# 2014 Washington Spirit season

The 2014 season was Washington Spirit's second season of existence in which they competed in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.

## Review

Coming off a tough inaugural season, the Spirit looked to build a contending team for the 2014 season. Mark Parsons had a full preseason to work with his team and made some key offseason acquisitions included Jodie Taylor and Christine Nairn, both who would finish as the team's tops scorers with 11 and 8 goals, respectively.
The beginning of the season saw similar struggles to 2013, losing 4 of the opening 6 matches. The turn-around began in Week 7, when the Spirit would outscore the Western New York Flash 3–2 with a brace from Jodie Taylor and own goal equalizer. The Spirit went 5 matches unbeaten mid-season and finished the season strong, losing only two of their last ten matches.
Finishing 4th, the Spirit made their first NWSL Playoff appearance. They ultimately lost at Seattle Reign in a 2–1 match with Verónica Pérez scoring the Spirit's first ever playoff goal in the 65th minute.

## Club
### Roster

As of April 24, 2014:
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 | Ashlyn Harris (FP) |
| 2 | FW | USA | Colleen Williams |
| 3 | DF | USA | Toni Pressley |
| 4 | MF | USA | Yael Averbuch (FP) |
| 5 | DF | CAN | Robyn Gayle (FP) |
| 6 | MF | USA | Lori Lindsey |
| 7 | MF | USA | Christine Nairn |
| 8 | MF | CAN | Diana Matheson (FP) |
| 9 | FW | MEX | Renae Cuellar (FP) |
| 10 | FW | USA | Caroline Miller |
| 11 | DF | USA | Ali Krieger (FP) |
| 12 | DF | DEN | Cecilie Sandvej |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | FW | ENG | Jodie Taylor |
| 16 | FW | USA | Tiffany Weimer |
| 17 | MF | MEX | Verónica Pérez |
| 18 | GK | USA | Chantel Jones |
| 19 | MF | USA | Crystal Dunn |
| 21 | GK | USA | Adelaide Gay |
| 22 | MF | MEX | Bianca Sierra |
| 23 | DF | USA | Tori Huster |
| 24 | FW | USA | Jasmyne Spencer |
| 28 | DF | USA | Jordan Angeli |
| 99 | FW | USA | Danesha Adams |
* (FP) = Federation player

### Team management

| Owner | Bill Lynch |
| General Manager | Chris Hummer |
| Head Coach | Mark Parsons |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 54 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | FC Kansas City (C) | 24 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 41 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 36 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 35 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 5 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 35 | |
| 6 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 34 | |
| 7 | Western New York Flash | 24 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 42 | 38 | +4 | 28 | |
| 8 | Boston Breakers | 24 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 37 | 53 | −16 | 20 | |
| 9 | Houston Dash | 24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 23 | 44 | −21 | 18 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: August 16, 2014. Source: Match reports
| 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 | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | H | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | D | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | D | W | D | L | D | W | W | D | L |

### NWSL Playoffs
## Squad statistics

Note: only regular season squad statistics displayed.
Key to positions: FW – Forward, MF – Midfielder, DF – Defender, GK – Goalkeeper
| N | Pos | Player | GP | GS | Min | G | A | WG | Shot | SOG | Cro | CK | Off | Foul | FS | YC | RC |
| 99 | FW | Danesha Adams | 13 | 9 | 802 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | Jordan Angeli | 10 | 2 | 235 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | MF | Yael Averbuch | 22 | 17 | 1562 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | DF | Niki Cross | 10 | 8 | 740 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | Renae Cuellar | 10 | 4 | 408 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | FW | Lisa De Vanna | 11 | 9 | 794 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Crystal Dunn | 21 | 18 | 1488 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | Kerstin Garefrekes | 10 | 6 | 591 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | Robyn Gayle | 16 | 13 | 1143 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | Tori Huster | 22 | 22 | 1980 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | DF | Ali Krieger | 22 | 22 | 1935 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | Lori Lindsey | 22 | 19 | 1509 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Diana Matheson | 23 | 21 | 1970 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 24 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Christine Nairn | 23 | 21 | 1838 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 41 | 18 | 0 | 52 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 2 | 0 |
| 36 | MF | Kelsey Pardue | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | Verónica Pérez | 16 | 6 | 657 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Toni Pressley | 9 | 8 | 701 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Bianca Sierra | 9 | 5 | 520 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | DF | Alex Singer | 11 | 11 | 972 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | Jennifer Skogerboe | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | FW | Jodie Taylor | 21 | 19 | 1727 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 46 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 25 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| N | Pos | Goal keeper | GP | GS | Min | W | L | T | Shot | SOG | Sav | GA | GA/G | Pen | PKF | SO |
| 1 | GK | Ashlyn Harris | 19 | 19 | 1710 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 193 | 97 | 66 | 31 | 1.632 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 18 | GK | Chantel Jones | 5 | 5 | 450 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 78 | 34 | 22 | 12 | 2.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee/notes | Date |
| 7 | MF | Christine Nairn | Seattle Reign | Trade | November 20, 2013 |
| 14 | FW | Jodie Taylor | Sydney FC | Signed | December 18, 2013 |
| 4 | MF | Yael Averbuch | Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC | NWSL Player Allocation | January 3, 2014 |
| 9 | FW | Renae Cuéllar | FC Kansas City | NWSL Player Allocation | January 3, 2014 |
| 99 | FW | Danesha Adams | Houston Dash | Trade | January 13, 2014 |
| 16 | FW | Tiffany Weimer | Portland Thorns FC | Trade | January 17, 2014 |
| 12 | DF | Cecilie Sandvej | Perth Glory | Signed | February 27, 2014 |
| 17 | MF | Verónica Pérez | Western New York Flash | Trade | March 3, 2014 |
| 12 | DF | Niki Cross | FC Bayern Munich | Trade | March 18, 2014 |
| 22 | MF | Bianca Sierra | University of Auburn | Signed | April 4, 2014 |
| 28 | DF | Jordan Angeli | Boston Breakers | Signed | April 4, 2014 |
| 21 | GK | Adelaide Gay | Portland Thorns FC | Signed | April 8, 2014 |
| 21 | DF | Alex Singer | 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam | Signed | June 4, 2014 |
| 24 | FW | Lisa De Vanna | Boston Breakers | Trade | June 18, 2014 |
| 31 | MF | Jennifer Skogerboe | Washington Spirit Reserves | | |
| 36 | MF | Kelsey Pardue | Washington Spirit Reserves | | |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee/notes | Date |
| 3 | DF | Kika Toulouse | Houston Dash | 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft | January 10, 2014 |
| 14 | FW | Tiffany McCarty | Houston Dash | 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft | January 10, 2014 |
| 22 | MF | Stephanie Ochs | Houston Dash | Trade | January 13, 2014 |
| 4 | DF | Marisa Abegg | | Retired | February 14, 2014 |
| 5 | DF | Candace Chapman | | Waived | March 29, 2014 |
| 20 | MF | Holly King | Colorado Pride | | March 29, 2014 |
| 2 | FW | Colleen Williams | | Waived | May 21, 2014 |
| 23 | DF | Bianca Sierra | Boston Breakers | Trade | June 18, 2014 |
| | MF | Ingrid Wells | Western New York Flash | Waived | June 20, 2013 |
| | DF | Domenica Hodak | | | |
| 13 | MF | Guadalupe Worbis | | | |
| 24 | FW | Jasmyne Spencer | Western New York Flash | | |
| 13 | MF | Julia Roberts | | | |
| 17 | FW | Lindsay Taylor | | | |

### Loan in

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned from | Fee/notes | Date | Source |
| 13 | MF | Kerstin Garefrekes | 1. FFC Frankfurt | Loan for remainder of 2014 season | June 14, 2014 | |

## Honors and awards
### NWSL Yearly Awards
#### NWSL Team of the Year

| Team | Position | Player | Ref. |
| Best XI | Defender | Ali Krieger | |
| Second X1 | Forward | Jodie Taylor | |