Photo Copyright Christopher Creveling for USA TODAY Sports
On Saturday June 8, the Washington Spirit beat the Utah Royals 1-0 in Sandy, Utah, and made it look easy.
The first third of the game was competitive, but once the Spirit broke open the scoring in the 26th minute, they went on to dominate the final hour. The Spirit defense didn’t allow a single shot on goal from Utah between the 60th and 90th minutes. And this victory was made even more impressive by the fact that eight Spirit players had just returned from national team duty (seven with the United States and one, Gabrielle Carle, with Canada).
The Spirit, who currently sit in third place in the National Women’s Soccer League table with a record of 9-3-0, seem to be collecting wins these days. But beyond the club’s results, the accomplishments under the surface, that aren’t so obvious to the average fan, tell the real story of just how formidable this club has become this season.
At the club level, the Spirit are matching or setting their own records at a…
