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:
(FP)
(FP) (FP)
(FP) (FP)
(FP)
(FP) = Federation player
Team management
Competitions
Preseason
Regular season
Regular-season standings
Results summary
NWSL Playoffs
Squad statistics Note: only regular season squad statistics displayed.
Key to positions: FW – Forward, MF – Midfielder, DF – Defender, GK – Goalkeeper 99 FW Danesha Adams 13 9 802 1 1 0 8 4 3 6 1 10 7 1 028 MF Jordan Angeli 10 2 235 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 14 MF Yael Averbuch 22 17 1562 1 1 1 15 4 0 0 0 16 9 1 012 DF Niki Cross 10 8 740 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 09 FW Renae Cuellar 10 4 408 0 0 0 4 1 2 0 6 4 3 0 024 FW Lisa De Vanna 11 9 794 1 4 0 16 9 0 0 12 6 13 1 019 MF Crystal Dunn 21 18 1488 0 3 0 11 6 2 0 2 15 10 1 013 FW Kerstin Garefrekes 10 6 591 1 0 0 19 11 0 0 4 8 6 0 05 DF Robyn Gayle 16 13 1143 2 1 0 7 3 1 0 0 13 2 4 023 DF Tori Huster 22 22 1980 1 1 1 9 4 0 0 0 12 17 0 011 DF Ali Krieger 22 22 1935 1 0 0 5 3 3 0 1 7 4 1 06 MF Lori Lindsey 22 19 1509 1 1 0 15 6 0 0 0 6 9 0 08 MF Diana Matheson 23 21 1970 8 6 2 28 19 5 18 6 14 24 2 07 MF Christine Nairn 23 21 1838 6 2 2 41 18 0 52 4 7 27 2 036 MF Kelsey Pardue 1 0 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 017 MF Verónica Pérez 16 6 657 0 1 0 8 3 0 0 8 16 8 1 03 DF Toni Pressley 9 8 701 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 9 1 0 022 DF Bianca Sierra 9 5 520 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 6 2 1 021 DF Alex Singer 11 11 972 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 4 11 3 0 031 MF Jennifer Skogerboe 1 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 014 FW Jodie Taylor 21 19 1727 11 2 4 46 26 2 0 34 25 13 1 0 1 GK Ashlyn Harris 19 19 1710 10 5 4 193 97 66 31 1.632 2 3 418 GK Chantel Jones 5 5 450 0 4 1 78 34 22 12 2.4 0 0 0
Transfers
In
No.Pos.PlayerTransferred fromFee/notesDateSource 7 Seattle ReignTrade 14 Sydney FCSigned 4 Kopparbergs/Göteborg FCNWSL Player Allocation 9 FC Kansas CityNWSL Player Allocation 99 Houston DashTrade 16 Portland Thorns FCTrade 12 Perth GlorySigned 17 Western New York FlashTrade 12 FC Bayern MunichTrade 22 University of AuburnSigned 28 Boston BreakersSigned 21 Portland Thorns FCSigned 21 1. FFC Turbine PotsdamSigned 24 Boston BreakersTrade 31 Washington Spirit Reserves 36 Washington Spirit Reserves
Out
No.Pos.PlayerTransferred toFee/notesDateSource 3 Houston Dash2014 NWSL Expansion Draft 14 Houston Dash2014 NWSL Expansion Draft 22 Houston DashTrade 4Retired 5Waived 20 Colorado Pride 2Waived 23 Boston BreakersTrade Western New York FlashWaived 13 24 Western New York Flash 13 17
Loan in
No.Pos.PlayerLoaned fromFee/notesDateSource 13 1. FFC FrankfurtLoan for remainder of 2014 season
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
See also 2014 National Women's Soccer League season
References