Youthful Washington Spirit fall short in NWSL Championship, but ownership is building an undeniable contender

It was difficult to know what to expect from the Washington Spirit at the start of the season. The team was clearly in need of some new ideas after following up their 2021 NWSL Championship win by missing out on the playoffs in the next two seasons, setting up for 2024 to be a rebuild year on its own merits. Add the fact that their high-profile new head coach Jonatan Giraldez would not show up until the summer after completing his duties with Barcelona, there was plenty of uncertainty around their hopes for 2024.

As the confetti fell on the Orlando Pride at Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium, though, the Spirit might rightfully be disappointed by the fact that they did not come out victorious in Saturday’s NWSL Championship. It is hard not to look at their season, though, and feel that the Spirit will be back chasing titles in no time.

The Spirit exceeded expectations over the course of the 2024 season, but only because they hit their stride earlier than many may have anticipated rather than because they looked like an unfinished product. There was no dramatic squad turnover ahead of this season, in large part because it was not needed – Trinity Rodman is a natural focal point for the team, but her connection with Ashley Hatch meant their attack needed complementary players rather than a full reboot. Midfielder Andi Sullivan and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, meanwhile, offered stability in their positions after years of solid service for the Spirit.

This season, though, they began to get the best out of existing talents like Ouleymata Sarr, who led the team with eight goals before picking up an injury, and NWSL Defender of the Year contender Tara McKeown. Their mix-and-match approach to signings over the winter also meant the Spirit were building something promising. Veteran fullback Casey Krueger added a “win now” quality to the Spirit’s roster, as did Colombia international Leicy Santos. Most impressively, though, the Spirit lined up an impressive batch of first-year players led by Rookie of the Year Croix Bethune, with Hal Hershfelt and Makenna Morris also excelling in their debut professional seasons.

The Spirit were able to demonstrate just how deep their squad is, though in unideal circumstances. A wide variety of players picked up injuries over the course of the season, from Sarr to Sullivan to Bethune. Each seemed irreplaceable in their own right – Sarr was becoming a reliable goalscorer while Bethune was a revelation with 10 assists by August and Sullivan was the metronome of the team. It should have been enough to decrease their qualities but each player asked to step up did just that. Hershfelt started to become her own as Sullivan’s replacement, while the Spirit still managed to be one of the NWSL’s top three attacking sides despite missing Sarr and Bethune.

Giraldez has also settled in well with the Spirit, perhaps adjusting to his squad rather than instilling the Barcelona style of play that defined his managerial career so far. Whether or not he makes some tactical changes to fit the possession-oriented style Barcelona are famous for is something to keep an eye on next season, though it offers a stark reminder that the Spirit are still in the early stages of a new project.

There’s still much more to be seen from this Spirit team, especially when considering the injury crisis they dealt with at the back end of the season. To some degree, the injury woes include Rodman, who admitted she played through the last few months of the season with a niggling back injury that also crept up during Saturday’s game. Time to recover will no doubt serve her well, and the same is true for the Spirit as a whole.

This year’s run to the NWSL Championship merely adds punctuation to a stellar season that included a second-place finish in the regular season. The whole package demonstrates that the foundation for the Spirit’s rebuild is a strong one, bolstered by the fact that they are a team that skews young in some ways – including with their 32-year-old manager. It means they are easily one of the NWSL’s most exciting teams to follow over the next few years when they will begin to truly define who they are under Giraldez and must live up to the promise they clearly showed this year.