Racing v Spirit Preview
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
It's hot. There is frankly little relief from the heat while the sun is out, so the kick-off for tomorrow’s match had been moved from 3:00 to 7:30 to try to get some relief. The temperatures are forecasted to still be in the eighties during the majority of the match. I played soccer this morning in a similar temperature range, and it was rough. Kudos to anyone who can play at a high level in this heat.
Racing achieved their first ever victory against the Spirit back in May. As I have stated several times, I consider that win to be a bit lucky. The good news for Racing is that their roster looks quite different from the previous matches vs. Washington. While Racing may benefit from new editions to the rosters, Washington is missing 4 players from the match in May due to Olympic commitments. Washington is plenty deep and you could argue that their top players are still here. This begs the question, are we sure the USA's best players are even at the Olympics? Let's not go there and say that Washington's attacking talent is here even if their defensive talent isn't.
In the last match the Spirit defense didn't have to do much other than watch Bledsoe pick the ball up out of the back of her goal twice. Racing will obviously have more attacking thrust this time around with Salmon surely starting again and Nadia Nadim to possibly get some minutes as well. Coach Holly had a rather wide grin on his face when asked about if Nadia was available for selection during his recent presser. For a second I thougbt maybe he knows he is going to start her, but given the match conditions, a sub appearance after the sun goes down is much more likely. I will make a rather straightforward prediction and say that if Washington gets off around 30 shots in this match, they are going to win. Thankfully, I think the Bonner/Martin pairing will keep the total shot number well below 30.
This match in my mind is the critical match of the season so far. It will tell us whether there are 7 teams fighting for a playoff spot or 8. If the Spirit win, I think we can pretty much split the league into a top 7 and a bottom 3. While no match before the team has played half of their games is a must win, I think enough of the season has passed for this match to serve as a barometer for Racing's chances the rest of the year. A draw means Racing can hedge for one more week. A win means now is the time to push to get into the top six. I usually make a prediction here, but I think I will pass this week. Something tells me that Racing is owed some Karmic payback for their victory in May, but maybe Washington just doesn't know how to finish off matches. Here's hoping for the latter.
