Washington Spirit Extend Lead Atop the NWSL Table
Washington Spirit edge Orlando Pride to extend their lead atop the NWSL table as Week 16 comes to a close. WNY Flash played out a 2-2 draw versus the Houston Dash, while the Portland Thorns fall to Seattle Reign to stall their push towards the top of the leaderboard.
Related Article: Chicago Red Stars Edge Sky Blue FC
NWSL Soccer News: Week 16 of the 2016 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season concludes as the Washington Spirit push their lead to a six-point cushion atop the league standings.
Washington topped Orlando Pride on Friday night at Camping World Stadium with a 2-1 victory for the traveling squad. Cheyna Williams opened up the scoring for the Spirit in the 36th minute off an assist from Caprice Dydasco.
Christine Nairn extended Washington’s lead in the 57th minute with the assist being credited to Katie Stenge. Sarah Hagen was able to put the Pride on the board in the 71st minute, but the tide was too heavy to overcome against a streaking Washington side.
Portland Thorns FC were unable to keep stride with the Spirit after a 3-1 loss to Seattle Reign FC at Memorial Stadium. Manon Melis put Seattle ahead with a pair of goals before Portland’s Allie Long was able to steal one back in the second minute of stoppage time.
Megan Rapinoe put the game to bed with a final goal in the 94th minute. Portland remain in second place behind the league leaders heading into Week 17.
Western New York Flash and the Houston Dash played out a 2-2 draw at Rhinos Stadium to stall the Flash’s title push as they now sit in fourth place. Lynn Williams tallied two assists on the night for WNY with Makenzy Doniak and Lianne Sanderson recording the pair of goals for the host.
Both teams battled back-and-forth with Houston’s Denise O’Sullivan providing the opening goal of the match. Sanderson brought the match level in the 36th minute, while Kealia Ohai was able to put the Dash back on top seven minutes into the second half of play. Doniak’s strike five minutes later brought the match level with both teams coming out of the weekend with a point.
The Red Stars and Sky Blue FC closed out Saturday with a 3-1 victory going to Chicago at Yurcak Field. Chicago currently sits in third place of the NWSL standing, while Sky Blue drop their second straight match.
Stephanie McCaffrey opened up the scoring for the Red Stars in the 31st minute. Goals from Christen Press and Sofia Huerta in the final 20 minutes gave Chicago a three-goal advantage before Samantha Kerr scored Sky Blue’s lone goal in stoppage time.
The Boston Breakers tallied their third win of the season with a 2-0 victory against FC Kansas City in the week’s final match on Sunday.
Katie Schoepfer put Boston on the scoreboard in the 38th minute with the assist credited to defender Brooke Elby. The Breakers extended their lead off a stellar sequence by Kristie Mewis whose strike from outside the box rattled the crossbar. Mewis was able to finish the rebound that bounced back to the penalty spot as she records her first goal of the season.
Week 17 begins on Wednesday when the Boston Breakers welcome Houston to Jordan Field with kickoff set for 8:00 p.m. ET.
