Spirit Looking for Another Road Win this Week in Los Angeles
NWSL Washington Spirit

Spirit Looking for Another Road Win this Week in Los Angeles

Published on September 17, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release


Washington Spirit in action
Washington Spirit in action
(Washington Spirit)

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Washington Spirit will wrap up a two-match away stretch on Thursday night in southern California, meeting Angel City FC at BMO Stadium. Kicking off at 10:30 p.m. EDT, the match will broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network and stream on Monumental+.

The Spirit

With the shutout of league-leading Kansas City last weekend, Washington earned another important point on the road, putting more space between it and third place. The Spirit now holds a six-point lead on second place with six matches to play in the regular season.

Captain Aubrey Kingsbury earned her seventh clean sheet of the season on Saturday against the Current, her first ever against the Kansas City-based side. With the shutout, Kingsbury became the first player in league history to record a regular season clean sheet against all 14 active NWSL clubs.

Another milestone is up for grabs on Thursday for 2024 Defender of the Year finalist Tara McKeown. The Los Angeles area native can make her 100th NWSL regular season appearance this week.

Washington enters this week's matchup on an eight-match unbeaten streak in regular season play, earning three wins and five draws across that span. Despite the lengthy points streak, the strong Spirit attack has had difficulty scoring away from home lately. Over its last five regular season away matches, Washington has been shut out in four, though the side has also earned three clean sheets of its own. The Spirit has been outscored 3-4 over this span with a 1-1-3 record.

The Spirit also enters Thursday's contest on a seven-match unbeaten streak in the state of California. Since the start of the 2023 season, Washington has gone 4-0-3 in the Golden State, including back-to-back wins in Los Angeles. A win or draw this week would mark three consecutive seasons going unbeaten in the state for the Spirit.

Washington will be without Hal Hershfelt this week due to the midfielder receiving a red card in last weekend's match in Kansas City. This will be the Spirit's first match without Hershfelt since May 10, before she returned to play from an ankle injury.

On the attacking end, the Spirit leads Angel City in most categories: Washington is in the top four in the NWSL in goals, assists, possession and big chances while Angel City is in the middle of the pack. This week's home side, however, leads the Spirit in both shots and shots on target. Look for the Washington attack to put an emphasis on possession and creating high-percentage shots on offense this week.

Following Thursday night's match, the Spirit will return home, hosting the Houston Dash for the annual Hispanic Heritage match at Audi Field on Sunday, September 28. Tickets are available here.

The Opponent

Angel City FC enters the week sitting in 11th place on the NWSL table though the side is just three points behind the final playoff spot with six matches to go. Earlier this season, the side traveled to DC and took all three points with a 4-3 win thanks to a stoppage time game-winner.

Across the series history, the Angel City attack has seen a balance of production on the scoresheet. With 11 goals scored against Washington, nine different Angel City players have tallied a goal. Until rookie star Riley Tiernan's brace against the Spirit in May, no LA player had scored more than once in the series.

In the defending third, Angel City has kept three clean sheets this season, including two in the past five weeks. The side is also one of the more aggressive defensive teams in the league this season, ranking in the top five in both tackles won (2nd) and fouls conceded (T-3rd).

Leading the team in scoring through 20 matches is Tiernan with eight goals, followed at a distance by Kennedy Fuller (3) and Katie Zelem (2). Tiernan is also in the top five of the NWSL's Golden Boot race, tied with Orlando's Barbra Banda for fourth. Angel City recently lost a key part of its attack as third-year star Alyssa Thompson (six goals this season) transferred to England's Chelsea.

Following Thursday's match, Angel City will head to Kentucky to face Racing Louisville FC on Saturday, September 27.

All-Time Series History

The Spirit holds a 4-3-0 all-time regular season record against Angel City FC with a +2 goal differential (13-11). After dropping the first two meetings between the sides in 2022, Washington won four straight in the series before taking a loss earlier this season. The Spirit has also won two straight matches in Los Angeles.

Check out the Washington Spirit Statistics

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Washington Spirit in action
Washington Spirit in action
   



National Women's Soccer League Stories from September 17, 2025


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