Paige Metayer Stoppage-Time Finish Lifts Washington Spirit Past Bay FC 1-0

Trinity Rodman rattled the crossbar from a ridiculous angle. Paige Metayer made sure nobody would remember the miss.

Metayer bundled in the rebound in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, and the Washington Spirit beat Bay FC 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Audi Field in front of 16,817 fans, the attendance both clubs reported. Bay outshot the hosts 19 to 16 and hit the woodwork itself, but Sandy MacIver made four saves and the Spirit snapped a four-match winless run.

End to End, Then Bay on Top

This one was open from the jump. Alex Pfeiffer forced MacIver into a save in the second minute after Bay won the ball high, and Metayer answered by firing wide from close range off a Kate Wiesner cross three minutes later. Both sides kept trading. Metayer missed again from the right side of the box in the 18th minute, Sofia Cantore sent one just wide on a 24th-minute break set up by Rodman, and Jordan Silkowitz saved a Rodman drive from distance four minutes later.

Bay grew into it after the drinks break. Metayer was booked in the 35th minute, and in the 38th Pfeiffer combined with Taylor Huff before MacIver saved her shot low at the near post. Three minutes later came Bay's best moment of the half: Huff crossed, and Karlie Lema hit the crossbar from point-blank range.

Washington lost Ashley Hatch to an injury just before halftime, and Mélissa Bethi came on for her NWSL debut. Seven minutes of stoppage time followed, and they changed the game.

The Turning Point

Two crossbars, eight minutes apart, two completely different endings. Lema's in the 41st minute bounced away to safety. Rodman's, four minutes into stoppage time, did not. Per the Spirit, Cantore slipped a through ball to Rodman on the left wing, Rodman beat her defender into the box and lashed a left-footed shot off the bar from a tight angle. Metayer followed it in and bundled the rebound over the line from close range. It was the only goal of the match, and it arrived at the worst possible moment for Bay.

Bay Pushes, MacIver Answers

The Spirit lost another starter early in the second half when Wiesner went off injured in the 51st minute, replaced by Tamara Bolt. Bay, meanwhile, came out flying. Kennedy Fuller and Jenna Nighswonger both missed the target early in the half, MacIver saved a long-range Claire Hutton shot in the 56th minute and Pfeiffer blazed the follow-up over. Coach Emma Coates sent on Cristiana Girelli and Agostina Holzheier on the hour.

The pressure kept coming. Hutton went high in the 62nd minute, Girelli had a shot blocked, and Bay won three corners in a little more than a minute. In the 67th, Girelli rose to meet a Nighswonger cross and MacIver kept it out with a save up high. Bay's changes kept rolling with Keira Barry and Racheal Kundananji, who per Bay was making her first appearance since July 18 after representing Zambia at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Washington still had chances to kill it. Silkowitz stopped Cantore in the 63rd minute, Bolt missed twice from inside the box, and Monique Ngock, on for her own NWSL debut, had an attempt blocked. Maddie Moreau was booked for Bay in the 88th minute after Rodman broke up a Bay attack on the edge of the Spirit box, and Silkowitz made one last save on Bethi deep into stoppage time.

Main Characters

Metayer finished with three shots and the winner, plus a yellow card for good measure. Rodman was the engine: four shots, a crossbar, the assist in everything but name and a late tackle the Spirit singled out. MacIver was the reason it stayed 1-0, with four saves, the Girelli stop the pick of them.

For Bay, Pfeiffer was relentless with five shots, two on target. Silkowitz made three saves, and Lema's crossbar will haunt the replay.

Coates was blunt. "I really feel for my team and my players today," she said. "I didn't think we deserved to lose." She added: "I probably thought a draw would have been a fair result."

The frustration was easy to understand. Bay took 11 of its 19 shots after the break, and Coates felt her team had the sharper attack in that half. "I thought in the second half we were probably the team that created more dangerous chances," she said. The problem was the final touch. Only four of those 19 attempts tested MacIver, and the best chance of the day bounced off the bar.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: Bay 19, Washington 16, with four on target apiece.
• Possession: Bay held 52.2 percent.
• Corners: Bay earned seven to Washington's five.
• Saves: MacIver made four; Silkowitz made three.
• Fouls: Washington committed 10, Bay five.

What It Means

Washington improved to 12-4-6 (wins, draws, losses) with 40 points and won for the first time since July 29 at Utah, ending a skid that included three losses. The Spirit's own recap said the result kept them second in the table. After a 2-0 win at Bay in April, Washington has now beaten Bay twice this season. The Spirit managed it despite losing two starters, Hatch and Wiesner, to injuries within a few minutes either side of halftime. Next up is a trip to the Portland Thorns on Sept. 6.

Bay fell to 6-4-11 with 22 points, a week after a 1-0 home win over Houston. The Kansas City Current visit PayPal Park on Friday.

Closing Take

This was soccer's version of Sliding Doors. One crossbar sent the ball back into play for nobody, the other dropped it at Metayer's feet, and that was the whole story. Bay can rightly argue it deserved a point. The table, as ever, does not care about deserving. Washington found a way, and in a season this tight, finding a way is half the job.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by Bay FC; match notes from the Washington Spirit and Bay FC.