One week after traveling to take on the Spirit and beating them 1-0, FC Kansas City improved their record against them by winning 3-2 this time as they returned home to host the D.C. side.
It was Kristie Mewis with the first goal of the match, giving the Spirit an early lead. Before the clock even hit the 4th minute, the Spirit were already up 1-0 following a corner kick, which Mewis served into the box. As Kansas City failed to clear the corner kick and the ball bounced towards the left side of the penalty area, Mewis ran onto it and smacked it through a sea of blue, beating Nicole Barnhart at the near post.
Here is @KristieMewie's goal for the @WashSpirit pic.twitter.com/loQkY4Wbtv
— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) May 28, 2017
Leroux made it a short-lived lead for the Spirit, scoring five minutes later. Brittany Ratcliffe dribbled up the field and then passed the ball to Leroux to the left, who out-paced and out-muscled the Spirit defense to get a shot off at the last second to beat an oncoming Stephanie Labbé with a shot to the lower right corner of the goal.
In the 27th minute, Leroux scored her second goal of the night. This time, the Spirit put themselves in danger as Whitney Church lost possession under pressure from Shea Groom just outside the penalty area. As Groom and Church battled for the ball, Leroux stepped in and took a touch into space, and then blasted the ball into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead.
After the break, Becky Sauerbrunn extended Kansas City’s lead with a big header that sailed from the left side of the penalty area into the top left corner of the goal on the 60th minute.
#KCvWAS – Becky Sauerbrunn makes it 3-1 for KC pic.twitter.com/ytf2QYpWcD
— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) May 28, 2017
About 10 minutes later, Kansas City was down to 10 players as Alexa Newfield was given a yellow card for the second time in the match following a collision with Labbé. It didn’t seem to obstruct their game plan as they still dominated much of the remainder of the game.
After having a goal called off, the Spirit were able to cut their deficit in the 82nd minute when Havana Solaun took a shot from outside the box. It was deflected along the way by Yael Averbuch, and Barnhart could do nothing to stop it.
The match ended on a strong note from the Spirit, who now had a little bit of momentum going their way after the goal, as Mallory Pugh made a strong run up the field that resulted in a pass to Mewis who took a shot that went over the bar.
The match ended seconds later at 3-2 in favor of Kansas City.
