Welcome back to “I’m Curious!”

Happy 60^th edition! It’s hard to believe this newsletter has been around for more than two years and that there have been 60 different games, events or stories to fill a whole newsletter.

Thank you to all of you, whether you’ve been here from the start, or this is your first time reading.

I’ve got a thriller of a game for you that I covered and you’re gonna want to find out more about it.

It’s all inside, so as always, feel free to either read through or flip around as you see fit!

Here’s the Table of Contents.

Table of Contents

• Welcome back to “I’m Curious!”

  • The Most Curious Thing This Week: Absolute Cinema in DC

  • My Reporting: On Evelyn Ijeh, for The IX Sports

  • The Photo Bay

    • Almost the Defining Moment: Rebeca Bernal's Game-Tying Goal

    • "Be the best you can be, and don't look back": Natalie Jacobs's Game Winner

    • "Vibes R Rancid" — It Got Rough Out There

    • The Ashley Sanchez Revenge Tour ™ Makes A Stop in Washington

    • Hugs and Pep Talks: Fun from the Spirit Pregame

    • Don't Call It A Comeback (But Maybe A Hatchback?): Ashley Hatch Returns

  • Something Good I Ate: My Own Cooking!

And here’s Peach!

The Most Curious Thing This Week

It is the many layers of an absolutely cinematic game in Washington on Saturday night. 

The scoreline undersells the extremes of it all—the worst Spirit half of the season, followed by a 45-minute push to tie the game, a false finish, existential despair, tons of joy and a deflating final blow.

This was North Carolina Courage 4, Washington Spirit 3.

Within 15 minutes, the Courage put up a seemingly insurmountable lead. Within two minutes, top Courage goal scorer and former Spirit player Ashley Sanchez had found the net with a jumping finish. In the 9^th minute, striker Evelyn Ijeh found the net in a tight 1-on-1 finish after her teammate Ally Schlegel drew the attention of three Spirit defenders.

And before the clock past the 15-minute mark, Sanchez was able to press high on Spirit center back Tara Rudd, hitting a slide tackle that poked the ball into open space for Ijeh to nab her second goal, and the team’s third. 

“We definitely wanted to start fast, and we did,” Courage center back and team captain Natalie Jacobs said postgame. “I think our high press was really what was the key to the beginning of the game. We were on the front foot. We were trying to force turnovers, win the ball high. Ashley’s slide tackle was an example of just getting in there, slide tackling, playing it, Ijeh finishing it perfectly.”

It left the Spirit struggling to figure out what the heck just happened.

“I think we got completely stunned at the beginning of the first half. I can’t even tell you exactly what happened,” Spirit defender Gabby Carle told reporters postgame.

Spirit midfielder and captain Andi Sullivan explained the feelings that the team navigated and said the team was able to turn things around after the three goals.

“After the first one you think, ‘ok, slow start, respond.’ Second one, you think, ‘all right, wake up call.’ Third one, you’re like, ‘all right, what’s going on?’ So you can go down that rabbit hole, but again, everyone, I think, reset.”

Sullivan felt that the early struggles were tied more to team mindset than any failures in the game plan or tactics.

“I don’t think there was anything, like, tactical, or things that we needed to shift to get our momentum going again.”

Her teammate, defender Kate Wiesner, agreed that the issue came down less to tactics, pointing to the way the game proceeded after the early trio of goals.

“As much as this one stings for us, I think it’s an important lesson for us to be able to learn now. Like, can’t pass blame on the game plan or the scouting report,” Wiesner said. “Obviously, for 85% of the game I think we were pretty dominant. Again, that shows you that, the tactics were on. It was I think our mentality in those first 15 minutes, which is unfortunate and it hurts a little bit. But, like I said, an important lesson for us to have learned at this point in the season to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

From there, the Spirit did show signs of life through the remainder of the first half. After putting up zero shots in the window where the Courage scored their three, the Spirit put up five shots in the remainder of the half, and were able to accumulate 12 touches of the ball in the Courage’s 18-yard-box.

Still, it was, beyond most doubt, the worst half the Spirit had played all season. At halftime, something had to change.

And it did.

Not even two minutes out of the gate, Spirit winger Trinity Rodman notched her ninth goal of the season. There was hardly any celebration. The team immediately hustled back to their side of the field, with a collective eye turned only toward scoring again.

Before the Audi Field crowd even got to chanting “Free DC” at the 51-minute mark, striker Sofia Cantore scored the Spirit’s second. Again, hardly any celebration. Right back up the field to try to score again.

Spirit head coach Adrián González had made some readily visible adjustments. The team that came out for the second half used four of the five available substitutions. And after the game, González shared some of what he told the team at halftime. 

“I was believing that we could come back, and it was a matter of exploring especially width, playing around with crosses, getting in the box, provoking corners, fouls, and insisting on playing in their half,” González said. 

He also set a bit of a deadline for the team: he wanted a goal in the first 10 minutes.

“After that, we believed that the second would come and we could have that momentum. So I was believing that we could do what we’ve done. Because I know the team, I know the players and I know they were able to.”

In the waning minutes of the second half, the Spirit looked close to finding their equalizer but had shots that missed the net or were saved by Courage keeper Kailen Sheridan.

Into stoppage time, the Courage still held the lead. It took a second consecutive corner kick, but a ball into the box off the head of Rebeca Bernal found its way onto the ground for a bit of a chaotic scuffle. But it was one that allowed Bernal to boot the ball into the back of the net.

Somehow, the Spirit found their equalizer. 

From there, the club had a choice. Play it safe and take the one point in the standings, or ride the momentum and go for the win for the full three points.

The Spirit chose the latter, sending most of the team forward. It nearly worked when Hal Hershfelt had time to set up a shot just outside the 18-yard-box on the right side.

She launched a right-footed strike that passed the outstretched hands of Sheridan, only to carom off the left post and back into play.

Inches away from a winner.

But the game was far from over, as the Courage took advantage of the Spirit sending so many players back to create a transition opportunity.

And it was center back Natalie Jacobs, the team captain, who was able to find some space up the middle. Fullback Feli Rauch fed a ball forward to Jacobs, who ripped a shot as she streaked into the box that went past Spirit keeper Sandy MacIver and into the net. 

With that, it was the Courage, not the Spirit, who had their winner.

“I saw an open space, and I knew the game was 3-3, and since we were up 3-0, I was like, we cannot lose this game,” Jacobs said. “And I just felt like there was gonna be a window. And I looked up the field and there was no one in that space, so I was like, I gotta keep running to be that option. Feli played an amazing ball and found that pass right in stride, and I just knew I had to put it away. Because once I got there, I gotta finish it off. So yeah, it was amazing.”

The shock on both sides of the ball was palpable. The goal took the air out of a crowd that had just been energized by an unlikely comeback. The Courage bench celebrated wildly. Even their own keeper, Kailen Sheridan, was in visible shock.

González took responsibility on the Spirit side of things for taking the riskier approach, recognizing that the players were very fatigued, opening the door to being outrun back the other way, and that the team had plenty to learn from how things went.

“We were taking a risk, obviously. I do take responsibility also for that, on the last goal,” González said. Because you have two options. You can just try to slow down the game and just end the game, or you want to go to score the fourth. We had the fourth there with Hal, and the post. So we probably would be talking a different conversation if that goal gets to the back of the net.”

My Reporting

The IX

Everyone’s favorite freelance partnership is back, as I offered a bit more insight for The IX Sports on Courage striker Evelyn Ijeh and her terrific run of nine goals in her last ten games.

The 24-year-old Swede did not get onto the stat sheet until mid-May, going without a single goal or assist to start the first couple of months of her NWSL career.

It was unusual for a striker who put up double-digit goal totals, first in Sweden and then in Italy.

But the advanced metrics signaled that Ijeh was due for some positive regression. And it has come aplenty.

The nine goals in her last ten games leave her roughly where her expected stats would suggest, and also plant her squarely in the race for the Golden Boot. She currently ranks tied for third in goals in the NWSL, behind league-leader Barbra Banda, who has 12 for the Orlando Pride, and her Courage teammate Ashley Sanchez, who has 11 goals of her own.

When I talked with Ijeh and Courage head coach Mak Lind, both were quick to point out that having teammates like Sanchez and getting familiar with her new team has made a world of difference for her.

From The IX:

You can read the full piece here.

The Photo Bay

Almost the Defining Moment

After two early second-half goals, the Spirit needed just one more to bring things back level.

They peppered the Courage and keeper Kailen Sheridan with chances but just could not put one away. 

Until the beginning of stoppage time, when Rebeca Bernal was able to follow up a header with the game-tying goal in the middle of a crowd in front of the net.

While it was just an equalizer, the Spirit celebrated coming back from down 3-0 at halftime as if it was a winner.

See if you can spot Adrián González in the background absolutely losing it and celebrating with the crowd.

“Be the best you can be, and don’t look back”

It took just a few more minutes for the Courage to then race back down the field and score the winner. And in the end, it was center back and team captain Natalie Jacobs, scoring just her second career NWSL goal in seven seasons and her first since 2024. 

It was an emotional moment for Jacobs, who a day before, had the chance to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. With her teammates looking on, Jacobs laid the wreath and was able to visit the grave of her grandfather, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Delbert Jacobs. Brig. Gen. Jacobs flew 168 combat missions in Vietnam and was awarded both the Legion of Merit and a Distinguished Flying Cross, both with two oak leaf clusters to symbolize that he actually received each award on three occasions.

The Courage PR team shared after the game that the team put a quote on the whiteboard in the locker room from Brig. Gen. Jacobs before Saturday’s game: “Be the best you can be, and don’t look back.”

After the game, his granddaughter shared what it was like to see that and then live it on the field, just a couple of miles from his eternal resting place. 

“It was so cool to walk into the locker room and see that quote. That was a surprise,” Natalie Jacobs said. “And it was just amazing to just see how they supported my family in that way. And then also to honor him was so cool because he’s a hero of mine. So, to be able to share him with the team was an experience I’ll never forget.”

The younger Jacobs saw a lot of her grandfather’s wisdom on the field Saturday night.

“That quote, I think, really embodies what today was. Do the best you can. I think for us we knew it was gonna be hard, we were gonna be tired, and that we were gonna fight for 90-plus minutes and be the best we can and not look back.”

And although Natalie Jacobs clearly did not look back, it was easy to spot that there was a bit of emotion in scoring this particular winner.

“Vibes R Rancid” – It Got Rough Out There

Sometimes, you just have a rough night. Things go wrong at work, you take some tumbles, and you get a little frustrated.

Between the struggles of the first half and the last-second loss, there was no shortage of rough nights in DC on Saturday.

In the Spirit Squadron at halftime, a little sign sat on the capo stand that just read “Vibes R Rancid.” Sadly, all too evergreen.

Late in the first half, yet another promising ball found its way out of play as opposed to into the net. And this particular one saw Spirit winger Paige Metayer about ready to run out of patience.

And then late in the second half, as the Spirit chased a winner, one sequence led Spirit full back Kate Wiesner to take a tumble as the Courage continued play, the referee signaled to play on and both ran away from her. 

In this picture, Wiesner’s expression speaks for a lot of Spirit fans.

The Ashley Sanchez Revenge Tour ™

The theme of the Ashley Sanchez Revenge Tour™ has been a bit of a motif in this here newsletter dating all the way back to Edition 1. In 2024, in her first game back at Audi Field since the Spirit unceremoniously traded her away, Sanchez scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for North Carolina.

Now, as one of the top goal scorers in the league, Sanchez was coming for revenge, including for a goal she scored when the two teams played in North Carolina last month that was called back on an obscure rule after video review.

In this picture, she is looking out toward the field before kickoff in the pregame huddle. Just a few minutes after this picture was taken, she was on the scoresheet with a goal in the second minute of the game.

The Ashley Sanchez Revenge Tour™ keeps rolling!

Hugs and Pep Talks

The pregame space between warmups and kickoff often lends itself to some fun scenes, as most players are in a good mood just before the game.

You can spot things like hugs, such as this one of Trinity Rodman embracing her teammate Leicy Santos before the team does its final sprints before kickoff.

Or the substitutes on the bench messing around, as with this scene, featuring goalkeeper Kaylie Collins giving her teammate Madison Haugen a bit of a pep talk to hype her up. (For what it’s worth, Haugen played a few minutes late in the match and played a surprisingly prominent role in the Spirit’s quest for an equalizer and winner. I guess the pep talk worked!)

Don’t Call It A Comeback (But Maybe A Hatchback?)

The dramatic quadruple-sub at halftime left the Spirit with just one substitution late in the game. It left it so that returning striker Ashley Hatch, rostered for the first time Saturday night since giving birth to her son Leo in January, did not have a chance to enter the match.

Although she did not enter the match and have a chance to be announced, Hatch still got a warm round of applause from fans who noticed her walking out with the other substitutes, and offered a few waves in response.

In every NWSL season since 2019, Hatch has scored 7 or more goals for the Spirit—7 in 2019, 10 in 2021, 9 in each of 2022 and 2023, 7 in 2024—except in 2025, when she scored only 6… in just 10 games before heading on maternity leave. 

It may take a bit for Hatch to find her form after a long time away and navigating pregnancy and motherhood, but if she gets back to where she was before leaving… look out.

Something Good I Ate

I’m proud of myself. Last night I made a dinner from a recipe for the first time in a while.

I am far and away the second-best cook in my two-person household. It is not close. Usually we would sooner order out than eat something made by me.

But last night, I was able to follow this recipe that my wife had been ready to cook but that I took over.

It is a creamy lemon asparagus gnocchi recipe from The New York Times Cooking page and it came out great. The gnocchi taste especially good when pan-fried to golden brown, giving them a bit more dimension than the chewy, pasty potato balls that come out when they are undercooked or boiled. The asparagus also helps add texture to the dish such that you don’t need to serve it with a crunchier side.

I was worried at first that I put a bit too much lemon juice into the dish in an effort to thicken up the sauce, but the tang of the lemon juice and zest counters the creamy and cheesy sauce in a way that’s just right.

In the peak of the COVID pandemic, when home-cooked meals were a necessity, I cooked a lot. And I introduced my roommates to my comfort show at the time, the since-wrapped PBS cooking and food show “A Chef’s Life,” starring the delightful North Carolina restaurateur Vivian Howard.

The intro to each episode would begin with her looking straight into a camera and saying in her thick Southern accent “I’m Vivian, and I’m a chef.”

It led to a bit of a gag between me and my roommates that I would make some incredibly simple microwave dinner and then jokingly say “I’m Roey, and I’m a chef,” in a style that sounded less like I was introducing a show like “A Chef’s Life” than an episode of “Jackass.”

(Let’s be honest, me cooking was and still kind of is like an episode of “Jackass.” Like I will probably find a way to get hit by a giant hand midway through making dinner. I am that clumsy.)

But last night, the dish actually worked and it capped a nice, productive day. I’m certainly happy with how it came out.

I’m still not exactly Vivian Howard, and I don’t think I’ll ever get her accent quite right. But thankfully I didn’t get whacked by a giant hand.