FC Kansas City traveled to the nation’s capital to face the Washington Spirit with their sights set on winning their first game of the 2015 NWSL season. However, two goals from Christine Nairn and one by Crystal Dunn gave the Spirit a 3-1 victory over the Blues in front of 4,136 fans at the Maureen Hendricks Field on Saturday night.
Head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s team played with an offensive mindset right off the bat, which resulted in an early tally for the Blues when USWNT veteran and 2015 World Cup bound midfielder Heather O’Reilly scored her first goal with FC Kansas City to make it 1-0 after receiving a ball from Lauren Holiday inside the box and chipping it into the back of the net in the games’ 5th minute.
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Moments later, the home team found the equalizer when Nairn blasted a rocket from 30 yards out to the top right corner leaving goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart with no chance at the stop in the 9th minute making it 1-1.
Following Nairn’s tally, the Blues continued to put pressure on the Spirit but a couple of great saves by Ashlyn Harris bailed her team out and staved off the Kansas City attack. For the match Kansas City found themselves, outshooting their opponents 14-3 and totaling nine corner kicks, however the Blues were unable to add another goal to the board in the first half.
Skyscraper Blues
Only one minute into the second stanza, head coach Mark Parsons’ team found the back of the net for the second time in the game when Spanish international Laura del Rio got in front of FC Kansas City’s back line and touched it to Dunn who made it 2-1 in the 46th minute.
Nineteen minutes later, the Spirit were awarded with a free kick after defender Amy LePeilbet was issued a yellow card for a hard foul on Dunn, which Nairn took to notch her second one of the night to make it 3-1 in the 64th minute.
Despite several attempts from the Blues and putting Sarah Hagen, Shea Groom and Liz Bogus on the match, the reigning champions were unable to shorten the lead throughout the remainder of the match.
Next up, Kansas City will try to get their season back on track when they will host the Seattle Reign at Swope Soccer Village on Thursday on a 2014 NWSL Championship game rematch at 7pm CT.
Washington Spirit (1-1-0, 3 pts) vs. FC Kansas City (0-2-0, 0 pts)
Saturday, April 18, 2015 – Maureen Hendricks Field (Boyds, MD)
| 1 | 2 | F | |
| Washington | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| FC Kansas City | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
FCKC: Heather O’Reilly (Lauren Holiday), 5
WAS: Christine Nairn (Angela Salem), 9
WAS: Crystal Dunn (Laura Del Rio), 46
WAS: Christine Nairn, 65
Misconduct Summary
WAS: Tori Huster (Caution), 27
WAS: Angela Salem (Caution), 56
FCKC: Amy LePeilbet (Caution), 64
FCKC: Shea Groom (Caution), 95
Lineups:
WAS: Harris; Reynolds, Oyster, Johnson, Singer (DaCosta); Huster, Salem, Nairn (Lohman); Dunn, Del Rio, Banini (Ordega).
FCKC: Barnhart; Moros (Hagen), Sauerbrunn, Robinson, LePeilbet; O’Reilly, Averbuch (Groom), Tymrak (Bogus), Buczkowski; Holiday, Rodriguez.
| SHOTS | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Washington | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| SHOTS ON GOAL | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| Washington | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| SAVES | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Washington | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| CORNER KICKS | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| Washington | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| OFFSIDES | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Washington | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FOULS | 1 | 2 | F |
| FC Kansas City | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Washington | 3 | 4 | 7 |