Spirit and Dash walked away with a draw, 2-2

The Washington Spirit and the Houston Dash end the game in tie, 2-2.

Coming into this match, the Spirit were on a two-game losing skid, having lost four of its last six matches. With a 5-5-3 record, the Spirit were seventh, just one place off of playoff contention. In the last five matches, the Dash had won only once – most recently, Houston was crushed 5-1 by OL Reign. Houston sat in eighth place in the NWSL standings with 17 points, just outside of playoff eligibility.

The Spirit came out aggressive , scoring their first goal in the eighth minute of the match. Paige Nielsen took a shot from outside after a header sent the ball in her vicinity. The Spirit took a 1-0 lead into halftime. “I couldn’t be any happier about the way we started,” said Spirit Assistant Coach Kris Ward. “It was fantastic.”

Not even nine minutes into the second half, Tori Huster got a shot past the Dash's goalie and extended the Spirit’s lead to 2-0. It looked like the Spirit would run away with it.

A surprise change in the lineup saw Trinity Rodman coming off the bench and sub in for Tara McKeown in the 58th minute. But that wasn’t the only change on the horizon.

The Dash came alive in the second half, scoring in the 61st minute and again in the 83rd minute. An additional five minutes was added in hopes of seeing a score to break the tie. It didn’t come, and the Spirit will take their talents back to D.C. with better hopes for next week.“I’m really proud of the way we fought, we just ran out of steam,” said goalie Aubrey Bledsoe.

The Washington Spirit’s record now sits at 5-5-4, good enough for sixth in the standings.