CHICAGO — With two games remaining in the regular season, the Chicago Red Stars return home for a matchup against the Washington Spirit on Saturday, September 21. Kickoff from SeatGeek Stadium is scheduled for 7pm CT. Here’s everything you need to know about our upcoming opponent. 

Opponent Form:

 The Spirit remains an outside shot to make the NWSL playoffs, though they will need to recapture the form that made them one of the league’s best teams during the season’s early stages. Washington won four out of their first six games to insert themselves into the playoff conversation prior to the World Cup. The Spirit have only picked up three points three times since then, however, and now sit sixth in the NWSL standings.  Saturday’s game will begin a crucial stretch for the team as they face Chicago, Houston, and North Carolina in a seven-day span. 

Rubber Match: 

Saturday will be the rubber match in the season series between Chicago and Washington. It was the Spirit who halted the Red Stars’ hot start to the season back in May. An own goal in the first half sunk Chicago and Ashley Hatch would seal the victory for the Spirit in the 63rd minute as they came away with the 2-0 win. Chicago would get their revenge in August thanks to the troublesome duo of Casey Short and Yuki Nagasato. Short’s cross was placed on a dime for Nagasato, who headed the ball into the back of the net for Chicago and gave them a 1-0 victory. 

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Fun Stat to Know:

Aubrey Blesdoe’s three appearances in this season’s NWSL Team of the Month squad is tied for second-most in the league, trailing only Chicago’s Casey Short.