I wasn’t expecting another chaos-off between Angel City and the Washington Spirit at this point in the season, but those who tuned in to this week’s Thursday night match were treated to just that.

The teams split the points, which from my perspective, is impressive for Angel City considering the current state of the roster. Due to the many recent departures in combination with current injuries, Head Coach Alex Straus could only field the minimum roster for a game day with two of those substitutions being goalkeepers. All of those factors were not leaving me hopeful about the team’s chances against one of the league’s top teams that is only getting healthier.

I think that Straus maximized the available players with the starting lineup. Miyabi Moriya slotted into the left outside back role pushing Evelyn Shores into the midfield next to new signing Nealy Martin. Jun Endo returned to the starting lineup as a left winger, while Maiara Niehues got the start in attacking midfield over Kennedy Fuller.

Washington Spirit has had some tough moments at the back this season. Not totally unlike Angel City, but probably for very different reasons. Angel City did a fairly good job of keeping the game transitional throughout the first half in particular. The fullbacks did a decent job quickly progressing the ball up the wings, particularly on the right, to avoid getting caught up in a midfield battle. I really like the connection between Moriya and Endo, but Trinity Rodman’s presence on that side of the pitch made for quite a bit of danger down the left.

It’s a bad challenge by Moriya on Rodman in the box that conceded the penalty in the 12th minute. Rodman’s kick was poorly taken. Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson made the initial save, but allowed a rebound that Rodman put away easily.

Angel City’s response was immediate. A subtle indicator of the squad’s growth. Niehues won a turnover in the midfield and laid it off to Sveindís Jónsdóttir who pushed the ball up to Gisele Thompson. She beat her defender to the end line and served a beautiful cutback pass to the feet of an oncoming Evelyn Shores. Despite the crowd of Spirit defenders in the box, Shores notched the equalizer.

The first half took an extended break due to the Spirit’s Deborah Abiodun taking an incidental cleat to the face. Similar to Sarah Gorden a year ago, medical took time to stop the bleeding and slap a bandage on her head. Thankfully it wasn’t anything more serious. Play on. I do want to give Abiodun a shout. It took her no time to seemingly slot in perfectly on the pitch with Washington and was an absolute warrior continuing to play until the 88th minute.

Straus said in the post-match press conference that Endo was only cleared for 45 minutes. Kennedy Fuller came on at half time deployed as a winger and did alright for being asked, yet again, to play out of her preferred position. Angel City applied a lot of pressure out the gates, and forced the Spirit’s Tara McKeown into an own goal “assisted” by Riley Tiernan.

It’s after the go ahead goal that things start to get pretty nervy for Angel City. The Spirit have insane depth. As Thompson came off in the 67th, they were putting on Sofia Cantore and then Gift Monday in the 88th. Meanwhile Angel City is putting on Madison Hammond and Macey Hodge. No disrespect to those two, but it’s just not the same in terms of fire power.

Hammond coming in pushed Shores to the left outside back and Moriya switched sides. Shores didn’t fare much better against Rodman and Hammond didn’t add the same progressive value that Shores did next to Martin. All that to say that things started getting messy real quick. They ended up having to absorb a lot of pressure. Despite conceding twice, Anderson played a great game and helped the squad hold on to a point. She faced 21 shots with 14 of those being on target. She had shaky moments in the build, but in general, I found she looked a lot more comfortable and confident than she had before being ruled out a few weeks ago with what Straus later revealed to have been a broken toe.

Despite her best efforts, the Spirit eventually broke through on a Croix Bethune header. After that Washington’s chances kept coming. There were plenty of times that Angel City could have let the game slip away from them, but they didn’t. Again, a sign of their developing maturity. It’s another example of the players on the squad stepping up and pushing on despite adversity. They closed out the match keeping a point for themselves. Even though I was holding my breath for the last 15-20 minutes of the match, multiple players had good nights. Jónsdóttir continues to be extremely fun to watch. I think we all collectively wish she would finish more of her chances, but I think she’s going to be excellent next season after she’s been able to fully digest what it’s like to play in the NWSL. Martin was a breath of fresh air in the midfield and Shores was a good partner for her throughout the first 70 minutes of the match. It was great to see both Endo and Thompson back playing a good amount of minutes. Thompson in particular had an amazing night and she makes a huge difference for this squad. Gorden did a good job of keeping Rosemonde Kouassi pretty quiet. The team is lean right now but there are good bones here.

The Washington Spirit are a great team with an excellent roster. Angel City’s multi-season long “transition phase” is perhaps at its most fragile and obvious moment right now. Despite everything, Angel City held their own against the Spirit. They seem committed to the process despite the setbacks and the odds being stacked against them.

Straus acknowledged that the team is having to suffer right now. The departures, the injuries, the changes. The way he talked about the Alyssa Thompson trade made me feel like losing her was definitely not in whatever plan he was sold when taking over the Head Coach role. He talked about how it has been difficult for the team, and that it changes their dynamics and plans. However, he also showed continued commitment to what they’re trying to build. Straus was sure to give the players their flowers for the improvements they’ve made since the international break and noted how proud he was of their resilience. He did say, though, that they may continue to suffer through the rest of the season because he and Parsons do not want to compromise on the players they want to bring in just to have more substitutes. Perhaps there are still deals to be made this season, but we’ll just have to see.

Next week Angel City has a big game against Racing Louisville. Both teams now sit below the playoff line. A win for either side would help to keep their post-season dreams alive. For Angel City, it’s more of a necessity. Louisville will be looking to redeem themselves in the aftermath of a 2-3 loss to the Utah Royals, while Angel City will be looking to build on their performance against the Spirit. The first match between these two sides was also a chaos-off. There was a penalty kick for each team and a red card for Racing. The stakes are high and it’ll be After Dark, so we might as well start emotionally bracing ourselves for what’s to come.

**Images courtesy of Angel City