# 2020 Washington Spirit season

The 2020 season was the Washington Spirit's seventh season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.
The season was slated to begin on April 18, 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the NWSL season was cancelled due to the pandemic. Th club participated in the NWSL Challenge Cup and the NWSL Fall series which were held in lieu of the regular season. The Challenge Cup was held behind closed doors at the neutral venue of Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah. The Spirit reached the Quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup and finished in third place in the Fall Series. Combined across all matches, the Spirit had the second best record of matches played during the 2020 season.

## 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 | USA | Aubrey Bledsoe |
| 2 | FW | USA | Ashley Sanchez |
| 3 | DF | USA | Sam Staab |
| 4 | MF | USA | Natalie Jacobs |
| 5 | DF | USA | Brooke Hendrix |
| 6 | FW | USA | Katie McClure |
| 7 | MF | USA | Jaye Boissierre |
| 8 | MF | USA | Megan Dougherty Howard |
| 9 | DF | USA | Tegan McGrady |
| 10 | MF | USA | Rose Lavelle (FP) |
| 11 | MF | USA | Jordan DiBiasi |
| 12 | MF | USA | Andi Sullivan |
| 13 | FW | USA | Bayley Feist |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | DF | USA | Paige Nielsen |
| 16 | MF | USA | Averie Collins |
| 17 | FW | JPN | Kumi Yokoyama (INT) |
| 18 | FW | USA | Jessie Scarpa |
| 19 | DF | USA | Dorian Bailey |
| 20 | FW | JAM | Cheyna Matthews |
| 21 | GK | USA | Katie Lund |
| 22 | FW | CAN | Jenna Hellstrom (INT) |
| 23 | MF | USA | Tori Huster |
| 24 | FW | USA | Kaiya McCullogh |
| 31 | FW | USA | Crystal Thomas |
| 33 | FW | USA | Ashley Hatch |
* (FP) = Federation player
* (INT) = International roster player

### Team management

    As of March 1, 2020
Coaching staff :
| Head Coach | Richie Burke |
| Player/Opponent Analyst | Tom Torres |
| High Performance Coach | Michael Minthorne |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Ian McCaldon |
| Team Performance Coach | Christian Cziommer |
| Reserve Team Head Coach | Kati Jo Spisak |
| Athletic Trainer | Julie Beveridge |

## Competitions
### Preseason

All preseason competitions were cancelled on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

### Regular season
#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: March 1, 2020. Source: NWSLsoccer.com

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Position | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### NWSL Challenge Cup
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | +6 | 12 |
| 2 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 5 |
| 4 | Houston Dash | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 |
| 5 | Utah Royals FC (H) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 4 |

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Ground | N | N | N | N |
| Result | W | L | D | W |
| Position | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 |

#### Knockout round
### NWSL Fall series

The Spirit were placed into the Northeast pod of the NWSL Fall series with the Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC. The spirit played each team twice, once home and once away. Home Matches were hosted at Segra field without spectators.

#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC (C) | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 10 | Community Shield |
| 2 | Houston Dash | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 9 | Runners-up |
| 3 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 7 | Third place |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 6 | |
| 5 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 10 | −2 | 5 | |
| 6 | Chicago Red Stars | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 4 | |
| 7 | OL Reign | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 4 | |
| 8 | Orlando Pride | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 2 | |
| 9 | Utah Royals FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | −5 | 2 | |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | Number | Position | Previous club | Fee/notes |
| December 17, 2019 | Jessie Scarpa | 18 | FW | North Carolina Tar Heels | Signed |
| December 17, 2019 | Jenna Hellstrom | 22 | FW | KIF Örebro DFF | Signed |
| December 18, 2019 | Kumi Yokoyama | 17 | FW | AC Nagano Parceiro | Signed |
| January 4, 2020 | Brooke Hendrix | 5 | DF | West Ham United | Signed |
| January 7, 2020 | Jaye Boissiere | 7 | MF | Le Havre AC | Signed |
| February 10, 2020 | Ashley Sanchez | 2 | FW | UCLA Bruins | Signed |
| February 10, 2020 | Natalie Jacobs | 4 | MF | USC Trojans | Signed Draft Pick |
| February 10, 2020 | Averie Collins | 16 | MF | Washington State Cougars | Signed Draft Pick |
| February 10, 2020 | Katie McClure | 6 | FW | Kansas Jayhawks | Signed Draft Pick |
| February 10, 2020 | Kaiya McCullogh | 24 | MF | UCLA Bruins | Signed Draft Pick |
| February 10, 2020 | Katie Lund | 21 | GK | Arkansas Razorbacks | Signed, Undrafted |

### Out

| Date | Player | Number | Position | New club | Fee/notes |
| November 4, 2019 | Arielle Ship | 2 | FW | Utah Royals FC | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Megan Crosson | 5 | DF | Houston Dash | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Chloe Logarzo | 6 | MF | Bristol City | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Amy Harrison | 7 | MF | Western Sydney Wanders | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Tiffany McCarty | 16 | FW | | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Cali Farquharson | 17 | FW | KIF Örebro DFF | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | McKenzie Berryhill | 18 | DF | | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Elise Kellond-Knight | 28 | MF | Brisbane Roar | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| November 4, 2019 | Shea Yanez | 30 | GK | Santa Teresa | Place on Re-Entry Wire |
| January 16, 2020 | Mallory Pugh | 11 | FW | Sky Blue FC | Trade for 4th, 13th, and 17th overall 2020 draft picks; 1st Round 2021 dract pick |
| | Mallory Eubanks | 22 | FW | | |

### Draft picks

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. Only those who are signed to a contract will be listed as transfers in. Only trades involving draft picks and executed during the 2020 NWSL College Draft will be listed in the notes.
| Player | Pos | Previous club | Notes |
| Ashley Sanchez | FW | UCLA Bruins | Round 1, Pick 4 (4th overall) |
| Natalie Jacobs | MF | USC Trojans | Round 2, Pick 4 (13th overall) |
| Averie Collins | MF | Washington State Cougars | Round 2, Pick 8 (17th overall) |
| Katie McClure | FW | Kansas Jayhawks | Round 3, Pick 5 (23rd overall) |
| Kaiya McCullough | FW | UCLA Bruins | Round 4, Pick 5 (32nd overall) |