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Washington Spirit: What has gone wrong for the defending NWSL champions?

(Scott Taetsch/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The Washington Spirit have had a trying 2022 season, with the club notching just one win after charging to the 2021 NWSL title.

To identify one root cause of the Spirit’s issues this season would prove nearly impossible: a gauntlet of an early-season schedule, a bevy of player absences, the mounting pressure to break the losing skid.

The tensions came to a head this week, as coach Kris Ward was relieved of his duties after a confrontation that occurred during one of the team’s training sessions. He was fired amid a 17-match winless streak dating back to May 1, with just six matches left on the NWSL regular season schedule.

The 2022 campaign marked a startling shift in form for the Spirit, who prevailed in 2021 despite a tumultuous ownership saga, the firing of head coach Richie Burke and the wider NWSL reckoning around coaching abuses.

So, how did the 2022 season go so wrong for Washington?

Frenetic schedule

The Spirit fell victim to their own successes to start the season.

The squad made a run to the Challenge Cup final in May. For the finalists, the preseason tournament stretched across eight matches, with Washington’s regular season opener sandwiched between its last group stage match and the Challenge Cup semifinal.

After the tournament final, just 12 days separated the Spirit’s next four games, with the team playing a total of seven games in less than a month.

“There were so many consequences, in my mind, that came from the Challenge Cup for us and many others, as well,” Ward told The Athletic following his firing. “And then just the difficult run of games. All of those games back-to-back-to-back for seven, eight weeks; it was a twofold problem in that the people who were playing had to continue to play.

“Because we were playing every three days we couldn’t train, so the players who were trying to come back couldn’t get minutes against that level or that intensity because they’d be training one-on-one or with the reserve team. It made it difficult to get players back.”

Injury and international duty

The Spirit have played without key players too often to find a rhythm with their roster.

Co-captain and midfield anchor Andi Sullivan started the season with a knock, almost immediately putting Washington on the back foot.

Then the team had to manage during the international break as players left to compete for the U.S. women’s national team at the Concacaf W Championship in July. With World Cup and Olympic qualifying on the line, this summer’s national team call-ups carried different weight and demanded a higher level of concentration.

The Spirit consistently have sent the most players to the USWNT this year, with Kelley O’Hara, Aubrey Kingsbury, Emily Sonnett, Ashley Sanchez, Sullivan, Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman routinely called into camp.

O’Hara will miss the USWNT’s September friendlies due to a lingering hip injury, though she has continued to play for the Spirit. Sonnett will also miss the friendlies, but she also has been ruled out for the rest of the NWSL season with a foot injury.

The team signed midfielder Marissa Sheva and forward Audrey Harding through the end of the season to fill the gaps in their roster.

Did Ward lose the locker room?

Ward’s relationships with several players had frayed this season ahead of his dismissal, The Washington Post reported.

Spirit general manager Mark Krikorian later told reporters that, following an Aug. 19 confrontation between Ward and a player at practice, “it became apparent to me and to all that a change was necessary.”

While Krikorian declined to provide details of the incident or to say if the incident was part of a broader pattern of behavior from Ward, the ex-coach told The Athletic that he had yelled at the player in question but claimed that he stopped short of name-calling or belittling.

“I think, looking at it now, if I had to do it again, I would do it differently,” Ward said. “Typically, my style is one-on-one, having a conversation off to the side.”

When asked directly by The Athletic if he lost the locker room, Ward responded, “Honestly, no.” Per Ward, though, Krikorian cited losing the locker room as a primary concern driving the decision to fire the coach.

Co-captain Andi Sullivan read a statement after the team’s first game following Ward’s firing, telling reporters that players “are angered by Kris Ward’s answers in the piece by The Athletic. We know the idiom there are two sides to every story, but that is simply not the case in this scenario.”

“We know his interview to be a completely inaccurate recollection of a serious situation and furthermore the apology offered to us last Friday demonstrates a misalignment in his word and actions toward this team,” Sullivan added.

The Spirit’s winless skid reached 18 after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with the Houston Dash. They still are seeking their first win since May 1 with five matches left in the regular season, but they’ll aim to end their challenging year on a high.

WPSL to Launch First-Ever 2nd Division U.S. Pro Women’s Soccer League

The new WPSL Pro league logo on a red-to-blue ombre gradient background.
The new WPSL Pro league is set to launch in 2026. (WPSL Pro Soccer)

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

Caitlin Clark Scores 2nd Best-Selling Jersey Across WNBA and NBA Sales

Fans clamor to buy Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark jerseys before a 2024 WNBA game.
Caitlin Clark sold the second-most basketball jerseys in the US in 2024. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan Runner Sharon Lokedi Shatters Boston Marathon Record

Kenya's Sharon Lokedi raises her arms in triumph as she crosses the 2025 Boston Marathon finish line.
Kenya’s Sharon Lokedi beat the Boston Marathon course record by over two minutes. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.

Naomi Girma Makes Champions League Debut for Chelsea in UWCL Semifinal Loss

Barcelona's Alexia Putellas shakes hands with Chelsea's Naomi Girma after their 2024/25 Champions League semifinal.
Naomi Girma subbed into Chelsea’s 4-1 Champions League semifinal loss to Barcelona on Sunday. (JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

USWNT star defender Naomi Girma made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut this weekend, with Chelsea FC's million-dollar signing taking the pitch during the UK club's tough 4-1 semifinal loss to reigning champion Barcelona on Sunday.

Despite joining the WSL leaders on a world-record $1.1 million transfer fee from the NWSL’s San Diego Wave in January, injury hampered Girma's impact on the Blues, as the Stanford grad appeared in just one regular-season WSL match before exiting with a knock to the calf back in March.

Returning from that injury, Girma subbed in at the 81st minute on a mission to protect Chelsea's relatively tight 2-1 scoreline on Sunday.

Despite her efforts, a quick goal from center back Irene Paredes coupled with a 90th-minute strike from forward Clàudia Pina secured Barcelona the win — plus a significant lead going into this weekend's deciding second-leg semifinal match.

"Barcelona were sharper in tight spaces than we were, which is what they're known for," said Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze after the match.

"The whole rhythm of the game was very different from in England. This was much more of a Spanish tempo. We wanted to play a little more aggressively on the ball, but the staccato nature of the match worked against us."

How to watch the Chelsea at theChampions League semifinals

Girma will have another chance to earn her check this Sunday, when Chelsea hosts Barcelona in the second leg of their 2024/25 UEFA Champions League semifinal round.

The match kicks off at 9 AM ET, with live coverage on DAZN.

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