There are a ton of tough teams in the National Women’s Soccer Team and the Houston Dash is just one of them. In an action-packed match, the Washington Spirit (6-3-7) earned a 1-1 draw against the Dash on the road.
Leading the way in scoring for the Spirit is Ashley Sanchez, having the lone goal for the franchise, as she now has a goal in four straight appearances with the squad. Helping to set up that goal is Ouleymata Sarr who made her first-ever appearance with the Spirit.
For Sanchez, she now has 12 career regular season goals, and is now tied with Francisca Ordega for sixth-most regular season goals in team history.
Prior to the start of the action the franchise saw a few milestone moments as Ashley Hatch and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury made their 100th appearances with the Washington Spirit. They are in an incredible club, as they join original spirit member Tori Huster as the only players to achieve this feat.
Kingsbury had herself a milestone moment of a performance in the goalkeeper as her save in the 9th minute is the 400th of her career. With that mark Kingsbury is the sixth keeper in NWSL history to accomplish this feat. In addition, Aubrey is now at 10,000 career regular season minutes played, and that makes her the sixth keeper to reach that milestone.
Getting back to the action on the field, it was an intense night between the Spirit and the Dash, as the first half ended with a scoreless stalemate. In a fun fact from the Washington Spirit PR Department-in the last 11 meetings between the two there have been zero games with more than one first half goal.
Spirit fans then saw the debut of Ouleymata Sarr in the 56th minute. Sarr, is a French National Player that signed with the franchise in June and is going to be an intriguing player to watch for as the 2023 NWSL Season progresses.
Already Sarr is finding positive minutes with her new teammates, as she fed Ashley Sanchez with a back heel through ball, setting up Sanchez on the first goal of the night.
Sarr made history as she joins Riley Tanner (2023), Taylor Aylmer (2021) and Stephanie Ochs (2013 – in the first ever Spirit game) as the only Spirit players to ever log an assist in their debut with the team (all competitions).
Then in another milestone moment in the 71st minute as Tori Huster made her way onto the pitch, she was able to eclipse 13,000 minutes in becoming the 16th player to achieve this feat.
With the ladies being oh so close to a huge three points on the road, Houston tied things up on a goal by Maria Sánchez. From there both teams ended with the 1-1 draw.
The good news for the ladies is the fact that they get to return to the friendly confines of Audi Field to take on the Portland Thorns and a chance of redemption and getting back to their winning ways. That match is going to take place on Sunday, August 27 at 5:00 p.m.
For more information on the Washington Spirit fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: