Washington Spirit outlast Pachuca, advance to Concacaf W Champions Cup final: Match report

The Washington Spirit will battle for a trophy this weekend after battling past CF Pachuca Femenil 1-0 at Estadio Hidalgo on Wednesday.

Claudia Martínez came off the bench to grab a late winner after excellent work from another substitute, Lucia Di Guglielmo, while Sandy MacIver made a spectacular stoppage-time save to preserve the win.

The Spirit were given a massive early fright from two different moments. First, Aline Gomes danced away from Tara Rudd to slide a pass into the goalmouth, only for Élisabeth Tsé — making her first start in Spirit colors — to clear the danger. From the resulting corner, Kelly Caicedo's flick was only kept out by the post as Washington found their bearings.

An unconventional lineup included Andi Sullivan making her first start in 592 days, but also saw Adrián González deploy Hal Hershfelt in an attacking midfield role while Leicy Santos set up as a lone striker.

Santos nearly scored a striker's goal in the 21st minute as Trinity Rodman's low delivery to the near post allowed the Colombia playmaker to stab a shot at goal, but Esthefanny Barreras was well-positioned to make the save.

Rudd seemed to be taken down from behind in the 27th minute as her storming run from deep ended with her meeting Gabby Carle's cross, but the center back ended up being called offside rather than getting a spot kick.

It had been an even half, but in first-half stoppage time the Spirit came up with three excellent chances. The best sequence of the half came first, with Carle, Hershfelt, and Santos working a wonderful triangle to open up the Pachuca defense. The final ball came from Hershfelt, who picked out Rosemonde Kouassi only for the Ivory Coast winger's shot to go directly at Barreras.

Kouassi then beat Barreras to a ball in behind, but her touch took her too far wide, spoiling the opening. Finally, Rudd stepped high again, this time slipping Rodman in behind only for the U.S. women's national team star's shot to slap off the post and bounce away.

The second half began in similar fashion, with Santos finding Rodman in behind on the left only for the pass to be overhit, allowing Barreras to claim.

Pachuca stabilized as the half wore on though, and a rasping 65th-minute shot from Abril Fragoso skipped barely wide after las Tuzas found space attacking the Spirit left.

Rudd made yet another long attacking run from center back, and after fine combination play from second-half substitutes Martínez and Gift Monday, it seemed like the Spirit had a 78th-minute breakthrough. Rudd touched the ball away from Barreras before bashing it into an empty net, but the flag had come up, with replays showing she had gone narrowly offside.

Finally, the breakthrough arrived, with Martínez doing just enough to break the deadlock in the 81st minute. Di Guglielmo did most of the heavy lifting, slashing in off the left to take advantage of a seam in the Pachuca shape before slipping the Paraguay attacker in behind.

Barreras raced out to make the initial stop, but the rebound went into Martínez's chest, and as it looped towards goal she chased it down to make sure it finished in the back of the net.

lovely move, pachuca had given the spirit very little all game so it was going to take something special, and this qualifies

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— andré (@andre-carlisle.bsky.social) May 21, 2026 at 12:17 AM

Pachuca understandably began pushing numbers forward, with Gomes' low cross from the right flying through the goalmouth in the 87th minute, only for a final touch to never arrive. Three minutes later, Nina Nicosia's cross from the opposite side was even more threatening, with MacIver having to tip it away as the runners lurked.

As stoppage time ticked away, MacIver then had to produce the best save of the night, leaping to her left to deny Charlyn Corral's long-range half-volley, which was earmarked for the bottom corner.

The victory sends the Spirit to the tournament final, where Club América awaits. Las Águilas, who earlier this week won the Clausura 2026 title in Liga MX Femenil, stunned NJ/NY Gotham FC with a dominant 4-1 win earlier on Wednesday. The Spirit will face América at Estadio Hidalgo on Saturday, with kickoff slated for 9:30 p.m. ET.

Box score — 2025-26 Concacaf W Champions Cup Semifinal
5/20/2026 — Played at Estadio Hidalgo (Pachuca, Mexico)

Washington Spirit 1 (Martínez 81)
CF Pachuca Femenil 0

Lineups:
Spirit (4231): Sandy MacIver; Gabby Carle, Élisabeth Tsé, Tara Rudd, Kate Wiesner (Lucia Di Guglielmo 46); Rebeca Bernal, Andi Sullivan (C) (Sofia Cantore 46); Rosemonde Kouassi (Gift Monday 74), Hal Hershfelt, Trinity Rodman (Paige Metayer 84); Leicy Santos (Claudia Martínez 62)

Pachuca (4231): Esthefanny Barreras; Kenti Robles, Kelly Caicedo, Yirleidis Minota, Berenice Ibarra; Karla Nieto (Paola García 84), Andrea Pereira; Aline Gomes, Abril Fragoso (Yareli Valadez 88), Nina Nicosia; Charlyn Corral (C)

Bookings:
Spirit - None
Pachuca - Minota 32

Referee: Myriam Marcotte
Weather: Cloudy, breezy, 62°
Attendance: Will add once I have it