NWSL Semi-final recap- Washington Spirit defeat Chicago Red Stars in overtime
By Steve Fowler
On Friday, September 30, 2016, the Washington Spirit hosted the Chicago Red Stars at Maryland Soccerplex. They played in front of 4249 fans for the first National Women’s League semi-final of the 2016 playoffs.
The Washington Spirit controlled the play in the first half maintaining possession much of the time. Ali Krieger scored in the 36th minute, who was assisted by Shelina Zadorsky.
Washington had other opportunities to score in the first half, including a possible handball in the penalty box in the 44th minute on Sofia Huerta that was not called. But it appeared that the referee had a reasonable viewpoint to make the no call.
In the second half, Chicago became more aggressive and had scoring opportunities by Christen Press, Vanessa DiBernardo, Sofia Huerta, and Cara Walls in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
In the 61st minute, Julie Johnston collided with Crystal Dunn in the penalty box. There was no call by the referee, so Washington was not awarded a penalty kick. But the play happened so quickly, that it would be difficult to make a proper judgement on the play without watching the play in slow motion. However, it appeared that Crystal Dunn was jumping up to head the ball, but Julie Johnston may have fouled her from underneath without attempting to get the ball. Again, the referee was nearby and should have had the proper angle to view the play properly. But, Washington fans might disagree with the no call.
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Chicago tied the game in the 81st minute on a cross from Casey Short to Christen Press, who beat defender Zadorsky and goalkeeper Kelsey Wys for the score.
Chicago was unable to secure the victory in the waning moments of regulation time when Vanessa DiBernardo missed just right of goal in the 88th minute. And in the second minute of extra time, Christen Press blasted the ball into the crossbar from short distance after goalkeeper Kelsey Wys had slipped down to the turf nearby.
The game was tied 1 to 1 at the end of regulation. For overtime, there are two 15 minute periods with no “golden goal”.
Washington had some opportunities to score by Francisca Ordega, Caprice Dydasco, and Katie Stengel. But none of those shots were too threatening, and the score after the first overtime period was still 1 to 1.
Washington scored the decisive goal in the 111th minute of the second overtime period. They had a quick counter attack where the ball was soon in the final third of the field. Washington player Stengel passed the ball to Nairn, and she passed the ball to Diana Matheson, who passed back to Nairn, who made a nice goal line cross to Ordega who tapped in for the decisive goal for the Spirit.
Chicago had not given up yet, and Katie Naughton came in for Amanda DaCosta in the 114th minute, and they moved defender Julie Johnston into an attacking midfielder role. However, hopes for a Chicago comeback were seemingly ended in the 118th minute when midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo suffered a painful lower limb injury, and she had to be carried off the field, leaving Chicago one player down with only minutes remaining.
The game ended in a 2 to 1 victory for the Washington Spirit, who will travel to Houston next weekend for the championship. They will play the winner of the Portland Thorn- Western New York Flash semi-final, which will be played Sunday evening.