Soccer

NWSL Week 13 in review: Banini carries the Spirit

Estefania Banini was supposed to be a major contributor for Washington a year ago, but had her season cut short by injury. Now healthy, the Argentine forward has become a big part of a Spirit team that’s without two of its biggest offensive contributors.

by Lauren Barker

Jul 18, 2016, 10:06 PM UTC

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

A year ago, as teams were figuring out how to deal with the massive holes left by the World Cup, the Washington Spirit was in something of a unique position. Crystal Dunn, widely expected to be a member of the U.S. team that went to Canada, was instead left off Jill Ellis' final World Cup roster. It was nothing but good news for the Spirit -- they had one of the best players in the league staying home while a good chunk of the others left, and the roster snub seemed to elevate Dunn's play to an even higher level.

Dunn, then in her second professional season, led the league in scoring, was selected Player of the Week five times, Player of the Month for August, and won both the Golden Boot and MVP awards for the 2015 season. A year later, Dunn got a second chance at making the roster for a big international tournament, and this time there was no snub. The 24-year-old forward was named to Ellis’ Olympic roster and will be heading to Rio this August. It’s good news for Dunn, but bad news for the Spirit.

It's been three weeks now since Dunn headed off with the USWNT for a camp ahead of the Olympics, but the Spirit have played just as well without her. Washington's 3-2 win over FC Kansas City on Saturday brought the Spirit's winning streak to three games, all of them coming without not only Dunn, but also fellow USWNTer Ali Krieger and Canadians Diana Matheson and Stephanie Labbe.

Washington’s lost just twice this season, spending the first five weeks unbeaten and in a back-and-forth with Portland for the top spot. It was the Thorns that, eventually, put Washington into the loss column for the first time this season. But the Spirit bounced back -- they’ve lost just once more since then, and their 8-2-2 record lands them in second on the table and even on points with the first-place Thorns.

With the exception of last season when she made just nine appearances due to injury and the World Cup, Matheson has always been one of the Spirit’s main offensive contributors. Losing Matheson last season would have been an even bigger blow for Washington had it not been for Dunn having the season of her life. But to subtract both Matheson and Dunn? It wouldn’t be that surprising if the Spirit hadn’t been able to hold onto the same early-season form that’s made the team a mainstay in the top four. Those early-season wins seemed extra important when it became clear just how much Washington was losing for July, and maybe beyond.

Except that Washington hasn’t fallen off the pace at all. And a huge part of the Spirit’s ability to remain consistent has come from something of an unlikely source, and that’s Estefania Banini.

Banini, who’s a member of the Argentina WNT, came to the Spirit ahead of the 2015 season. Banini had been playing professionally in Chile, but with Matheson injured (and then set to join Canada if she could get healthy in time for the World Cup), and with the assumption that Dunn would also be heading to Canada, the Spirit needed someone who could score goals. Banini fit that bill. Then-Spirit head coach Mark Parsons saw her as a dynamic player who could change games. And as the 2015 season started there were glimmers of what Banini would be able to contribute once she adjusted a little more to NWSL play.

But that Banini would be a major contributor was a theory Washington never really got to test a season ago. First, they didn’t really need to since Dunn got to stick around after all. And second, Banini played just four games before a knee injury and subsequent surgery ended her season.

After the injury and disappointing non-season she had in 2015, Banini could have gone the way of so many flashes in the pan before her -- players like Lady Andrade in Western NY, Katrine Veje in Seattle or Genoveva Anonma in Portland. All signed with much fanfare, arrived with high hopes, failed to adjust or contribute much, and vanished from the league faster than a sucker punch to Abby Wambach’s eye.

Except that isn’t what Banini’s done. She didn’t go back to Argentina or Chile, and she didn’t end up in Sweden or Iceland or anywhere in Europe, either. Banini stayed in Washington, healthy and ready for a second chance with the Spirit this season. And so far, things have worked out. Banini has become the major contributor that Washington hoped she would be last season.

Banini started this season serving as a second-half sub, if she got in at all. But after finally scoring her first NWSL goal on June 18 in the Spirit’s 2-0 win over Orlando, she’s become a regular in Washington’s starting lineup. And it’s paying off for the Spirit. Banini now has four goals this season, tied with Matheson and Joanna Lohman for the team lead. Two of those goals came on Saturday in the Spirit’s 3-2 win over FC Kansas City, a crucial victory that not only kept Washington a point ahead of the third-place Flash, but also brought them level with the Thorns, who lost to Houston. Banini has also registered one assist this season.

Holding on to a spot in the top four through July, without Matheson and Dunn (and Krieger and Labbe), may have seemed like a lofty goal at the beginning of the season. But now, with two weeks left before the league takes a month-long break for the Olympics, Washington is in about as good a position as anyone. Banini is large part of why.