All Six Spirit Olympians Advance to Quarterfinals

Spirit represented on Team USA, Team Canada and Team Colombia.

 

Washington, D.C. (08/01/2024) – After yesterday’s action, all six Washington Spirit players competing at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris are advancing past the group stage and onto the quarterfinals. 

Forward Trinity Rodman, defender Casey Krueger and midfielder Croix Bethune all appeared for the United States during group play while midfielder Hal Hershfelt continued to serve as an alternate. The U.S. won Group B with nine points, victorious in all three group matches with an aggregate score of 9-2. 

Starting each match, Rodman tallied a goal contribution every time she took the pitch. The star forward netted the opening goal against Zambia, assisted on Sophia Smith’s opening goal against Germany and again found the back of the net to open the scoring against Australia. Krueger appeared in all three group matches as a substitute, totaling 51 minutes of action. Finally, though called in as an alternate, Bethune rostered each match and made her major tournament debut in Wednesday’s win over Australia, coming on for starter Mallory Swanson in the 79th minute. 

Defender Gabby Carle played a major role in Canada’s sweep of Group A, starting against New Zealand and France before coming on as a substitute to help seal the side’s clinching match against Colombia. After originally being called up as an alternate for the tournament, Carle was added to Canada’s 18-player roster before the opening match and played 162 minutes during the group stage. 

Incoming midfielder Leicy Santos was a key part of Colombia’s success in group play. The standout played every minute of Group A action for Las Cafeteras and netted a goal in her second straight major tournament when she scored against New Zealand. Colombia will now take on last summer’s World Cup champion Spain in the quarterfinal. 

A breakdown of when Spirit players will take the field for the Olympic quarterfinal round is listed below: 

• United States vs Japan, Saturday, August 3 at 9 a.m. EDT (Parc des Princes, Paris) 

• Spain vs Colombia, Saturday, August 3 at 11 a.m. EDT (Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Décines-Charpieu) 

• Canada vs Germany, Saturday, August 3 at 1 p.m. EDT (Stade Vélodrome, Marseilles) 

Should the U.S. and Canada both advance, the sides would face one another in the semifinal round on Tuesday, August 6 in a rematch of March’s Gold Cup semifinal and April’s SheBelieves Cup final. 

Following this summer’s Olympic tournament, the Spirit will return to action in the inaugural Spirit International Friendlies. Fans can see world-renowned English clubs Arsenal and Chelsea at Audi Field this month. The Spirit will take on Arsenal on Sunday, August 18 before a historic doubleheader the following week. On Sunday, August 25, the Spirit will return to regular season play and face the Kansas City Current at noon EDT before Arsenal and Chelsea square off in the English rivals’ first-ever matchup in the United States at 4 p.m. EDT. Tickets to these momentous events are available here. Fans can also purchase their own 2024 Spirit jerseys and merchandise at WashingtonSpirit.com/shop. 

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