BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. — Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday night at SeatGeek Stadium. Trinity Rodman scored the breakthrough goal for the Spirit and Morgan Gautrat converted a late-game penalty for the equalizer.
The sides played each other for the first time this year at the Challenge Cup and five weeks into the regular season. Both teams welcomed the return of their national team players as Alyssa Naeher and Tierna Davidson earned starts for Chicago, while Emily Sonnet and Andi Sullivan returned to the Spirit’s starting lineup.
The first half featured a clogged middle third as both teams attempted to establish tempo. Neither side looking particularly cohesive to start. A physical battle between the two sides played out an uneventful first half, as the Spirit made a first half substitution for Ashley Hatch after the forward attempted to play through what appeared to be an earlier head injury.
