# 2017 Washington Spirit season

The 2017 season is Washington Spirit's fifth season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.

## Review

In the aftermath of finishing 2016 runners-up, the Spirit saw a series of key departures including captain Ali Krieger (traded to Orlando Pride), Christine Nairn and Diana Matheson (both traded to Seattle Reign), and Crystal Dunn leaving for Chelsea, while retaining her contracting rights. In addition to the departures, key injuries to Joanna Lohman, Francisca Ordega, and goalkeeper Kelsey Wys limited the Spirit's playing options.
Unable to adequately replace these players, the Spirit struggled to compete throughout the 2017 season ultimately finishing last (10th) for the first time since the inaugural season. However, building for the future, Gabarra was able to recruit U.S. national team prospect, Mallory Pugh midseason. Pugh would go on to lead the team in scoring, registering 6 goals in 16 games.

## Club
### Roster

The first-team roster of Washington Spirit.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | CAN | Stephanie Labbé (FP) |
| 2 | FW | USA | Arielle Ship |
| 3 | DF | USA | Caprice Dydasco |
| 4 | DF | CAN | Shelina Zadorsky (FP) |
| 5 | DF | USA | Whitney Church |
| 6 | DF | USA | Kassey Kallman |
| 7 | MF | DEN | Line Sigvardsen Jensen |
| 8 | FW | CAN | Lindsay Agnew |
| 9 | MF | JAM | Havana Solaun |
| 10 | FW | ARG | Estefanía Banini |
| 11 | FW | USA | Mallory Pugh (FP) |
| 12 | MF | USA | Morgan Proffitt |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | NGA | Francisca Ordega |
| 15 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman |
| 17 | FW | USA | Cali Farquharson |
| 18 | GK | USA | Kelsey Wys |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Cheyna Williams |
| 21 | GK | BIH | DiDi Haracic |
| 22 | DF | USA | Alyssa Kleiner |
| 23 | MF | USA | Tori Huster |
| 24 | DF | CMR | Estelle Johnson |
| 27 | FW | CHI | Yanara Aedo |
| 29 | MF | USA | Megan Dougherty Howard |
* (FP) = Federation player

### Team management

| Owner | Bill Lynch |
| General Manager | Jim Gabarra |
| Head Coach | Jim Gabarra |
Source:

## Competitions
### Preseason

On February 2, the Washington Spirit announced its preseason schedule.

### Regular season
#### Regular-season standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 16 | 1 | 7 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 49 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC (C) | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 37 | 20 | +17 | 47 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 45 | 31 | +14 | 40 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 39 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 43 | 37 | +6 | 34 | |
| 6 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 42 | 51 | −9 | 33 | |
| 7 | FC Kansas City | 24 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 29 | 31 | −2 | 31 | |
| 8 | Houston Dash | 24 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 23 | 39 | −16 | 24 | |
| 9 | Boston Breakers | 24 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 35 | −11 | 19 | |
| 10 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 30 | 48 | −18 | 19 | |

## Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: October 1, 2017. Source: Match reports

## Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| Stadium | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H |
| Result | L | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | L |
| Position | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 |

### Postseason playoff

The Spirit struggled to gain any momentum during the 2017 season and were the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention after a home loss to the Chicago Red Stars on August 26 (Week 19).

## Squad statistics

Squad statistics are of regular season only

### Appearances and goals

    As of October 1, 2017
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | NWSL | NWSL |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Defenders: ||||||||
| 3 | DF | USA | Caprice Dydasco | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | CAN | Shelina Zadorsky | 21 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | USA | Whitney Church | 22 | 1 | 22 | 1 |
| 6 | DF | USA | Kassey Kallman | 17 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | USA | Morgan Proffitt | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | USA | Alyssa Kleiner | 18 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Midfielders: ||||||||
| 9 | MF | JAM | Havana Solaun | 24 | 5 | 24 | 5 |
| 10 | MF | ARG | Estefania Banini | 9 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 15 | MF | USA | Joanna Lohman | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | USA | Cameron Castleberry | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | USA | Kristie Mewis | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| 23 | MF | USA | Tori Huster | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | CMR | Estelle Johnson | 20 | 2 | 20 | 2 |
| 29 | MF | USA | Megan Dougherty Howard | 23 | 1 | 23 | 1 |
| Forwards: ||||||||
| 2 | FW | USA | Arielle Ship | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | DEN | Line Jensen | 9 | 1 | 9 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | CAN | Lindsay Agnew | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | USA | Mallory Pugh | 16 | 6 | 16 | 6 |
| 12 | FW | USA | Katie Stengel | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | USA | Crystal Thomas | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | NGA | Francisca Ordega | 14 | 4 | 14 | 4 |
| 17 | FW | USA | Cali Farquharson | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Cheyna Williams | 21 | 5 | 21 | 5 |
| 27 | FW | CHI | Yanara Aedo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Italics indicates player left team midway through season.

### Goalkeeper Stats

Last updated: October 1, 2017
| No. | Nat | Player | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League | National Women's Soccer League |
| No. | Nat | Player | GP | GS | MIN | W | L | D | GA | GAA | CS |
| 1 | | Stephanie Labbe | 17 | 17 | 1530 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 30 | 1.76 | 2 |
| 18 | | Kelsey Wys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
| 21 | | DiDi Haracic | 7 | 7 | 630 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 2.57 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| November 17, 2016 | Kristie Mewis | 19 | MF | Boston Breakers | Trade |
| November 17, 2016 | Kassey Kallman | 6 | DF | Boston Breakers | Trade |
| December 21, 2016 | Havana Solaun | 9 | MF | Seattle Reign FC | Trade for Rights, Signed |
| February 10, 2017 | DiDi Haracic | 21 | GK | Washington Spirit Reserves | Signed |
| March 10, 2017 | Lindsay Agnew | 8 | FW | Ohio State | 2017 Draft Pick |
| March 10, 2017 | Megan Dougherty Howard | 29 | MF | Florida | 2017 Draft Pick |
| April 5, 2017 | Arielle Ship | 2 | FW | California | 2017 Draft Pick |
| April 5, 2017 | Cameron Castleberry | 16 | MF | North Carolina | 2017 Draft Pick |
| April 27, 2017 | Crystal Thomas | 13 | FW | Georgetown University | Signed |
| May 13, 2017 | Mallory Pugh | 11 | FW | UCLA | Signed via Distribution Ranking Order |
| June 19, 2017 | Estefanía Banini | 10 | FW | Valencia Féminas CF | Signed pending international transfer certificate |
| June 27, 2017 | Yanara Aedo | 27 | FW | Valencia Féminas CF | Signed pending international transfer certificate |
| August 23, 2017 | Morgan Proffitt | 12 | MF | Chicago Red Stars | Signed after waived |

### Out

| Date | Player | Number | Position | New club | Fee/notes |
| October 18, 2016 | Estefanía Banini | 10 | MF | Valencia Féminas CF | Free |
| October 19, 2016 | Laura del Rio | 57 | FW | | Waived |
| November 2, 2016 | Ali Krieger | 11 | DF | Orlando Pride | Trade |
| November 17, 2016 | Megan Oyster | 4 | DF | Boston Breakers | Trade |
| April 22, 2016 | Christine Nairn | 7 | MF | Seattle Reign FC | Trade |
| January 2, 2017 | Crystal Dunn | 19 | FW | Chelsea L.F.C. | Free |
| January 23, 2017 | Diana Matheson | 8 | MF | Seattle Reign FC | Trade |
| May 19, 2017 | Crystal Thomas | 13 | FW | | Waived |
| June 28, 2017 | Katie Stengel | 12 | FW | Boston Breakers | Waived |
| June 28, 2017 | Cameron Castleberry | 16 | MF | | Waived |
| August 21, 2017 | Kristie Mewis | 19 | FW | Chicago Red Stars | Trade for 2018 First round draft pick |

## Honors and awards
### NWSL Team of the Month

| Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Ref. |
| April | Stephanie Labbé | Estelle Johnson | | | |
| June | Stephanie Labbé | Estelle Johnson | | | |

### NWSL Weekly Awards
#### NWSL Player of the Week

| Week | Result | Player |
| 4 | Won | Francisca Ordega |
| 15 | Won | Arielle Ship |
| 20 | Won | Whitney Church |

#### NWSL Save of the Week

| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
| 11 | Won | Stephanie Labbé | |
| 20 | Won | DiDi Haracic Whitney Church | |