WHO: Washington Spirit, 0-0-1, 5th place NWSL Challenge Cup Eastern Division

WHAT: an NWSL Challenge Cup match

WHEN: Thursday, April 15, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

WHERE: Audi Field, 100 Potomac Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., 20024

WATCH: It’s a closed event to everyone but team staffs and some incognito VIPs, I’m sure, so your only bet is to watch it on Paramount+.

WHO, AGAIN?

Jonathan Lintner and his Ministry of Truth cohorts at Soccer Holdings have gotten very good at writing match previews, to the point that I’m tempted to stop writing them myself. Here are the hot deets on the Spirit:

Boasting a combination of youthful contributors and experienced veterans, the Spirit provide a unique challenge after finishing second in the 2020 Challenge Cup’s preliminary round. Spirit forward Ashley Sanchez was recognized as the Future Legend of the tournament before Washington finished third in the 2020 Fall Series with a 2-0-2 record.

In the offseason, the Spirit strengthened their back line by signing U.S. Women’s National Team defenders Kelly O’Hara and Emily Sonnett, both of whom will be gone on international duty Thursday. Additionally, midfielder Andi Sullivan, who missed most of 2020 with a meniscus injury, was called up to represent her country.

The Spirit opened the Challenge Cup with a 3-2 defeat to perennial league power North Carolina Courage. After going up early from a goal by Kumi Yokoyama in the fourth minute, the Courage scored three straight goals. Trinity Rodman, selected No. 1 overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft, ended the deluge in the 60th minute with her first professional goal.

Washington is coached by Richie Burke, a long-time assistant at DC United with a couple of short pit stops before taking the Spirit job. The Spirit have never been a particularly good NWSL team, but they’re flying high with expectations in 2021 after picking up O’Hara, Sonnett, and Trinity Rodman. Those pieces, together with the rising prospects of Bayley Feist and Ashley Sanchez give Washington what should be a very potent attack.

Racing will be shorthanded, to put it mildly:

Injury report

• Addisyn Merrick (Out)
• Cheyna Matthews  (Out)
• Jorian Baucom (Out, suspended)
• Lauren Milliet (Questionable)
• Freja Olofsson (Questionable)
• Emina Ekic (Questionable)
• Cece Kizer (Questionable)
• Katie McClure (Questionable)

Milliet, Olofsson, Ekic, Kizer and McClure all played on Saturday against Orlando. With Merrick, Matthews and Baucom out, Racing will only have 18 players available to go against Washington tonight, anyway. My guess is we’ll see those players marked “questionable” on the field.

It’s a short turnaround for both clubs, something that Christy Holly is definitely aware of:

“It is a very quick turnaround. I think for us, it is a quick review about what happened and a quick bit of preparation about Washington, what they are trying to do and how they can hurt us. I think the most consistent theme here is where do we want to go and how we want to grow. There were many parts of the game that I was frustrated with and thought we could do a better job but that is all part of growth.

“The first challenge is the turnaround. It is a quick turnaround because we have a little bit of extra travel to do in that small space of time. I think you look at their team and it is a very talented team. If you let them play their way, they can hurt you very very quickly through different sources such as Ashley Hatch, Ashley Sanchez and Trinity Rodman. For us, we have to go into the game well prepared for them. I think we have to do a better job defensively than we were on Saturday. I also think we can be more clinical going forward too.”

I fear this is the kind of scenario that could see Racing Louisville’s defense get pulled apart and chopped. I hope that’s not the case. Racing will need to find a way to track Washington’s center forwards and force them wide in the attack, because there were some evident weaknesses in the middle of the field. We’ll see whether the Spirit are able to exploit that, and how Holly can shore it up.

I admired Savannah McCaskill’s performance playing a lot deeper than I expected against Orlando. I never thought of her as a central midfielder, breaking up play defensively and linking it offensively, but perhaps that’s what Racing will need from her until reinforcements arrive. We’ll see.

In any event, if the Cup opener was any indication from both sides, this will be a fun game to watch. RUN WITH US!