Washington Spirit

Nov 23 (Reuters) - The Orlando Pride held off the Washington Spirit 1-0 to claim their first NWSL Championship title in Kansas City on Saturday, as Zambian striker Barbra Banda added one more lethal performance to a blockbuster year.

Banda, who had the second-most goals in the regular season with 16, slipped one past two-time NWSL goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Kingsbury in the 37th minute and a stout Orlando defence extinguished Washington's chances.

PURE BANDA-MONIUM!!!

Brazil legend, Marta, scored one of the best goals of the weekend as she sealed Orlando Pride’s ticket to the NWSL final on Sunday.

Marta amazing goal vs. KC Current

The 38-year-old picked up the ball in the middle of the pitch, sped through the defense, left two players in the dust and fooled the goalkeeper to score Orlando’s third and final goal in their 3-1 victory over KC Current. It’s just what legends do.

Marta really just sat down the entire defense.

Aubrey Kingsbury saved all three shots she faced in the penalty-kick shootout as the Washington Spirit defeated visiting NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday afternoon to advance to the NWSL championship game.

Ashley Hatch, Lena Silano and Tara McKeown scored shootout goals for Washington in the marathon semifinal match after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through 120 minutes plus stoppage time.

United States women's national team forward Trinity Rodman exited the field area in a wheelchair during the Washington Spirit's 3-0 loss to the Kansas City Current on Friday, which her agent attributed to an "intense back spasm."

That's what Mike Senkowski told The Washington Post Saturday about Rodman, adding her back remained bothersome the morning after.

Trinity Rodman injury

Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman led the Washington Spirit over the visiting Houston Dash 3-0 on Sunday.

The Spirit (14-4-2, 44 points) had no problems defeating Houston (3-12-5, 14 points) even without leading goal scorer Ouleymata Sarr. Instead, Hatch scored twice and Rodman had a goal and an assist to extend Washington's league unbeaten streak to five matches.

Trinity Rodman goal vs Houston Dash

Trinity Rodman is not slowing down and continues to be in hot-form in 2024.

U.S. women’s national team forward, Trinity Rodman, scored a fantastic solo goal to ignite the Washington Spirit’s comeback win against Portland Thorns on Saturday.

Watch: Trinity Rodman celebrates goal with Magic Johnson

The 22-year-old received the ball at the edge of the box, faked a shot, took on two defenders and hit a perfect low-driven shot to put the score level.

An honor at a Washington Nationals game proved costly for standout Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune.

The U.S. national team player was placed on the season-ending injury list on Wednesday after sustaining a torn meniscus away from training last week, the team announced.

Spirit coach Jonatan Giraldez filled in the rest of the story: Bethune was injured while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Nationals game.

Croix Bethune first pitch injury

The Washington Spirit will host English soccer powers Arsenal and Chelsea F.C. for a pair of international friendlies in August.

The club announced the inaugural Washington Spirit International Friendlies on Monday.

Washington Spirit friendlies announced

Arsenal and Chelsea are set to compete in the Washington Spirit International Friendlies at Audi Field this August!

Arsenal makes their USA debut facing Washington Spirit on August 18th and Chelsea on August 25th.

Trinity Rodman is on pace to become one of the next American stars at the international stage and an unbelievable stat for the USWNT in 2023 explains why.

Trinity Rodman is the only player to appear in all 18 USWNT matches in 2023; has historic goal contributions against China

The 21-year old is here to stay.

When it comes to rookies in the National Women's Soccer League, most of the discussion has centered around No. 1 overall pick Alyssa Thompson. The headlines write themselves when you're talking about an 18-year-old who's already scored some spectacular goals for Angel City and is challenging for the USWNT World Cup squad.

But what about No. 2 overall pick Michelle Cooper, the forward who won the 2022 Hermann Trophy as the nation's best college player with 19 goals and 11 assists in 22 games during her sophomore season at Duke?