2014 Washington Spirit season explained

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:^[1] (FP) (FP) (FP) (FP) (FP) (FP)

• (FP) = Federation player

Team management

Competitions

Regular season

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		13	9	802	1	1	0	8	4	3	6	1	10	7	1	0
28	MF		10	2	235	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	6	0	1	1
4	MF		22	17	1562	1	1	1	15	4	0	0	0	16	9	1	0
12	DF		10	8	740	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	5	5	0	0
9	FW		10	4	408	0	0	0	4	1	2	0	6	4	3	0	0
24	FW		11	9	794	1	4	0	16	9	0	0	12	6	13	1	0
19	MF		21	18	1488	0	3	0	11	6	2	0	2	15	10	1	0
13	FW		10	6	591	1	0	0	19	11	0	0	4	8	6	0	0
5	DF		16	13	1143	2	1	0	7	3	1	0	0	13	2	4	0
23	DF		22	22	1980	1	1	1	9	4	0	0	0	12	17	0	0
11	DF		22	22	1935	1	0	0	5	3	3	0	1	7	4	1	0
6	MF		22	19	1509	1	1	0	15	6	0	0	0	6	9	0	0
8	MF		23	21	1970	8	6	2	28	19	5	18	6	14	24	2	0
7	MF		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		16	6	657	0	1	0	8	3	0	0	8	16	8	1	0
3	DF		9	8	701	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	9	1	0	0
22	DF		9	5	520	0	0	0	2	1	2	0	0	6	2	1	0
21	DF		11	11	972	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	11	3	0	0
31	MF		1	0	15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
14	FW		21	19	1727	11	2	4	46	26	2	0	34	25	13	1	0

1	GK		19	19	1710	10	5	4	193	97	66	31	1.632	2	3	4
18	GK		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	Source
7			Seattle Reign	Trade		[2]
14			Sydney FC	Signed		[3]
4			Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	NWSL Player Allocation		[4]
9			FC Kansas City	NWSL Player Allocation		[5]
99			Houston Dash	Trade		[6]
16			Portland Thorns FC	Trade		[7]
12			Perth Glory	Signed		[8]
17			Western New York Flash	Trade		[9]
12			FC Bayern Munich	Trade		[10]
22			University of Auburn	Signed		[11]
28			Boston Breakers	Signed
21			Portland Thorns FC	Signed		[12]
21			1. FFC Turbine Potsdam	Signed		[13]
24			Boston Breakers	Trade		[14]
31			Washington Spirit Reserves
36			Washington Spirit Reserves

Out

No.	Pos.	Player	Transferred to	Fee/notes	Date	Source
3			Houston Dash	2014 NWSL Expansion Draft		[15]
14			Houston Dash	2014 NWSL Expansion Draft
22			Houston Dash	Trade		[16]
4				Retired		[17]
5				Waived		[18]
20			Colorado Pride			[19]
2				Waived		[20]
23			Boston Breakers	Trade
			Western New York Flash	Waived		[21]
13
24			Western New York Flash			[22]
13
17

Loan in

Honors and awards

NWSL Yearly Awards

NWSL Team of the Year

Team	Position	Player	Ref.
Best XI	Defender	Ali Krieger	[24]
Second X1	Forward	Jodie Taylor

See also

• 2014 National Women's Soccer League season

Notes and References

1. Web site: Roster. 7 February 2014. Washington Spirit. 24 April 2014.
2. Web site: Reign Add Arsenal Star Midfielder Kim Little. Sounder at Heart. November 20, 2013. May 5, 2017. December 12, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131212024815/http://www.sounderatheart.com/seattle-womens-soccer/2013/11/20/5124194/reign-add-arsenal-star-midfielder-kim-little. dead.
3. Web site: Jodie Taylor joins the Spirit for 2014 NWSL season & earns England National Team Call up. Washington Spirit. December 18, 2013. May 5, 2017.
4. Web site: Washington Spirit acquires Yael Averbuch. The Washington Post. Steven Goff. January 3, 2014. April 25, 2017.
5. Web site: NWSL announces 2014 allocated players: KC, Portland, Seattle look stacked. SoccerWire.com. January 3, 2014. May 5, 2017.
6. Web site: Houston Dash acquire forward Stephanie Ochs from Washington Spirit. Washington Spirit. January 13, 2014. May 5, 2017.
7. Web site: Portland Thorns reacquire Meleana Shim and shake up roster at NWSL College Draft. OregonLive.com. January 17, 2014. May 5, 2017.
8. Web site: Spirit sign Danish defender Cecilie Sandvej. SoccerWire.com. February 27, 2014. May 5, 2017.
9. Web site: De Vanna, Perez find new homes during trade flurry. OregonLive.com. Meg Linehan. March 3, 2014. May 5, 2017.
10. Web site: Spirit acquire FC Bayern Munich defender Niki Cross via trade with Seattle Reign FC. Washington Spirit. March 18, 2014. May 5, 2017.
11. Web site: Washington Spirit Sign Midfielder Jordan Angeli and Mexican Women's National Team Defender Bianca Sierra. Washington Spirit. April 4, 2014. May 5, 2017.
12. Web site: Washington Spirit announces official 2014 NWSL roster. Women's Soccer United. April 8, 2014. May 5, 2017.
13. Web site: Spirit Sign Defender Alex Singer . The Bent Musket . June 4, 2014 . May 5, 2017 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20140702063959/http://www.nwslsoccer.com/News/814687.html . July 2, 2014 .
14. Web site: Breakers Transfers 2014: Boston Trades Lisa De Vanna to Spirit for Defender Bianca Sierra. The Bent Musket. June 18, 2014. May 5, 2017.
15. Web site: Houston Dash select 10 players in 2014 NWSL Expansion Draft. Houston Dynamo. January 10, 2014. May 5, 2017.
16. Web site: Houston Dash acquire forward Stephanie Ochs from Washington Spirit. Houston Dynamo. January 13, 2014. May 5, 2017.
17. Web site: Marisa Abegg announces her retirement. Washington Spirit. February 14, 2014. May 5, 2017.
18. Web site: The Washington Spirit Waive Defender Candace Chapman. Washington Spirit. March 29, 2014. May 5, 2017.
19. Web site: Colorado Pride women's soccer team kicks off first season Thursday at Colorado College. The Gazette. Joe Paisley. May 19, 2014. May 5, 2017.
20. Web site: Washington Spirit part ways with Colleen Williams. SoccerWire.com. May 21, 2014. May 5, 2017.
21. Web site: Wells Waived. Twitter. Steven Goff. June 20, 2013. May 5, 2017.
22. Web site: Western New York Flash announces 2014 roster. SoccerWire.com. April 7, 2014. May 5, 2017. July 9, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180709190658/https://www.soccerwire.com/news/other/teams/western-new-york-flash-announces-2014-roster/. dead.
23. Web site: Spirit acquire German midfielder Kerstin Garefrekes. Washington Spirit. June 14, 2014. May 5, 2017.
24. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Announces 2014 Best XI Chicago Red Stars . 2019-05-01 . 2020-10-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201001113421/https://chicagoredstars.com/national-womens-soccer-league-announces-2014-best-xi/ . dead .