In title game rematch, Spirit rallies to top Pride for Challenge Cup crown

Washington Post

08-03-2025

ORLANDO — The NWSL Challenge Cup may have marked the dawn of a new campaign for the Washington Spirit, but much about the curtain-raising match felt eerily similar to how the club's 2024 season came to a close.
Having faced the Orlando Pride in November's NWSL final in Kansas City, Missouri, the Spirit traveled to Inter&Co Stadium for a rematch Friday night. Washington, which was forced to navigate a slew of injuries last fall, kicked off its 2025 campaign shorthanded again. And after Orlando broke through in the 37th minute of the NWSL final, it opened the scoring in the 41st minute of the Challenge Cup.
But that's where the scripts diverged. The Spirit rallied to force a shootout Friday when Leicy Santos curled in a second-half free kick. Once the match ended 1-1 after 90 minutes, Tara McKeown rifled home the decisive penalty kick, and the Spirit triumphed, 4-2, in a shootout to earn its first trophy since the 2021 NWSL championship. It was a markedly different result from last year, when the Spirit fell, 1-0, in the NWSL final.
'People externally, were like, 'Oh, this isn't a regular season game,'' Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt said. 'But to us, it's always been a fight because of the background and the story that we have with them.'
Ashley Hatch, Rebeca Bernal and Narumi Miura also converted for Washington. After Summer Yates hooked Orlando's third shot wide, Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury stoned Ally Lemos to pave the way for McKeown's clincher.
'I haven't taken a penalty since last year when I scored in the semifinal [shootout],' McKeown said. 'So I was like, 'I probably should have been practicing a little bit, but if it comes down to it, I'm going to just try and score.' And it did, and I scored.'
New silverware in hand, the Spirit will kick off its regular season next Friday at the Houston Dash.
Previously staged as a pandemic bubble event, a preseason tournament and a midseason competition, the Challenge Cup has endured and evolved since its 2020 inception. Since last season, the Challenge Cup has been held as a single match that doesn't count toward the standings but does have a trophy on the line, in the fashion of England's Community Shield or the Spanish Super Cup.
'We were all really excited to start the season off this way,' McKeown said. 'People want to play for trophies all their life.'
Although the contest was designed to pit the NWSL champion against the reigning regular season winner, it shifts to a title game rematch if the same team claims both crowns.
Several of the Spirit's key absences from the NWSL final — midfielders Andi Sullivan (knee) and Croix Bethune (knee) and striker Ouleymata Sarr (back) — remained sidelined Friday. Joining those stalwarts on the injured list: defenders Paige Metayer (knee), Kysha Sylla (knee) and Kate Wiesner (hip); midfielders Courtney Brown (hip) and Heather Stainbrook (hip); and forward Rosemonde Kouassi (knee).
The depleted squad led to a surprise start for Chloe Ricketts, a 17-year-old midfielder who made just four appearances last season. Washington dressed only seven substitutes — two shy of the limit — and three of those players were short-term injury replacements signed Wednesday.
Star forward Trinity Rodman dressed for the match but never got off the bench. The NWSL MVP finalist sat out the past several U.S. national team camps and managed her workload during the preseason because of a lingering back issue.
The Pride, meanwhile, deployed a largely full-strength squad spearheaded by imposing striker Barbra Banda, NWSL defender of the year Emily Sams and Marta, the 39-year-old Brazilian legend who continues to dazzle a quarter-century into her professional career.
But it was Orlando winger Ally Watt who proved to be the biggest thorn in the Spirit's side. In the 14th minute, Kingsbury lunged to tip Watt's rising shot off the crossbar. Later, Watt's driven cross created a nervy moment in the goalmouth before Kingsbury pounced on the ball.
Shortly before halftime, Watt's persistence got Orlando on the scoreboard. Initially, Watt appeared to earn the Pride a penalty when she took the ball off Miura and drew a foul on the Spirit newcomer. Although video review found the contact occurred outside the box, changing the penalty kick to a free kick, the reversal only delayed the inevitable. As Marta smashed the subsequent set piece into the Spirit wall, Brazilian defender Rafaelle lined up the loose ball and launched a half-volley in off the post.
The Spirit's equalizer arrived in the 72nd minute. Orlando midfielder Angelina took down Miura just outside the box, and Santos struck a free kick that goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse could only parry off the bottom of the crossbar and in.
Both teams flirted with a late winner. The Spirit appealed for a penalty when the ball ricocheted off the arm of Orlando forward Prisca Chilufya in the box, but referee Alex Billeter ruled the contact was incidental. And Pride defender Kylie Strom headed home an apparent 90th-minute winner that was ruled offside, setting the stage for the shootout.
'First game of the season, we're still figuring stuff out,' Hershfelt said. 'But to be able to come out still winning the cup — that was really sick. We were able to bring it all together in the end.'