Photo Copyright Lucas Boland for USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Spirit have been pretty hot lately. On Sunday, June 23, in an away game in New Jersey against NJ/NY Gotham FC, they ran into weather that was even hotter. So hot, in fact, that the game had to be postponed to 6 p.m. from its original start time of 1:30 p.m. to spare the players from playing in the scorching heat. But the burn of the heat wave didn’t outdo the blazing energy of the Spirit, who beat Gotham 2-0 and extended their 2024 unbeaten streak to six games.
“We were aware that the weather was a key factor today,” remarked interim head coach Adrian Gonzalez after the match. In the postgame presser, he explained how he adjusted some of his coaching plans to accommodate the extreme heat, prioritizing player health and safety throughout the game. “It wasn’t a good option to play at 1:30. We tried to run less, and better, for sure … It was a challenge because player fatigue was high.” The adjustment from 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. made a considerable…
