Tara Rudd and Trinity Rodman Lift Washington Spirit to First Place Past Boston Legacy FC

Six minutes. That was all the Washington Spirit needed on Sunday night in Pawtucket to turn a cagey game into a comfortable one, and all they needed to climb to the top of the NWSL table.

Center back Tara Rudd headed in a corner in the 25th minute, Trinity Rodman doubled the lead in the 31st, and the Spirit held off a late Sammy Smith goal to beat Boston Legacy FC 2-1 at Centreville Bank Stadium in front of 10,101 fans. The club says the win, its ninth of the season, moved Washington into first place. Boston, which had come in on a three-match unbeaten run, got its goal two minutes from time and ran out of runway.

A Slow Start, Then a Six-Minute Burst

The opening 20 minutes were all near-misses and no shots on target. Bianca St-Georges headed wide for Boston off a set piece in the fourth minute. Paige Metayer, making her first start of the season according to the Spirit, met a Rebeca Bernal cross in the 12th and sent it over the bar, and Gift Monday headed wide off a Metayer cross five minutes later.

Then Washington found its range. In the 25th minute, Leicy Santos swung in a cross off a corner and Rudd, lurking at the left side of the six-yard box, sent a looping header over Casey Murphy and into the top right corner. The Spirit say it was Rudd's first goal in NWSL play since her late equalizer in Washington's 2024 quarterfinal.

Boston nearly answered when Aïssata Traoré headed just wide from the right side of the six-yard box in the 29th minute, but two minutes later the Spirit struck again. Monday slipped a through ball into the attacking third, and Rodman finished from the center of the box into the bottom left corner. Per the club, it was Rodman's seventh goal of the season and her 11th goal contribution in her last 10 regular-season matches, while the assist was Monday's 15th goal contribution in a Spirit shirt.

The Legacy pushed late in the half, with Traoré firing over in stoppage time and a St-Georges shot drifting just past the post moments later, but the Spirit went into the break without having faced a single shot on target.

Boston Keeps Knocking

Washington made changes early in the second half, sending on Sofia Cantore at halftime and Rosemonde Kouassi and Hal Hershfelt in the 57th minute. Boston, meanwhile, kept looking for Traoré. She forced Sandy MacIver into a save in the 46th minute, and the Legacy's own recap described a 65th-minute chance in which Traoré slipped the ball into the six-yard box for Nichelle Prince, who collided with MacIver before she could finish.

Traoré also spent a frustrating amount of the night offside, flagged four times in all. Sammy Smith, on in the 59th minute for Ella Stevens, gave Boston a fresh outlet and forced MacIver into another save in the 75th.

Washington had its chances to end it. Metayer's long-range shot in the 78th minute was saved by Murphy, and Rodman and Bernal both had looks earlier in the half. Instead it was Boston that scored next. In the 88th minute, Emerson Elgin sent a long ball over the top, Smith won the race and slid a left-footed finish from the left side of the box into the bottom right corner.

That made for an uneasy finish. Andi Sullivan was booked in the second minute of stoppage time, and Annie Karich had the final chance for Boston in the fifth added minute but sent it over. Washington held on.

Who Stood Out

Trinity Rodman scored for the seventh time this season and kept the Boston defense honest all night, two shots and one of them in the net.

Tara Rudd did her day job, helping keep Boston without a shot on target in the first half, and then moonlighted as a striker. Center backs scoring the opener in a 2-1 road win is how first-place teams are built.

Gift Monday created the second goal with a perfectly weighted through ball and had a header of her own before Cantore replaced her at halftime.

Sammy Smith gave Boston life off the bench with two shots, both on target, and the goal. Aïssata Traoré was a constant threat with four shots, but the offside flag and MacIver kept getting in the way.

The Turning Point

Rodman's goal in the 31st minute. Boston had just come close through Traoré's header, and instead of an equalizer, the Spirit went straight up the field and scored again. A one-goal lead invites pressure. A two-goal lead let Washington play the second half on its own terms, and that cushion is exactly what absorbed Smith's late strike.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Washington held 58.6 percent.
• Passing: Washington completed 469 of 546 passes, Boston 305 of 377.
• Shots: Boston 11, Washington 7. Each side put three on target.
• Offsides: Boston was flagged five times, four of them Traoré.
• Saves: MacIver 2, Murphy 1.

What It Means

Washington moves to 9-3-3 with 30 points and, per the club, onto the top of the NWSL table. It was also a quick response to a 1-0 loss at Gotham four days earlier. The Spirit return to Audi Field next Sunday to host Denver Summit FC.

Boston, in its inaugural season, falls to 4-4-8 with 16 points. The loss ended a three-match unbeaten run that included a 2-2 draw with Bay FC and back-to-back shutout wins over Chicago and Orlando. The Legacy stay home to host the Kansas City Current on Saturday.

Boston can take something from the performance. The Legacy outshot the new league leaders 11-7 and matched their three shots on target. The difference was that Washington turned two moments of first-half quality into goals, and Boston's best chances ended wide, offside or in MacIver's gloves until Smith finally broke through.

Closing Take

Washington's first half looked like a speedrun: two goals, six minutes, no wasted inputs. The second half was the part where you try not to glitch before the credits. The Spirit nearly did, but the save file says first place.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details from WashingtonSpirit.com and BostonLegacyFC.com.