Amanda Gutierres' Stoppage-Time Brace Powers Boston Legacy to 3-0 Win Over Washington Spirit

For 80 minutes on a hot Sunday afternoon at Audi Field, Boston Legacy FC and the Washington Spirit played the kind of game that makes you check your phone. Then Boston scored three times in the final 15 minutes of play, and Amanda Gutierres turned stoppage time into her personal highlight reel.

Aïssata Traoré broke the deadlock in the 81st minute, Gutierres came off the bench to score twice after the 90-minute mark, including a strike from more than 40 yards, and the Legacy won 3-0 in Washington. It was Boston's second straight road win, and it came against a Spirit side that had won its previous two.

Heat, Yellow Cards and Not Much Else

The first half was a grind, played in what the Spirit described as sunny, mid-80s weather, with two drinks breaks along the way. Washington had the first look in the 12th minute, when Tara Rudd headed an Esme Morgan set piece just wide from a tight angle on the right. Boston answered with Deja Davis narrowly missing from the right side of the six-yard box off a set piece in the 27th, and Bianca St-Georges sent a close-range finish off a Sarah Schupansky cross just over the bar in the 32nd.

Otherwise, the half was mostly about the referee's notebook. Jorelyn Carabalí was booked in the 20th minute, Hal Hershfelt in the 39th, Monique Ngock in the 43rd and Nicolette Hernández deep in first-half stoppage time. The Spirit noted the half ended with more yellow cards than shots on goal. That is a sentence no coach wants to read.

Boston Takes Control

The second half opened with Boston on top. Bárbara Olivieri forced Sandy MacIver into a save toward the top left corner in the 51st minute, and the Legacy won back-to-back corners. Even the Spirit's own recap conceded that Boston was arriving at balls first.

Boston's 60th-minute double change, Nichelle Prince for Sammy Smith and Lilly Reale for Hernández, gave the visitors fresh legs, and Prince spent the rest of the afternoon testing Washington's offside line, getting flagged three times. Traoré forced MacIver into a save at the bottom right corner in the 63rd minute after a give-and-go with Schupansky.

Washington had its moments too. Casey Murphy saved a Rosemonde Kouassi shot from distance in the 67th minute, and in the 71st, VAR looked at a potential penalty for the Spirit and waved it off. Ashley Hatch replaced Kouassi in the 75th, and Claudia Martínez, on for Ngock, became the match's fifth booked player a minute later.

The Turning Point

The 81st minute. Reale had headed over from a St-Georges cross a minute earlier, and Prince's shot from outside the box had just been blocked when the ball worked back to Traoré. She finished with her right foot from the middle of the box into the bottom left corner, with Prince credited with the assist. After 80 minutes of nothing, Boston had the one thing it needed.

Washington pushed. Hatch forced Murphy into a save in the 86th minute, Trinity Rodman did the same in the 89th, and Martínez headed a Rodman cross just wide a minute into stoppage time. That was the Spirit's last real chance.

Gutierres Goes Off

Boston brought Gutierres on for Traoré in the 84th minute, and she nearly scored immediately, forcing MacIver into a save at the top of the goal in the 85th. Then came the moment of the match. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Boston broke, Gutierres found herself on the right wing more than 40 yards out, and with MacIver off her line, as both clubs noted, she sent a right-footed shot into the center of the empty-ish net. Bold, ridiculous, perfect.

Two minutes later, she did it the conventional way. Reale fed her on another fast break, and Gutierres finished from the middle of the box into the bottom right corner. Three shots, three on target, two goals, all in about 13 minutes on the field. That is what you call making the most of your minutes.

The bench decided this one. Prince assisted the opener, Reale set up the third goal, and Gutierres scored twice, which means a substitute had a hand in every Boston goal. Not many coaches get that kind of return from a 60th-minute double change and one late swap. Traoré deserves her share of the credit with the opener and two shots on target. Murphy made three saves for the clean sheet, and Reale, Prince and St-Georges all had a hand in the late flurry.

For Washington, Rodman had one shot, on target, and set up chances for Hatch and Martínez, but the Spirit managed only three shots on target all day. MacIver made three saves and was left exposed on the second goal.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Boston 13, Washington 8. On target: Boston 6, Washington 3.
• Possession: Dead even, 50.2 percent for Boston and 49.8 percent for Washington.
• Offsides: Boston was flagged seven times, Washington zero.
• Clearances: Boston 16, Washington 6.
• Discipline: Five yellow cards, three for Washington and two for Boston.

What It Means

Boston improved to 7-5-12 with 26 points and backed up its previous match, a 2-1 win at the Utah Royals. The club, playing its inaugural season, also got revenge for a 2-1 home loss to Washington in July. The Legacy said 15,588 fans were at Audi Field. Next up is a home date with the Houston Dash at Centreville Bank Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 20.

Washington fell to 13-4-7 with 43 points, ending a two-match winning streak that included victories over Bay FC and at Portland. The Spirit travel to Chicago Stars FC on Sept. 20 for their first meeting of the season.

Closing Take

Gutierres saw MacIver off her line from 40-plus yards away and went full Steph Curry: shoot first, check the odds never. Boston spent 80 minutes looking like a team waiting for permission. It got it from Traoré, then Gutierres took the keys and drove off.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Match notes from Boston Legacy FC and the Washington Spirit; neither club's recap included postgame quotes.