Brittany Ratcliffe helps Spirit past Courage

A goal and an assist by Brittany Ratcliffe lifted the Washington Spirit to a 3-1 win over the North Carolina Courage Sunday afternoon in the nation's capital.

The win was the first for head coach Jonatan Giraldez since he announced his intent to depart the Spirit effective July 18, to lead French club OL Lyonnes.

Washington (7-3-1, 22 points) absorbed pressure early from the visiting Courage (3-5-3, 12 points) before defense led to offense when the Spirit cleared a Courage attempt and moved the ball down the field in four passes.

Ratcliffe made the final pass that went through five defenders to the feet of Courtney Brown, who scored the first goal with an uncontested shot into the right corner of the net in the 24th minute.

Within three minutes, United States national team veteran Casey Krueger crossed a pass into the box to the head of Ratcliffe, who sent the ball across the front of the goal and into the left side of the net.

The Courage responded when Manaka Matsukubo chipped a ball over the head of goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury to cut the deficit in half.

In the second half, after Washington nearly added a goal 30 seconds into the half, Gift Monday scored the third goal of the day for the Spirit. This time, off a short corner, Narumi Miura sent a short cross to the back post that Monday hit right into the left post. It was the fourth goal of the season for Monday.

North Carolina pressured Washington in the second half, but two goal-line clearances from Gabrielle Carle kept the multi-goal lead for the home team.