 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Estelle Johnson | 11 | 11 | 990 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 57% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Alyssa Kleiner | 17 | 12 | 1115 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 40% | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Ali Krieger | 15 | 14 | 1267 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 33% | 3 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 1 | GK | Stephanie Labbe | 8 | 8 | 720 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | Joanna Lohman | 20 | 17 | 1535 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 14 | 47% | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Diana Matheson | 12 | 9 | 800 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 67% | 0 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Christine Nairn | 20 | 18 | 1619 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 37 | 13 | 35% | 9 | 85 | 2 | 7 | 21 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | Francisca Ordega | 13 | 7 | 629 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 12 | 67% | 0 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Megan Oyster | 15 | 15 | 1340 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | FW | Katie Stengel | 19 | 10 | 928 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 10 | 50% | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Cheyna Williams | 17 | 8 | 779 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 9 | 45% | 0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | GK | Kelsey Wys | 12 | 12 | 1080 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Shelina Zadorsky | 11 | 10 | 911 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Team total | 20 | — | 19800 | 30 | 16 | 2 | 249 | 109 | 44% | 27 | 116 | 48 | 139 | 165 | 13 | 0 | ||
| N | Pos | Goal keeper | GP | GS | Min | GA | GA/G | PKA | PKF | Shot | SOG | Sav | Sav% | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GK | Stephanie Labbe | 8 | 8 | 720 | 7 | 0.88 | 0 | 1 | 71 | 30 | 24 | 80% | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | GK | Kelsey Wys | 12 | 12 | 1080 | 14 | 1.17 | 2 | 2 | 163 | 75 | 61 | 81% | 0 | 0 |
| Team total | 20 | — | 1800 | 21 | 1.05 | 2 | 3 | 234 | 105 | 85 | 81% | 0 | 0 | ||
Transfers
In
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | FW |  Katie Stengel |
 FC Bayern Munich |
Signed | December 30, 2015 | [10] |
| 20 | FW | Cheyna Williams |
Florida State |
2016 NWSL College Draft - 1st Round | January 19, 2016 | [11] |
| 17 | FW | Cali Farquharson |
Arizona State |
2016 NWSL College Draft - 2nd Round | January 19, 2016 | [11] |
| 1 | GK |  Stephanie Labbé |
 KIF Örebro |
NWSL Player Allocation and trade for DaCosta | February 2, 2016 | [12] |
| 6 | DF | Shelina Zadorsky |
Vittsjö GIK |
NWSL Player Allocation | February 2, 2016 | [12] |
| 22 | DF | Alyssa Kleiner |
Portland Thorns FC |
Trade for Reynolds | February 2, 2016 | [13] |
| 14 | DF |  Line Jensen |
Fortuna Hjørring |
Signed | July 13, 2016 | [14] |
Out
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | MF |  Verónica Pérez |
 Canberra United |
September 17, 2016 | [15] | |
| 12 | DF |  Josephine Chukwunonye |
Vittsjö GIK |
Waived | December 22, 2015 | [16] |
| 25 | FW | Ngozi Okobi |
Vittsjö GIK |
Waived | January 6, 2016 | [17] |
| 2 | DF | Katherine Reynolds |
Portland Thorns FC |
Trade for Kleiner | February 2, 2016 | [13] |
| 16 | FW | Tiffany Weimer |
FC Kansas City |
Waived | March 31, 2016 | [18] |
| 22 | DF | Arianna Romero |
Seattle Reign |
NWSL Distribution Draft | March 31, 2016 | [19] |
| 20 | FW | Hayley Raso |
Portland Thorns FC |
Waived | April 11, 2016 | [20] |
| 22 | MF | Amanda DaCosta |
Chicago Red Stars |
Trade for draft pick and Labbé | April 16, 2016 | [21] |
| 28 | DF | Jennifer Skogerboe |
 FC Slovácko |
[22] |
Honors and awards
NWSL Yearly Awards
NWSL Team of the Year
| Team | Position | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second XI | Defender | Ali Krieger |
[23] |
| Second X1 | Forward | Crystal Dunn |
[24] |
NWSL Player of the Month
| Month | Player | Month's Statline | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| July |  Estefanía Banini |
4 goals; Spirit 4-1-0 in July | [25] |
NWSL Weekly Awards
NWSL Player of the Week
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Won | Estefanía Banini |
[26] |
NWSL Goal of the Week
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Won | Ali Krieger |
[27] |
| 13 | Won | Estefanía Banini |
[28] |
| 16 | Won | Christine Nairn |
[29] |