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Washington Spirit

Spirit Settle for Draw against Boston, Remain Unbeaten at Home

June 6, 2015 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release


BOYDS, Md. (June 6, 2015) - On the debut of the 2015 Women's World Cup, the Washington Spirit (4-3-2, 14 points) faced off against the Boston Breakers (3-3-2, 11 points) and came away with a tie at Maureen Hendricks Field on June 6th. (MATCH PHOTO)

The first fifteen minutes both sides had a slow start with the Spirit and Breakers trying to find their momentum and advance the ball to their forwards.

A dangerous opportunity came in the 20th minute for the Spirit with a great pass by defender Katherine Reynolds to forward Crystal Dunn. Dunn had a one-on-one breakaway with Breakers defender Mollie Pathman. Dunn used her speed and a great move to give her space from Pathman, but goalkeeper Jami Kranich made the save.

Breakers midfielder Kristie Mewi, almost gave her team the lead in the 39th minute when her shot went past Kelsey Wys and hit the post, before finally being cleared away by Estelle Johnson. Both teams went into the locker room scoreless.

With the start of the second half, the Spirit and Breakers both changed their game plans on defense with the Spirit playing more balls out-wide to their outside backs and the Breakers marking Dunn with multiple players.

The Spirit struck first in the 64th minute when Amanda Da Costa collected her own rebound and struck a beautiful ball in the upper left hand corner to give the Spirit a 1-0 lead. This is Da Costa's second goal in the last two games.

However, the Spirit did not hold on to the lead long and a minute later the Breakers pressed forward and Maddy Evans turned, took a shot on goal, capitalizing on a poor clearance from a Spirit player. Her shot found the back of the net and tied the game in the 65th minute.

Dunn and the Spirit had a handful of chances in the last ten minutes of the game with shots going wide and the Breakers defense swarming on the ball to clear it.

The Washington Spirit are still unbeaten at home and will look to regroup as a team and individually to get stronger during the World Cup break before facing a difficult road trip to the league leading Chicago Red Stars on June 20th.

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