With the International Break coming for the whole of the NWSL, as the ladies are now preparing to compete in the UEFA Women’s Euro and the Copa América Femenina; the Washington Spirit have themselves a tough test to conclude the first half of play.
As the ladies’ head to the West Coast, they are in Fourth Place in the NWSL standings with a 7-1-4 record and are on track to face the San Diego Wave (7-2-3) on Sunday.
There is going to be a ton of transitions happening for the squad as they welcome Adrián González as back as Coach of the squad.
Sunday is going to be the first match in where Coach Adrián leads the squad and is going to get adjusted quickly to his role and his squad thanks to the prior experiences he has had with the squad.
On Saturday afternoon he and Croix Bethune spoke with members of the media on Zoom about the match against San Diego along with the transition of Coach Adrián into the role of gaffer.
The Spirit have the momentum as the head into the match, as with the last three of the six competitions they were able to play to a draw.
Overall, there is a ton of excitement for the franchise as they head to the Summer Months as on June 17th they were able to add Italian Forward Sofia Cantor to the squad.
That was the first topic that Adrián González covered with the members of the media and Sofia is expected to join the rest of the group during the month of July.
Then Coach González talked about the injury to Ashley Hatch as the team’s leading goal scorer didn’t get the chance to travel with the squad as well as some others.
Overall the thoughts on Hatchy and her First Half with the squad were very positive as Coach González had this to say, “Hatchy and her gaining overall feedback and her role with the squad.
She is doing great in leading the team. She is taking a step forward on and off the field as so far she is a great example along with training hard.” Coach continued his thoughts by saying. ” Thus far Hatchy is great with helping with the newer players, as well as improving a lot as a 9 and identifying what is needed in each situation.”
As for his return to the Coaching position Adrián reflected on things as this time around things are different as they can be led with his vision in place, “When things first started we werebuilding the basics and culture and implementing a new idea. The good news is, is that this transition is going to be a smooth one and I am aware of what the team needs and is going to look for guidance wise.”
Some of the things that are going to be different this time around is the fact that they are going to attack in different ways, different shapes and doing things overall in a way that is going to be ones that can help them in creating chances.
With the team about to be on a break this is a great time for Adrián to transition as the focus can be on building bonds with the ladies, to help the ladies build bonds among themselves and getting to the form that they hope to have in the Second Half.
After that the Zoom session went to speaking with Bethune, as recently the midfielder got the call to the U.S. National Team. Croix is following up on a tremendous rookie campaign and winning a Gold Medal with the team in France.
Thus far with the Spirit Bethune has 10 assists and five goals in 17 matches played.
To go along with her talent on the field Croix went back to her creative roots by writing a powerful and positive piece on what it is for her to be an African Amercian and playing in the NWSL during the Juneteenth celebration.
The team posted on X a piece that she wrote, and that was something that she reflected on during the team’s Zoom session with the media.
“Overall, I wanted to reflect and share inspiration on being a part of the Juneteenth celebration and how things came to be,” Croix had said on the poem. “I am someone that has a great awareness on the history of the day and what it stands for and wanted to write about things and what the reality of it is like when you can have that awareness of the history.”
Poetry along with the arts is something that helps Croix express herself and her emotions as it is something that she got into her Senior Year of High School and along with her first year in College and it is something that she was glad that the Spirit tapped into for the Juneteenth celebration.
“To be able to express myself I am someone that enjoys poerty along with draws and paints,” Bethune stated.” I have a great appreciation for the arts and was excited when the franchised asked me to write something. I was very much hoping to get back into her creative side of things.”
The team is going to look to Croix as well as Brittany Ratcliffe, Courtney Brown and Gift Monday along with the rest of the squad to get them back to the winning ways on Sunday.
A victory is something that is going to be great for the squad as well as they can climb to a better position in the NWSL standings as they can springboard past the Wave with a good result on Sunday.
The countdown along with excitement builds as the Washington Spirit take on the San Diego Wave on Sunday, June 22 at Snapdragon Stadium at 10:00 p.m. For those wanting to watch the match can do son the CBS Sports Network.
For more information on the Washington Spirit fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here: