Maiara Niehues' Late Rocket Sinks Washington Spirit as Angel City Wins in the Rain

Two minutes. That is all Maiara Niehues needed to turn a soggy, stubborn, going-nowhere Saturday night at Audi Field into a new page of Angel City history.

Niehues came off the bench in the 86th minute, and in the 88th she took a pass from Carina Lageyre and ripped a right-footed shot from outside the box into the top right corner. It was the only goal of the night, and Angel City FC beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 in front of 19,215 rain-soaked fans. The strike was Niehues' ninth of the season, which the club says gives her sole possession of Angel City's single-season scoring record.

Rain, Mud and a Whole Lot of Nothing

For about 87 minutes this one was headed for the kind of 0-0 that gets politely skipped in the highlight package. The weather turned every touch into a coin flip, and both teams spent the first half trading half-chances. Washington had the early looks: Sofia Cantore dragged a shot wide off a sixth-minute corner, and Trinity Rodman glanced a header past the left post two minutes later off an Andi Sullivan cross.

Angel City answered in kind. Gisele Thompson nodded wide in the 25th minute, and a minute later Savy King went into the book for a foul on Rodman. Angelina Anderson made the first real save of the night in the 29th, holding Monique Ngock's drive from distance, and then saved a Rodman shot from outside the box in the 40th. Evelyn Shores picked up a second Angel City yellow in first-half stoppage time, and the teams walked off level.

Interim head coach Leif Smerud knew exactly what needed fixing at the break. "We didn't play well enough to the conditions, so that was one of the messages at halftime that we had," Smerud said. "We had to adapt to players who are not that used to those conditions and we did that well."

The Second Half Tilts West

Angel City came out of the tunnel looking sharper. Prisca Chilufya forced Sandy MacIver into a save in the bottom left corner in the 57th minute, and Ally Sentnor curled a 62nd-minute free kick just wide.

Washington's response was to empty the bench. Mélissa Bethi and Clara Luvanga replaced Ngock and Rosemonde Kouassi in the 65th and 66th minutes, and Luvanga's entrance came with some history attached: per the Spirit, it was her debut for the club and made her the first Tanzanian player in NWSL history. She had a shot blocked in the 70th, Rodman sailed one over a minute later, and the game started to feel like it was finally opening up.

It opened up for Angel City first. MacIver had to stop Sveindís Jónsdóttir's shot from outside the box in the 72nd, a ball aimed at the top of the net, and Thompson headed another chance wide in the 73rd. Tamara Bolt and Paige Metayer came on for Washington's final push, and Luvanga tried her luck from more than 35 yards in the 84th. It missed. Two minutes later, Smerud made the change that decided the night.

The Turning Point: A Cameo for the Ages

Sentnor, carrying a yellow card since the 74th minute, came off for Niehues. Smerud did not need long to look like a genius. Lageyre found Niehues, Niehues found the upper corner, and a match that looked destined for a draw suddenly had a winner.

"[Maiara's] impact when she came in was fantastic," Smerud said. "We didn't create many chances, but we had some opportunities, and then you need the quality. Maiara came in and delivered."

Washington had two last swings. Rodman fired wide from a tight angle in the first minute of stoppage time, and Bethi sent a shot from outside the box over the bar three minutes later. That was it.

Who Showed Up

Maiara Niehues finished with one shot, one shot on target and one goal, which is about as efficient as a soccer player can be. She sounded a little stunned by it, too. "Not even in my best dreams did I actually imagine that I was going to have this mark," she said. "I'm very happy, especially to help in a very, very important game."

Angelina Anderson made two saves and kept a clean sheet, six days after setting Angel City's single-season record for shutouts. She was rarely overworked, but both stops came on shots from outside the box on a slick night.

Carina Lageyre collected the assist and, along with captain Sarah Gorden and Shores, was part of a defensive effort that piled up 19 interceptions to Washington's six. The Spirit had more of the ball and more shots, but Angel City kept taking it away.

Trinity Rodman was Washington's most dangerous player with four shots, one on target. The Spirit as a team managed only two shots on target from 16 attempts.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Washington 53.4 percent, Angel City 46.6.
• Shots: Washington 16, Angel City 14; on target, Angel City led 3-2.
• Interceptions: Angel City 19, Washington 6.
• Saves: Anderson 2, MacIver 2.
• Discipline: Angel City took three yellow cards, Washington none.

What It Means

Angel City moved to 12-6-8 with 42 points, and the club says the win lifted it into fourth place and stretched its unbeaten run to six matches. It was also a third straight win, following the 3-1 home result against Seattle and the 3-0 rout in Utah. The last time these teams met, in August in Los Angeles, they drew 1-1. This time the visitors left with all three points.

Washington, now 14-4-8 with 46 points, slipped to third with four matches left, according to the Spirit. The loss followed a 3-0 win at Chicago, but it was the Spirit's second straight defeat at Audi Field after the 3-0 loss to Boston Legacy FC on Sept. 13. There was still something to celebrate off the field: the club said it was the fourth sellout of the season and pushed regular-season attendance past 200,000 for the first time in club history.

Next up, Washington heads to Houston on Oct. 4, while Angel City visits Gotham FC the same day.

Closing Take

Some players need a whole movie to make an impression. Niehues got the post-credits scene, on in the 86th and scoring in the 88th, and it is the only part of the night anyone will remember. Smerud summed up the vibe: "It was a tight, tough game, but my feeling in the second half was that if someone was winning it, it was us." On Saturday, someone was. It was Angel City.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by AngelCity.com; additional details from WashingtonSpirit.com.