After being officially eliminated from playoff contention last Saturday, the Washington Spirit start the next phase of their season tonight in a game against the first place North Carolina Courage. North Carolina and Washington met recently in North Carolina, where the Courage beat the Spirit 2-0.
That game was much closer than the scoreline suggests. Washington largely contained the potent Courage offense and had the ball in the final third often, but couldn’t translate that into quality shots on goal. That made two defensive mistakes in the second half costly. Tonight, the Spirit are looking to spoil North Carolina’s bid to clinch a playoff spot (the Courage clinch with a win).