Washington Spirit-Denver Summit Recap (& Why Spirit Fans Hate Me)

(If you want to skip the intro, please go to the sentence in bold for the game recap.)

With the kids away at camp, I have some time to do things I've wanted to do for months if not years. I'm taking walks nearly every evening, trying to play more pickleball, and catching up on TV. (The Pitt is really good!). The one thing I've wanted to do most is to cover a live sporting event again. While I covered a men's George Mason basketball game this winter, I wanted to cover a professional sports team, and the team I was most intrigued about was the Washington Spirit since they are arguably the most successful Washington professional sports team over the last 5-6 years. Actually, not at all arguably. The team won the NWSL Championship in 2021 and reached the finals in both 2024 and 2025. With a win on Sunday against the Denver Summit, the team would pass Gotham FC to move into first place. Gotham defeated the Spirit 1-0 almost two weeks ago in a match where the Spirit had more shots on goal (9-4) and a higher number of expected goals. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them face each other deep in the playoffs this fall.

I applied for media credentials to the Spirit-Summit match and was accepted.  Although I'm a big soccer fan, played through my entire childhood, coached my kids' teams, and have been a soccer referee for decades, I don't follow the Spirit as much as I'd like. While I did some research on the team prior to the game, I thought I would ask on BlueSky if anyone had any suggestions on things to look out for. This was the actual post:

I have media credentials to cover the Washington Spirit-Denver Summit match tonight. Besides Trinity Rodman & the fact that the Spirit will move into first place if they win, I know just a little about the match. Does anyone have any information about either team or players that might be useful? 

 

Though poorly worded and being a little self-deprecating (not that anyone would know that by reading it and not knowing me), I figured I might get a few comments from friends. Maybe I would get some responses about a certain player playing well lately or someone else losing playing time. Maybe some thoughts about Sandy MacIver taking over the keeper role this season for Aubrey Kingsbury who is on maternity leave (and just had a baby a few weeks ago. Congrats!). 

It didn't work out that way. My post was picked up by Spirit fans who (rightfully) blasted me. Who was I to get credentials? Did I take a spot from someone who deserved it more? Several WTF replies, and not why the face. And I get it. It was never my intention to take someone's spot (and it doesn’t seem like I did). My goal was and is to write a post for casual soccer fans who may not have attended a Spirit match. There are other fantastic sites and podcasts that cover the Spirit and describe and discuss match previews and recaps as well as the day-to-day activities of the team. (I've highlighted a few at the end of this post.) That's not me, and I don't expect the team's biggest fans to read this blog for that. With that written, I needed to share writing samples as part of the media credentials application, and those that I included were soccer specific. Although I haven't written about the Spirit (well, the Washington Spirit as I have written about the Pittsburgh Spirit), it's not like the recent men's World Cup was my introduction to soccer. So despite several comments of go home or stay home (usually with the "F" word thrown in), off I went…

Only to discover that the game ended and the stadium was not letting people in!

I’m kidding. I know that this is where Noah Kahan performs. 

Outside the stadium, I saw the Washington Spirit mobile. Cool vehicle but why a Virginia license plate?

I found my way to the media entrance, got my credentials, and was directed to go up the stairs. Not the most glamorous welcome to Audi Field. (I should note that this wasn’t my first time to Audi Field, but it was my first time seeing this gloomy staircase. It was dark at the top.)

After settling in, I went back down the stairs to the concourse and walked around and grabbed some food. I would not recommend the pizza which was overpriced for its size and average at best. Try another option. And because many of my posts come back to Pittsburgh, of course I introduced myself to a guy wearing a Pirates hat and this T-shirt.

Okay, let's get to the match itself:

* Leicy Santos, who has become a star for the Spirit this season, didn't start though she entered in the 57th minute to a loud cheer. She brought a huge spark to the team., and it was not at all a coincidence that the Spirit scored minutes after she came on.

* Lindsey Heaps, the US national team captain, played in her second match of the season for Denver after her return from playing in France the last few seasons. She was everywhere in the midfield and attacking end coming close to scoring on a header in the second half. If you're familiar with the Roy Kent chant from Ted Lasso, you can substitute her name here. I won’t write it since I don’t typically swear on this blog, but the BlueSky commenters definitely know the word in the chant! (Video NSFW)

* Trinity Rodman is so much fun to watch. Not exactly breaking news here. There’s so much energy from the crowd whenever Rodman gets the ball. In the second half alone, she drew three yellow cards and had a great pass on the goal by Sofia Cantore who cut the ball back and shot it just outside the 18 off the crossbar. 

* The attendance was 15,169. I feel like I got insider information when this was announced in the media room during the second half.

* As a referee, I always watch how the professional refs call games and their positioning. I appreciate that even at the highest level, the assistant referees check the goals before the match. This is something I always do as a ref or ask my assistant referees to do when I’m a center.

Overall, I think the crew did a good job. The first foul wasn’t called until the 17th minute but nothing was really warranted. All three yellow cards on the Summit were deserved. I thought that a penalty called against the Spirit was correct in real time as it seemed as though Rebeca Bernal fell into Heaps. VAR was quite useful in this case. From my last post, the Enya fan who also likes VAR was probably happy!

* Right before the final whistle, Santos got hit by an elbow by a Denver player in the box. While I understand the referee wanting to end the game, this was absolutely a foul and should have been a card.

* Denver made things very exciting during the second half stoppage time. Several outstanding chances from close range including a shot off the crossbar. Many neutral fans probably believe that the Summit deserved a point from this match. I guess Denver didn't quite reach the peak or a word similar to that.

* Although she didn't play, Washington striker Gift Monday may have the best name in sports. Denver’s Ayo Oke, if pronounced slightly differently, would be outstanding too.

I highly recommend attending a Spirit match at Audi Field. Fun and welcoming environment (at least in person) and a really quality team. Just skip the pizza. The Spirit are now at the top of the NWSL standings and lead the league in goal differential. Oh, for the folks that are big fans of Hal Hershfelt, here is a picture of the media surrounding her after the match. 

Here are the complete highlights of the match including Cantore's goal, the VAR decision, and the elbow to end the match. 

For more about the match and to follow the Spirit, check out some of the sites below. I know that I'm missing some.

- Hey Spirits! on BlueSky and via podcasts

- The District Press

- The Peach Review

- Green Line Soccer

- Spirit Squadron on BlueSky

- Riss Willett on BlueSky

- I'm Curious With Roey

All photos by me except for the starting 11 by the Washington Spirit and of Baby Kingsbury by Aubrey Kingsbury.

I Got Media Credentials!

For many years, I have applied and been rejected for media credentials for the Oscars and Academy Awards. The Washington Nationals regularly ignore all of my requests too. My brother-in-law suggested that I go even bigger by applying for the Super Bowl, World Cup, and Olympics. My response was that maybe I should go local, so I submitted my application for a George Mason University men's basketball game. And I got approved!

On Wednesday evening, I drove to the George Mason University campus, parked in the special parking lot (away from the commoners in general parking), and entered the arena. Except that I went to the wrong door. I got stopped by security entering with my iPad, and when I said I was a media member, I was directed to another door with a clearly marked media member entrance sign. This time, I was all good and received my media badge. I was then directed to press row where I introduced myself to the Sports Information Director. He showed me my assigned seat which ended up being directly behind the Duquesne broadcasting team. There was good and bad to this. The positive was that the seat was amazing, and I could clearly hear the Duquesne coaches. I also got this inside look at a message that likely aired on the Duquesne broadcast. Happy Birthday Dan Unico!

The negative was that Duquesne head coach Dru Joyce III blocked my view throughout the game!

I was seated next to Jason, a communications major with a concentration in journalism who is graduating from George Mason this spring and writes for Mid-Major Basketball. Jason was incredibly helpful, and I enjoyed talking with him. I wish him lots of luck in the future and hope he makes it in sports journalism. I also introduced myself to the guy to the right of me at halftime since it was loud during commercial breaks. I said my name is Sean, and I shook his hand. He never told me his name (maybe he said hi?), and that was the extent of our conversation. 

There was a media room filled with water, soft drinks, and snacks. I got a bottle of water, a bag of Chex Mix (which will be part of Thursday's lunch) and a bag of Pirate's Booty. By the way, why is there only one Pirate's Booty? I guess he worked alone when he found the popcorn treasure. Seems more likely that the pirate was with others during the popcorn discovery, so it should be Pirates' Booty!

I guess I should probably share some thoughts about the game. George Mason was 20-2 entering Wednesday and were undefeated at home. With Duquesne winning 71-65, is it my fault that Mason's first home loss was the first time I had media credentials? I better not share this with Coach Tony Skinn or the SID!

Duquesne has a player named John Hugley IV who seemed really familiar (and really big in person). It's because he spent three years at Pitt. His first season was 2020-2021, so he is now in his sixth year of playing college basketball!

I really enjoyed getting the official basketball box score print-outs at halftime and after the game. In this case, the stats didn't lie. Duquesne made 16-21 free throws compared to 8-15 for George Mason. Duquesne had 9 turnovers compared to Mason's 17, which Duquesne turned into 25 points. That's the game. 

I attended the postgame press conference, and Coach Skinn was not happy with the team's turnovers and play to end the game. Mason was up 65-61with less than 2 minutes remaining, and Duquesne finished on a 10-0 run. Speaking of the press conference, I asked one question (at the 8:30 mark) about the status of Kory Mincy who left the game briefly due to an injured finger. I sounded really nervous since I was. 

Tony Skinn played on George Mason's Final Four team and is in his third season as the men's basketball coach. Being in the DC area for many years, I wanted to ask him about his thoughts about The Washington Post disbanding its sports coverage. The press conference ended immediately after he concluded answering the final question in the video, so I didn't have the opportunity.

Overall, I enjoyed the experience. I don't think I embarrassed myself, and I was professional by making sure not to cheer and by introducing myself to "colleagues" and thanking the SID for the opportunity. While I would definitely do this again, I prefer attending Mason basketball games with my kids. Although our seats are significantly worse, it's a fun activity being able to see quality basketball close to home together as a family.