The 2018 season is Washington Spirit sixth season, competing in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

, 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 James Michael Gabarra (born September 22, 1959) is an American retired soccer forward who coached the Washington Spirit National Women's Soccer League team, and previously coached Sky Blue FC and the Washington Freedom women's soccer teams. He ...

, 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 Andi Maureen Sullivan (born December 20, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team. Early life Raised in Lorton, Virginia, ...

(no. 1 overall pick) and Canadian international Rebecca 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 Ashley Marie Hatch (born May 25, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has also played for the United States women's national soccer team. Hatch was se ...

and rookie outside back

Taylor Smith Taylor Smith may refer to: * Taylor Smith (Australian footballer) (born 2000), Australian rules footballer with the Gold Coast Suns * Taylor Smith (basketball) (born 1991), American basketball player * Taylor Smith (golfer) (1967–2007), American ...

. The unfortunate folding of Boston Breakers allowed the Spirit to bring in U.S. international playmaker,

Rose Lavelle Rosemary Kathleen Lavelle (born May 14, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), and for the United States national team. Lavelle represented the Unite ...

via the subsequent dispersal draft. What seemed to be only key loss for the Spirit was captain and anchor centerback,

Shelina Zadorsky Shelina Laura Zadorsky (born October 24, 1992) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for FA Women's Super League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Canada national team. She previously played for Australian W-League ...

, traded to Orlando Pride for promising goalkeeper, Aubrey Bledsoe. The season opened with a loss to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, but saw the return of

Joanna Lohman Joanna Christie Lohman (born June 26, 1982) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder/ defender who last played for the Washington Spirit of the American National Women's Soccer League. She previously played for the Washington Freed ...

, 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 Mallory Diane Swanson (; born April 29, 1998) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, ...

Havana Solaun Havana Marguerite Solaun (born 23 February 1993) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Houston Dash of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Jamaica women's national team. Solaun began her pr ...

, and

Arielle Ship Arielle Leah Ship (born May 2, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was the recipient of the California Golden Bears' first ever Pac-12 Player of the Year ...

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,

, and appointed assistant coach,

Tom Torres Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''List of Beavis and Butt-Head characters#Local r ...

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 The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Unit ...

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

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

Team management

Source:

Competitions

Preseason

Regular season

Regular-season standings

Results summary

Results by round

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

, - , colspan="8", ''Defenders:'' , - , - , colspan="8", ''Midfielders:'' , - , - , colspan="8", ''Forwards:'' , - ''Italics'' indicates player left team midway through season.

Goalkeepers

Honors and awards

NWSL Yearly Awards

NWSL Team of the Month

NWSL Weekly Awards

NWSL Player of the Week

NWSL Goal of the Week

NWSL Save of the Week

Transfers

In

Out

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 The 2018 NWSL College Draft was the sixth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 18, 2018 at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvani ...

will be listed in the notes.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2018 Washington Spirit Season Washington Spirit seasons Washington Spirit Washington Spirit 2018 in sports in Maryland