Can Rodman and Spirit pass Bay FC’s test and advance to the NWSL playoffs?

The Washington Spirit may be the No. 2 seed, but after failing to make the NWSL playoffs in two seasons after being crowned champions in 2021, the last few years of underperformance have left scars. Now with expansion club Bay FC ahead of them on Sunday (live stream on ESPN+), the Spirit are determined to make up for lost time.

This season the team broke numerous records. The Spirit finished their best regular season since their inception in 2012, winning 18 games, scoring 51 goals and collecting 56 points – all team records. Such impressive numbers should make them favorites to win the NWSL Championship, but the players are taking nothing for granted.

“I think we continued to improve every single game,” Washington Spirit and USWNT star Trinity Rodman told ESPN. “I think not only do we have strong players and a strong team, but also our foundation, our environment is really well built. Even when we had players injured, we still performed and I think that’s a good sign.”

This foundation arose from the culture of continuous learning created by head coach Jonatan Giraldez, who arrived from Barcelona before the season.

Giraldez arrived with an impressive resume – he led the Barcelona women’s team to multiple titles, including two Liga F titles, a Copa del Rey, two Supercopas and a Champions League – and a 50-game winning streak in the Spanish league. The 32-year-old coach has brought a winning culture to the Spirit locker room. But with a mindset based on continuous improvement, even winning isn’t enough for him.

“I never like to say when you win that you did a good job,” Giraldez told ESPN. “When you win, you have to analyze what you did poorly and focus on team performance all the time.”

As the team improves on the field, the number of fans in the stands also improves. In just their second year at Audi Field, the Spirit surpassed their regular season attendance record of 150,000 in September after just 11 games – representing a 45% increase in attendance across the NWSL.

Against Bay FC in March, the Spirits recorded the highest home opening game attendance in history (11,734); in June they had the highest single-game attendance against San Diego (19,897); and between June and August they had the highest three-game attendance (52,744).

“It’s so nice to play in front of the DC fans,” said midfielder Hal Hershfelt. “I feel like even friends from other teams that play on our field say, ‘Ah, you guys have a great atmosphere.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I know. It’s our home stadium.’”

One reason for the increase in fan numbers is 22-year-old star forward Rodman, who signed a four-year contract worth $1.1 million in 2022 that made her the highest-paid player in the NWSL. She hasn’t disappointed since – this season she is the team’s top scorer alongside Ouleymata Sarr (8 goals) and is second with six assists behind Croix Bethune (10).

Rodman is an entertainer. “I think the emotional part of my game is what makes me entertaining, and I think it makes me Trinity,” she recently told The Athletic. “I never want that to change. I never want to be a robot… I always want to be the player.” [that has people asking] ‘What is she going to do today?’”

But even though Rodman and the Spirit beat them twice in the regular season, they will have to be at their best to survive against Bay FC. Things looked threatening in May after Bay lost seven of their first nine games and went on a five-game losing streak that left them second-to-last, while also posting the league’s worst defensive record (20 goals).

But then the San Francisco-based team with the second-best NWSL record since early June – five wins and two draws from eight games – turned things around and secured a spot in the playoffs. And the team is powered by their African duo Asisat Oshoala and Racheal Kundananji. The latter became the world’s most expensive player when she moved from Madrid CFF to Bay FC for $787,600 in February.

“We know Oshoala’s talent; I know them pretty well from Spain,” Spirit assistant coach Adrian Gonzalez, who served as interim coach before Giraldez’s arrival, told ESPN. “She is so powerful. Once she starts running, it’s so hard to stop her.”

Gonzalez was in charge when the Spirit defeated Bay FC 2-1 at Audi Field in March and says his team rose well to the challenge of stopping Oshoala, although they were fortunate that Kundananji missed the game through injury.

“Our two central defenders did a really good job,” he added. “We needed good communication between them, we always had to try to cover each other and be physical with each other.” [Oshoala] because we know that she is very strong when she starts running one on one. As a team we defended Oshoala very well and that made me happy.”

Ultimately, if they want to advance in the playoffs, the Spirit must focus on the theme that has been ever-present throughout the season: continuous improvement.

“I’ve been part of seasons where in the middle of the table you’re the bottom half of the table and at the end you’re in the top half and vice versa,” said veteran Andi Sullivan, who scored one of the goals in winning the 2021 championship final, told ESPN . “That’s why we have to remind ourselves every day what’s important, focus on the details and focus on the close-knit group and on being a strong team. And I don’t think that has let up this summer.”

“We were looking forward to doing that in the regular season and now, moving forward, getting back to firing guns every day as usual.” [of the playoffs].”