The Washington Spirit made their second appearance at Audi Field on Saturday, but in many ways, it felt like the club was in new territory. A factual statement about the game says it all: 19,871 people packed into a stadium in the District to watch an NWSL regular-season match. Even the news that USWNT stars Rose Lavelle, Mallory Pugh, and Alex Morgan would all miss the game due to injury seemed to have no impact on a historic day for the Spirit, and for the National Women’s Soccer League writ large.
Last year, the Spirit’s first-ever game on Buzzard Point saw 7,976 show up to see a struggling team fight hard, but fall 1-0 to the Portland Thorns.