"Kouassi practically flew to the sideline as she kept the ball in bounds and left Thorns defender Kaitlyn Torpey in her dust. It took exactly 16 seconds for the ball to go from Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie's foot for a Thorns corner kick to the back of the opposite net, some 120 yards away, where Gift Monday tapped in a pass from Kouassi."
"The goal also perfectly encapsulated the Spirit's recent success: two unsung heroes carrying the load for a team hellbent on outworking their opponents. Kouassi and Monday have quietly carried a Spirit team that has labored through injuries this season and operated -- very much against their will and to the chagrin of head coach Adrián González during news conferences -- in the shadow of forward Trinity Rodman's stardom."
Washington Spirit defeated Portland Thorns 2-0 in an NWSL semifinal at Audi Field, clinching a second consecutive trip to the NWSL Championship. Rosemonde Kouassi chased a ball down the sideline, kept it in bounds and created a sequence that, 16 seconds after a Thorns corner, resulted in Gift Monday's tap-in roughly 120 yards away. The goal capped a suffocating first-half of pressure by the Spirit. Kouassi and Monday have carried much of the offensive burden amid injuries and while operating in the shadow of Trinity Rodman's stardom. Rodman entered in the 90th minute and nearly scored in stoppage time in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 fans.
Read at ESPN.com
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