The Washington Spirit had themselves a good first step in being able to dominate against the Portland Thorns in the team’s home opener at Audi Field, but are now looking to gain the first victory of the 2026 NWSL Season against Racing Louisville on March 20.
With goalkeeper Sandy MacIver now adjusting to being the predominant goalkeeper with the team, the chemistry with the ladies with each practice and training session grows.
On Wednesday, Head Coach Adrián González and defender Gabby Carle sat with members of the media via zoom to talk about how the team is going to reset and take those next steps against Racing Louisville, on the team playing Gotham FC at Citi Field and how Carle became the first NWSL player to pass the MCAT.
With the month of March being Women’s Empowerment month, Carle shows you can do everything and continues legacy women are creating during Women’s Empowerment Month.
Gabby joins a fascinating group of athletes that achieve greatness beyond the field as some other names that have been spotted in the field of science include.
Myron Rolle of the Tennessee Titans he plays safety and won a Rhodes Scholarship to study Medical Anthropology at Oxford University
Ryan Fitzpatrick is a Harvard Economics graduate and also scoring a 49/50 on the Wonderlic test (the highest ever for an NFL quarterback)
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is a licensed medical doctor (MDCM) and also continued to play for the NFL as he was able to win a Super Bowl with Kansas City and finishing his medical studies
Craig Breslow a Yale educated pitcher with a degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and getting accepted into NYU medical school before getting into MLB
Tenley Albright after winning figure skating gold in 1956 she entered Harvard Medial School and became a renowed surgeon.
Carle is one of one in the NWSL passing the MCAT, but joins a list of other females achieving this feat that includes Felicia Pasadyn a 2020 Olympic Swimming Trials qualifier, Jamie Means (basketball), Siena Palicke (running), Gabby Thomas (Track and Field) and Nidhi (student-athlete) that all studied for and the majority of them passing the MCAT.
There is also a great story on DeSales Women’s Soccer player Lexi Bleam on the University’s official athletics website and her journey of discovering how she not only passed the test, but was in the top 1% of the MCAT
Carle playing in 63,636 minutes with the Washington Spirit in 80 total matches also recorded three assists and also getting the call to play with the Canada Women’s National team.
While with the National team Gabby appeared in 60 international matches (31 starts) while scoring a goal and four assist.
Carle during the match against Portland was seen in giving herself a chance at offensive scoring and may even get to see her first NWSL goal and that was one of the topics that was discussed during the team’s zoom information session.
The team’s defense is going to be supporting new goalkeeper MacIver and that was something Carle discussed, “We are lucky to have Sandy as our goalkeeper and the team has full confidence in her. Sandy is good with her feet and features a full range of passing.”
“Sandy is someone that has experience playing with the Scotland National Women’s Team and we overall want to support and be there for her and feel as if we can be a solid team with her as the goalkeeper,” Carle said.
Most recently it was announced that the Spirit and Gotham FC are going to renew the rivalry on a bigger stage at Citi Field on July 15. Newly named the Queens Classic, these two teams are going to hopefully be able to play in a venue that is going to feature over 41k fans as they are expecting a sellout for that match.
“It is always cool to play in big matches,” Carle said of the Queens Classic. “We are hoping to have a great turnout and those are the type of games that we hope to be in more frequently are the ones that have a bigger crowd.”
Coach González had this to say on being a part of the Queens Classic, “They love playing in big stadiums and it is a great thing that the league is doing these things. It is positive to be playing these games in the bigger crowds.”
As for the team’s reset against Louisville things are for sure going to be different for Coach and strategy going into the match as he explained, ” They are going to change because it is going to be a different game, different opponent. We are expecting a transitional team and very vertical it isn’t going to be easy but we need to be ready.”
On the improvement of MacIver thus far Coach González had this to say, “She is settling into the match and is improving every day she is ambitious and competitive. This is going to be a huge year in terms of her development. She brings something different to the team and can help us during the build up and she is getting better every day when it comes time for being a goalkeeper.”
The Washington Spirit have a great record when it comes time for playing Racing Louisville (6-1-5) as the ladies have a +10 goal differential (22-12) The Spirit are on a ten-match unbeaten streak against Racing.
When it comes time for playing Racing on the road the ladies have a 3-0-2 mark, and the last time these two team met on the road was on April 12, 2025 with the Spirit winning that match 2-0.
For more information on the Washington Spirit fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:
Washington Spirit | Washington DC’s NWSL Women’s Soccer Team