"Following a second-place regular season finish and a loss to Gotham FC in the NWSL Championship match last season-the second year in a row the Spirit finished No. 2 in the league standings and in the title game-Washington enters 2026 as a championship contender. However, the team will look a bit different."
"Perhaps more significantly, the Spirit nabbed executive Haley Carter from the Orlando Pride-which won both the NWSL Shield (regular season) and NWSL Championship in 2024 under Carter's leadership-to be its new President of Soccer Operations. That move helped the Spirit place second in ESPN's preseason NWSL "ambition rankings" for "franchises that are pushing boundaries.""
"The 23-year-old forward has played for the team since 2021, when she was selected No. 2 overall in the draft. She quickly soared to stardom-earning Rookie of the Year honors and later becoming the youngest NWSL player to reach 50 career goal contributions (goals + assists). During her five seasons with the Spirit, she has scored 36 goals and 23 assists."
The Washington Spirit begins the 2026 NWSL season on March 13 against Portland Thorns, seeking their first championship after finishing second in the regular season and losing the title match to Gotham FC for the second consecutive year. The team underwent significant roster changes, trading attacking midfielder Croix Bethune to Kansas City for $1 million and losing several other players including Courtney Brown, Brittany Ratcliffe, and Ouleye Sarr. The Spirit retained key players like Tara Rudd, Leicy Santos, and Aubrey Kingsbury, and hired Haley Carter as President of Soccer Operations after her success with Orlando Pride. Trinity Rodman, the team's star forward since 2021, remains with the Spirit after securing a major contract despite overseas offers.
Read at Washingtonian - The website that Washington lives by.
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