2018 Washington Spirit season
# 2018 Washington Spirit season

The 2018 season is Washington Spirit's sixth season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. On August 21, the Spirit parted ways with Head Coach and General Manager Jim Gabarra, assistant coach Tom Torres took over as interim Head Coach for the remaining 3 games of the season.

## Review

After a difficult 2017 season, the Spirit began rebuilding their team, continuing with a youth centered approach. Considered a successful 2018 draft, Washington recruited U.S. international Andi Sullivan (no. 1 overall pick) and Canadian international Quinn (no. 3 overall pick). In addition to the draft, the Spirit traded Crystal Dunn's player rights for 2017 Rookie of the Year Ashley Hatch and rookie outside back Taylor Smith. The unfortunate folding of Boston Breakers allowed the Spirit to bring in U.S. international playmaker, Rose Lavelle via the subsequent dispersal draft. What seemed to be only key loss for the Spirit was captain and anchor centerback, Shelina Zadorsky, traded to Orlando Pride for promising goalkeeper, Aubrey Bledsoe.

The season opened with a loss to Seattle, but saw the return of Joanna Lohman, held back in 2017 through injury, and scored in her substitute appearance. After several mediocre performances in March and April, the Spirit would struggle for the remainder of the season, winning only one more match (of two all season) against struggling Sky Blue FC. A combination of injuries to forwards Mallory Pugh, Havana Solaun, and Arielle Ship hamstrung the Spirit attack who were shutout 15 matches (including a 7-match streak).

On August 21, after eight straight losses and being eliminated from playoff contention, the Spirit fired head coach, Jim Gabarra, and appointed assistant coach, Tom Torres as interim head coach. Torres lead the Spirit through the final three matches of the season at home, including the Spirit's debut at newly opened Audi Field against Portland Thorns on August 25. The match set a new club record for home attendance with 7,976 fans.

The last match of the season against Sky Blue FC, the Spirit ended a league-record setting goal drought at 765-minutes after Arielle Ship scored the opener of a 1–1 draw in the 71st minute. The match also earned Aubrey Bledsoe the league-wide record for saves in a single season at 108.

## Club

### Roster

The first-team roster of Washington Spirit.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | GK | USA | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 2 | FW | USA | Arielle Ship |
| 3 | DF | USA | Caprice Dydasco |
| 4 | MF | CAN | Quinn (FP) |
| 5 | DF | USA | Whitney Church |
| 6 | MF | USA | Andi Sullivan |
| 7 | DF | USA | Taylor Smith (FP) |
| 8 | MF | USA | Megan Dougherty Howard |
| 9 | MF | USA | Havana Solaun |
| 10 | FW | ARG | Estefanía Banini (INT) |
| 11 | FW | USA | Mallory Pugh (FP) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | NGA | Francisca Ordega (INT) |
| 15 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman |
| 16 | MF | USA | Rose Lavelle (FP) (DD) |
| 17 | FW | USA | Cali Farquharson |
| 19 | GK | USA | Kelsey Wys |
| 21 | GK | USA | DiDi Haracic |
| 22 | FW | USA | Mallory Eubanks |
| 23 | MF | USA | Tori Huster |
| 24 | DF | CMR | Estelle Johnson |
| 33 | FW | USA | Ashley Hatch |
| 88 | FW | USA | Tiffany Weimer (DD) |

* (FP) = Federation player
* (DD) = Dispersal draft player
* (INT) = International roster player

### Team management

| Head Coach | Jim Gabarra |
| - | - |
| First Assistant Coach | Briana Scurry |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Jack Stefanowski |
| Assistant Coach | Tom Torres |
| Assistant Coach | Kati Jo Spisak |
| Director of Sports Science | Kevin Boyle |

Source:

## Competitions

### Regular season

**Regular-season standings**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage (C) | 24 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 53 | 17 | +36 | 57 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 42 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 19 | +8 | 41 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 38 | 28 | +10 | 37 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 23 | −1 | 35 | |
| 6 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 32 | |
| 7 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 30 | |
| 8 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 35 | −23 | 11 | |
| 9 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 1 | 6 | 17 | 21 | 52 | −31 | 9 | |

**Results summary**

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |

Last updated: September 2, 2018. Source: Match reports

**Results by round**

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Stadium | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | H |
| Result | L | W | L | D | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D |
| Position | 8 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |

### NWSL Playoffs

The Spirit were eliminated from playoff contention on July 22 after a 1–0 home loss to Houston Dash.

## Statistics

### Appearances and goals

    As of September 3, 2018

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | NWSL | NWSL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Defenders: ||||||||
| 3 | DF | USA | Caprice Dydasco | 24 | 0 | 21+3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | USA | Whitney Church | 22 | 0 | 21+1 | 0 |
| 7 | DF | USA | Taylor Smith | 23 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | USA | Megan Crosson | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | CMR | Estelle Johnson | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | USA | Zoe Clark | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders: ||||||||
| 4 | MF | CAN | Quinn | 17 | 0 | 16+1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | USA | Andi Sullivan | 23 | 0 | 22+1 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | USA | Havana Solaun | 13 | 0 | 5+8 | 0 |
| 12 | MF | USA | Morgan Proffitt | 4 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 |
| 15 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman | 13 | 1 | 4+9 | 1 |
| 16 | MF | USA | Rose Lavelle | 11 | 0 | 5+6 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | USA | Alexa Newfield | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | USA | Megan Dougherty Howard | 23 | 0 | 14+9 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | USA | Tori Huster | 17 | 0 | 15+2 | 0 |
| Forwards: ||||||||
| 2 | FW | USA | Arielle Ship | 2 | 1 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | USA | Mallory Eubanks | 12 | 0 | 5+7 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | ARG | Estefania Banini | 12 | 1 | 11+1 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | USA | Mallory Pugh | 15 | 2 | 13+2 | 2 |
| 14 | FW | NGA | Francisca Ordega | 18 | 3 | 15+3 | 3 |
| 17 | FW | USA | Cali Farquharson | 5 | 0 | 1+4 | 0 |
| 27 | FW | CHI | Yanara Aedo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | USA | Ashley Hatch | 22 | 4 | 22 | 4 |
| 36 | FW | USA | Tiffany McCarty | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 88 | FW | USA | Tiffany Weimer | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |

Italics indicates player left team midway through season.

### Goalkeepers

| No. | Nat | Player | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Nat | Player | GP | GS | MIN | W | L | D | GA | GAA | CS |
| 1 | | Aubrey Bledsoe | 21 | 21 | 1890 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 30 | 1.43 | 4 |
| 19 | | Kelsey Wys | 1 | 1 | 90 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2.00 | 0 |
| 21 | | DiDi Haracic | 2 | 2 | 180 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1.50 | 0 |

## Honors and awards

### NWSL Yearly Awards

| Award | Result | Player | Ref |
| - | - | - | - |
| Rookie of the Year | Nominated | Andi Sullivan | |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe | |

### NWSL Team of the Month

| Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| March | | | | Mallory Pugh | |
| April | Aubrey Bledsoe | Estelle Johnson | | Francisca Ordega Mallory Pugh | |

### NWSL Weekly Awards

**NWSL Player of the Week**

| Week | Result | Player | Ref |
| - | - | - | - |
| 2 | Won | Mallory Pugh | |
| 11/12 | Won | Aubrey Bledsoe | |

**NWSL Goal of the Week**

| Week | Result | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Nominated | Joanna Lohman |
| 2 | Nominated | Mallory Pugh |
| 3 | Nominated | Mallory Pugh |

**NWSL Save of the Week**

| Week | Result | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 2 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 3 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 4 | Won | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 5 | Won | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 11/12 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 15 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 16 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 22 | Nominated | DiDi Haracic |
| 24 | Nominated | Aubrey Bledsoe |

## Transfers

### In

| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| January 16, 2018 | Ashley Hatch | 33 | FW | North Carolina Courage | Trade with Smith for Dunn's rights |
| January 16, 2018 | Taylor Smith | 7 | DF | North Carolina Courage | Trade with Hatch for Dunn's rights |
| January 23, 2018 | Aubrey Bledsoe | 1 | GK | Orlando Pride | Trade for Zadorsky and 2019 1st round draft pick |
| January 30, 2018 | Rose Lavelle | 16 | MF | Boston Breakers | 2018 Dispersal Draft, 1st overall |
| January 30, 2018 | Tiffany Weimer | – | FW | Boston Breakers | 2018 Dispersal Draft, 20th overall |
| March 21, 2018 | Tiffany Weimer | 88 | FW | Houston Dash | Signed off waivers |
| March 29, 2018 | Mallory Eubanks | 22 | FW | Mississippi State University | Signed via National Team Player Replacement for Banini, signed to full contract on May 17 |
| June 29, 2018 | Maddie Huster | 25 | MF | Wake Forest University | Signed, was a 2018 College Draft Pick |
| August 30, 2018 | Megan Crosson | 13 | DF | UD Granadilla Tenerife | Signed, National Team replacement |
| August 30, 2018 | Brenna Connell | 34 | MF | Washington Spirit Reserves | Signed, National Team replacement |
| August 30, 2018 | Zoe Clark | 31 | DF | Maryland Terrapins | Signed, National Team replacement |
| August 30, 2018 | Tiffay McCarty | 36 | FW | Florida State Seminoles | Signed, National Team replacement |
| August 30, 2018 | Alexa Newfield | 18 | FW | Utah Royals FC | Signed, National Team replacement |
| August 30, 2018 | Morgan Ruhl | 38 | GK | LSU Tigers | Signed, National Team replacement |

### Out

| Date | Player | Number | Position | New club | Fee/notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| October 23, 2017 | Line Jensen | 7 | FW | | Waived |
| January 16, 2018 | Lindsay Agnew | 8 | FW | Houston Dash | Traded for 2018 3rd overall draft pick |
| January 23, 2018 | Shelina Zadorsky | 4 | DF | Orlando Pride | Trade for Zadorsky and 2019 1st round draft pick |
| February 2, 2018 | Alyssa Kleiner | 22 | DF | | Waived |
| February 12, 2018 | Kassey Kallman | 6 | DF | | Retired |
| February 13, 2018 | Tiffany Weimer | – | FW | Houston Dash | Trade for 2019 4th round draft pick |
| February 14, 2018 | Stephanie Labbé | 1 | GK | | Released rights |
| February 24, 2018 | Cheyna Matthews | 20 | FW | | Out for 2018 season; pregnancy |
| March 19, 2018 | Schuyler DeBree | 13 | FW | | Waived, rights retained |
| March 19, 2018 | Elizabeth Wenger | 18 | DF | | Waived, rights retained |
| March 19, 2018 | Mallory Eubanks | 22 | FW | | Waived, rights retained |
| March 19, 2018 | Maddie Huster | 25 | MF | | Waived, rights retained |
| March 19, 2018 | Brittany Basinger | 28 | DF | | Waived, rights retained |
| March 19, 2018 | Rachel Moore | 32 | FW | | Waived, rights retained |
| June 19, 2018 | Morgan Proffitt | 12 | MF | SK Slavia Praha | Waived. Signed with SK Slavia Praha |
| June 21, 2018 | Yanara Aedo | 27 | FW | Valencia CF Femenino | Waived. Signed with Valencia CF Femenino |
| July 25, 2018 | Maddie Huster | 25 | MF | | Waived. |

### Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed during the 2018 NWSL College Draft will be listed in the notes.

| Player | Pos | Previous club | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| Andi Sullivan | MF | Stanford University | Round 1, Pick 1 (1st overall) |
| Quinn | MF | Duke University | Round 1, Pick 3 (3rd overall) |
| Schuyler DeBree | DF | Duke University | Round 2, Pick 1 (11th overall) |
| Mallory Eubanks | FW | Mississippi State University | Round 2, Pick 6 (16th overall) |
| Elizabeth Wenger | DF | Georgetown University | Round 2, Pick 7 (17th overall) (via 2018 Dispersal Draft, 17th overall) |
| Brittany Basinger | DF | Penn State University | Round 3, Pick 1 (21st overall) |
| Maddie Huster | MF | Wake Forest University | Round 3, Pick 6 (26th overall) |
| Rachel Moore | MF | William and Mary College | Round 4, Pick 1 (31st overall) |
