Spirit Falls on the Road to San Diego | Spirit at Wave Match Highlights | 05.15.26

The Washington Spirit’s five-match win streak came to an end Friday night after a 1-2 away loss to San Diego Wave FC. The Spirit conceded the winning goal in the 89th minute as the club suffered its first loss since March 13’s season opener.

San Diego opened the scoring early, when in the sixth minute the Wave’s Trinity Byars scored her first career goal to put the home side ahead. This marked the first time the Spirit have conceded the first goal of the game since March 20 at Racing Louisville FC, a streak of seven matches.

Trinity Rodman and Hal Hershfelt had chances for the Spirit to follow before the away side put home the equalizer in the 33rd minute as Rebeca Bernal headed a perfect Leicy Santos corner in the net for her second goal of the year, with the other coming on March 25 vs. Utah. Through 10 games this season, the Spirit have scored seven first half goals, the third most in the league (Gotham FC (9) and Portland Thorns (8)).

Rosemonde Kouassi subbed on for Claudia Martínez to start the second half, where the Spirit didn’t allow a shot until the 56th minute with Washington holding San Diego without a shot for 33 minutes of the game. Wave FC landed a shot on frame in the 63rd minute but Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver was able to make the save to preserve the tie. MacIver made another save just eight minutes later as well.

The Spirit attacking third put pressure on the San Diego defense down the stretch as Trinity Rodman attempted a shot on goal in the 83rd minute but was saved by Wave FC keeper DiDi Haračić. Just six minutes later, however, San Diego found a go-ahead goal off a corner kick and secured a 2-1 lead in the final minutes. Washington’s had one more solid attempt in the attack in the third minute of stoppage time when Santos used her heel to send a ball into the arms of Haračić. The final whistle marked the end of the Spirit’s five-match win streak and eight-match unbeaten streak.

Next up, the Spirit will travel directly to Mexico for the final stage of the 2025-26 Concacaf W Champions Cup. Washington will take on CF Pachuca in the semifinal round at Estadio Hidalgo on Wednesday, May 20 at 10:30 p.m. EDT. With a win on Wednesday, the Spirit will play for the continental title on Saturday, May 23.

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About The Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit is the premier professional women’s soccer team based in Washington, D.C. and plays at Audi Field in Buzzard Point. The Spirit was founded on November 21, 2012 and is an inaugural member of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) the fastest-growing sports league in the US. The club is home to some of the best players in the world who have won championships for both club and country. In 2024, the Spirit drafted an epic class of rookies who are already breaking records and wowing fans.

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