It was hard to know what to expect from the Washington Spirit at the start of the season. The team was clearly in need of new ideas after following up their 2021 NWSL Championship victory by missing out on the playoffs the next two seasons, making 2024 a rebuilding year in itself. Add to that the fact that their high-profile new head coach Jonatan Giraldez would only show up in the summer after completing his duties at Barcelona, and there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding their 2024 hopes.
As the confetti fell on the Orlando Pride at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, however, the Spirit could have been rightly disappointed by the fact they did not emerge victorious in the NWSL Championship on Saturday. However, it’s hard not to look at their season and think that the Spirit will be back in the hunt for titles in no time.
The Spirit exceeded expectations over the course of the 2024 season, but only because they showed up earlier than many expected, and not because they looked like an unfinished product. There wasn’t a dramatic roster change this season, largely because it wasn’t necessary. Trinity Rodman is a natural center for the team, but her connection with Ashley Hatch meant their attack needed complementary players rather than a complete restart. Midfielder Andi Sullivan and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, meanwhile, offered stability in their positions after years of solid service for the Spirit.
This season, however, they started to get the best out of existing talent, such as Ouleymata Sarr, who led the team with eight goals before suffering an injury, and NWSL Defender of the Year candidate Tara McKeown. Their mix-and-match approach to signings over the winter also meant the Spirit were building something promising. Veteran full-back Casey Krueger added a ‘win now’ quality to the Spirit’s squad, as did Colombian international Leicy Santos. Most impressively, the Spirit lined up an impressive roster of first-year players led by Rookie of the Year Croix Bethune, with Hal Hershfelt and Makenna Morris also excelling in their debut seasons as professionals.
The Spirit were able to show how deep their squad is, albeit in less than ideal circumstances. A wide variety of players suffered injuries over the course of the season, from Sarr to Sullivan to Bethune. They all seemed irreplaceable in their own right: Sarr became a reliable goalscorer, while Bethune was a revelation with ten assists from August and Sullivan was the team’s metronome. It should have been enough to diminish their qualities, but every player asked to step up did just that. Hershfelt began to come into her own as Sullivan’s replacement, while the Spirit still managed to be one of the NWSL’s top three offensive teams despite missing Sarr and Bethune.
Giraldez has also adapted well to the Spirit and perhaps adapted to his squad rather than instilling the Barcelona playing style that has defined his managerial career to date. Whether or not he makes some tactical changes to suit the possession-oriented style that Barcelona are famous for will be something to keep an eye on next season, although it is a stark reminder that the Spirit are still in the early stages of a new project.
There’s a lot more to see from this Spirit team, especially when you consider the injury crisis they faced at the end of the season. To some extent, injury concerns also include Rodman, who admitted she played the final few months of the season with a nagging back injury that also reared its ugly head during Saturday’s game. The time to recover will undoubtedly serve her well, and the same goes for the Spirit as a whole.
This year’s NWSL Championship appearance only adds punctuation to a stellar season that included a second-place finish in the regular season. The whole package shows that the foundations for the Spirit’s rebuild are strong, supported by the fact that they are a team that skews youth in some respects – including with their 32-year-old manager. It means they are easily one of the NWSL’s most exciting teams to follow in the coming years, when they will really start to define who they are under Giraldez and deliver on the promise they have clearly shown this year.