Piscataway, N.J- The Washington Spirit now stand in fourth place after they celebrated a 3-2 win while on the road against Sky Blue FC.
Spirit forward Cheyna Matthews scored the first goal for Washington in the 22’ minute with the flick of the ball over Sky Blue’s defense that set up the ball for a shot. While her first shot was blocked, her second shot came from a far angle that left her opponents at a standstill.
Sky Blue quickly made a comeback as Savannah McCaskill came from the left side of the field and drew in the Spirit defense only to pass the ball center to Raquel Rodriguez, who scored the equalizer as the score was now 1-1.
Both sides were missing national team players such as Carli Lloyd from Sky Blue and the Spirit without Rose Lavelle and Mallory Pugh, but the pressure was still on.
When the second half was underway, Washington midfielder Amy Harrison sent the ball to Jordan Dibiasi, who sealed the direct shot on goal to take the 2-1 lead in the 55’ minute.
While in the lead, the Spirit saw another play from Matthews as she slid through the defense on a pass from Cali Farquharson. Although Sky Blue defender Dominique Richardson fell in Matthews way, the determined forward scored her second goal of the match to extend the lead for the Spirit with a 3-1 advantage.
Sky Blue was eager to get another goal on board as 4 of their 14 shots were directly on the goal. Their final goal of the match came in late as Imani Dorsey headed the ball to the back of the net after Amandine Pierre-Louis crossed the ball to the center of the field.
Sky Blue fell down to eighth place as they only earned two points from this match. For Week 6, Sky Blue will head to Tacoma, Washington to face Reign FC.
SCORING SUMMARY:
WAS-Cheyna Matthews, 22’
NJ-Raquel Rodriguez, 32’ (Assisted by: Savannah McCaskill)
WAS-Jordan Dibiasi, 55’ (Assisted by: Amy Harrison)
WAS-Cheyna Matthews, 68’ (Assisted by: Cali Farquharson)
NJ-Imani Dorsey, 80’ (Assisted by: Amandine Pierre-Louis)
BOOKING SUMMARY:
WAS-Meggie Dougherty Howard, 27’ yellow card
WAS-Paige Nielsen, 54’ yellow card
SKY BLUE FC: #13-Didi Haracic, #3-Caprice Dydasco, #17-Dominique Richardson, #8-Erica Skroski, #4-Paige Monaghan, #5-Julie James (#20-Francisca Gabriela Morias Da Rocha, 76’), #28-Imani Dorsey, #16-Sarah Killion, #11-Raquel Rodriguez, #9-Nahomi Kawasumi (#29-Amandine Pierre-Louis, 73’), #21-Savannah McCaskill (#2-Mckenzie Meehan, 86’)
Subs not used: #18-Sabrina Flores, #7-Jennifer Hoy, #15-Kaylan Marckese, #14-Kenie Wright
WASHINGTON SPIRIT: #1-Aubrey Bledsoe, #7-Amy Harrison (#24-Carlin Hudson, 84’), #3-Samantha Staab, #14-Paige Nielsen, #23-Tori Huster (#19-Dorian Bailey, 46’), #4-Jordan Dibiasi, #8-Meggie Dougherty Howard, #12-Andi Sullivan, #20-Cheyna Matthews, #6-Chloe Logarzo (#17-Cali Farquharson, 66’), #33-Ashley Hatch
Subs not used: #5-Megan Crosson, #16-Tiffany McCarty, #2-Arielle Ship, #30-Shae Yanez
TOTAL SHOTS: NJ 14-12 WAS
SHOTS ON GOAL: NJ 4-7 WAS
FOULS: NJ 5-15 WAS
OFFSIDES: NJ 6-1 WAS
Washington Spirit
