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Kouassi scores and assists in Spirit's 3-2 win over Stars

Rosemonde Kouassi had a goal and an assist and the Washington Spirit beat the Chicago Stars 3-2 in the National Women’s Soccer League on Saturday.

Gift Monday scored the winning goal when she tapped in Kouassi’s pass in the 80th minute.

Elsewhere in the NWSL, the Portland Thorns got a late penalty for a 1-1 draw with the San Diego Wave; and the North Carolina Courage tied 1-1 with the Orlando Pride.

The Spirit took a 1-0 lead at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, when Chicago's Ally Schlegel turned a low cross from Kouassi into her own net in the 31st minute. The Stars answered five minutes later with Julia Grosso's equalizer.

The Spirit (5-3-0) regained the lead before halftime. Tara McKeown curled a cross to the back post, and Kouassi was there to score with one touch. It her first goal in the NWSL in her 14th regular-season appearance.

Chicago (1-6-1) made it 2-2 when former Spirit player Sam Staab poked home a goal in the 54th minute.

Perry scores late penalty for Thorns

Jayden Perry converted a penalty kick deep into stoppage time and the visiting Thorns pulled even with the Wave, who were down to 10 players.

Kirsten McNabb conceded the penalty for the Wave (4-2-2) when she tripped Sam Coffey in the box in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

Perry, a rookie out of UCLA, stepped up to score her third goal of the season, all from the penalty spot.

Kimmi Ascanio gave the Wave a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute. Perle Morroni dinked the ball across the box for Ascanio to glance a header past Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby from five yards out.

Wave defender Kennedy Wesley was shown a red card for a foul on Olivia Moultrie in the 41st minute and San Diego was down a player the rest of the way.

Despite having a player advantage, the Wave had more possession in the game (55%). However, Portland dominated the number of chances taken, with 21 shots to San Diego's five.

Both the Wave and the Thorns (3-2-4) are now undefeated in their past four games.

Late Chilufya goal seals 1-1 tie for Orlando

Prisca Chilufya scored her first NWSL goal to give the Pride a tie in Cary, North Carolina.

Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy misjudged the flight of the ball and failed to punch away Chilufya's looping header in stoppage time.

North Carolina (2-3-3) took the early lead on Felicitas Rauch's goal in the 27th minute. After Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse saved a one-on-one with Courage forward Manaka Matsukubo, Rauch put in the rebound.

The Pride (5-2-1) had a season-high 63% possession while the Courage recorded their lowest-ever possession share (37%) since head coach Sean Nahas took over in 2022. The Pride also outshot the Courage 15-7.

The tie keeps Orlando at the top of the NWSL standings.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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