Washington Spirit Fall 2-1 to Boston Breakers on the Road

Boston Breakers vs. Washington Spirit on August 8. Photo | Mike Gridley

At Soldiers Field in Boston, the Washington Spirit (7-5-3, 24 points) played away for the first time in three weeks and lost a hard fought battle against the Boston Breakers (4-10-3, 15 points). Two first half goals by the Breakers led to their fourth win of the season.

The first ten minutes saw a slow start for both sides as each tried to find rhythm throughout the midfield and a sustained attack along the flanks. The Boston Breakers scored first in the 12th minute courtesy of a well-placed corner by Kristie Mewis. The cross went to Julie King, who headed the ball past the diving Kelsey Wys. King secured her second goal of the season and gave the Breakers the 1-0 lead.

About five minutes later the Breakers attacked down the flank with Stephanie McCaffrey crossing the ball which caused a deflection off Ali Krieger which sent the ball back toward goal and set up an easy tap in for Kyah Simon. The goal put the Spirit down 2-0 through 18 minutes.

In the last 15 minutes of the first half the Spirit had a handful of chances to close the gap. In the 29th minute defender Josephine Chukwunonye, making her first start for the Spirit, played a perfectly weighted cross to the back post and connected with Tori Huster, but her header went just wide.

Right before the first half concluded Diana Matheson combined with Crystal Dunn, passing a through ball to Dunn, but goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher closed down the angle and Dunn’s attempt hit the side netting.

The Spirit came out of the locker room in the second half with a sense of urgency and scored in the 49th minute. The goal went to Diana Matheson who had the final touch on a ball that was pinballed multiple times around the six yard box before falling to Matheson.

In the 65th minute, Ordega with a hard run down the sideline left the ball for Dunn who slid past two defenders but her hard shot was saved by Naeher.

In the last twenty minutes of the game numerous players received yellow cards as the match became very physical with the Breakers trying to hold on to to their lead and the Spirit trying to score. A free kick in the 87th minute resulted in a scramble inside the box, but Mewis cleared the ball up field, denying the Spirit their last opportunity on net.

The game ended with the Breakers snapping their nine game win-less streak with a 2-1 win over the Spirit.

The Spirit are looking to turn around quickly as they return home to play Western New York Flash on Wednesday August 12th at 7 p.m. at the Maryland SoccerPlex.

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