A week after the Washington Spirit fueled its flickering playoff hopes with its first win in four months, the defending NWSL champions made it two straight victories Saturday at Audi Field to keep their title defense alive — for a few more minutes, at least.
Tara McKeown scored early in the second half and Ashley Sanchez added a late tally as the Spirit (3-6-10) notched a 2-0 win over last-place Gotham FC (4-15-0), which dropped its 10th straight. Although the result staved off postseason elimination for 10th-place Washington, which has three regular season matches remaining, the Spirit needed help in multiple games Saturday night to stay in contention for one of the NWSL’s six playoff slots.