The Wait Is Over

Clearing The Air

Following training on Tuesday, Washington Spirit captain Shelina Zadorsky informed general manager Lori Lindsey that a players-only meeting was going to being held, so they could clear the air over what's been going wrong the first three weeks of the season and to discuss the ownership change and its implications for them. Lori felt like this would also be a good time for her to get some feedback on the club's culture of homophobia and so asked if she could pop in at the conclusion to answer any questions the players might have, which was agreed to by Shelina.

Shelina: We were Eastern Conference champions just a year ago, and now we've taken only one point from three games, including a draw at home against Sky Blue. I know we have lost a significant amount of our defense from last year, but picking up just a single goal a game so far won't cut it in this league. What do WE as players need to do to get this thing turned around, because I'm not sure we can count on management at the moment to make any fixes?

Tori Huster: Orlando was the only team to get a multiple-goal win on us, so the defense has held together reasonably well. Atlanta's winner came very late and the Sky Blue goal was the result of Sammy beating Christen off the line on Killion's PK rebound.

Abby Smith: Yeah, Tori. The Orlando game is the only one where I think we really didn't give a solid performance, and that was probably due to them getting more games in their tournament than we did in ours with Sky Blue and North Carolina.

Meggie Dougherty Howard: What I've noticed is that our transition game hasn't been so good. Last year, Abby and Shelina could get it out of the back to Tori and we'd be able to start pressing bodies forward on the attack, or Steph could throw out to the flanks for either Kassey or Estelle to move it up the park. This year, with the flip-flopping in the middle between Christen, Kassey, and Shelina, we don't have that instinctual ball movement to go forward or wide with it quickly.

Kassey Kallman: I knew when Jim made the trade for Jaelene that I would probably be getting moved to the center, and I'm OK with that, but his moving me out right against Orlando led to the PK and then the third goal where Kennedy was able to slip into the box unmarked. I think we'll be best if Shelina and I can actually work together more and get some additional time with Tori to work on our speed of play coming out of the back.

Hearing Kassey mention spending more time with Tori caused the midfielder to get some butterflies, as she has been harboring a bit of a heart-on for her former Florida State teammate since she came to Washington before the 2017 season.

Tori: I'd be totally interested in helping develop better chemistry with the two of you.

Shelina: That seems like one problem resolved. Now, the coaching. I know we're not supposed to use a players-only meeting to rag on the coach, but I think his "holier than thou" attitude is affecting the team. Thankfully, Bill sold the franchise to DelMarVa so we now have one less bigot to deal with in the organization.

Kelsey Wys: I think the culture of the organization took a major hit when he dealt Caprice and Cali to Philly after finding out that they were together. It's caused everyone who MIGHT be gay to become really defensive and protective of their private lives, else they get the same treatment.

Pointing at Tori and Kassey, Kelsey continued. "I've known these two for more years than I can count, yet I'm always afraid to be around them one-on-one because rumors might start."

At this, both Tori and Kassey's ears perked up, since both have certain feelings for the goalkeeper, who they've been friends with since Tallahassee, but are just as stymied on how to act on them. As a result, all three of them have pretty much stayed out of the dating market, hoping that at some point an opportunity would arise to make a play in some direction.