2016 Washington Spirit season
The 2016 season was Washington Spirit's fourth season, competing in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.
Review
Building off the successes of the previous two playoff appearances the Spirit hired former Sky Blue FC manager, Jim Gabarra to replace Mark Parsons.The Spirit would see their most successful season to date in 2016, being league leaders in the standings throughout most of the season. Only in the final week would the Spirit's loss at Chicago Red Stars finalize them as league runners-up.
Returning to the playoffs, the Spirit earned their first post-season victory in a revenge effort against Chicago Red Stars, who just a week earlier denied them the league title. The match was sent into extra time where Francisca Ordega scored the game-winner in the 111th minute. Advancing to the final for the first time in club history, the Spirit faced Western New York Flash in Houston, Texas.
The 2016 NSWL Final played to a 1–1 draw in regulation, and finished 2–2 at the end of extra time; both Spirit goals scored by Crystal Dunn. Going into penalties, Western New won 3–2 with only Christine Nairn and Katie Stengel slotting their penalties.
National Anthem Protest
The week prior to a match with the Spirit, Seattle Reign FC and U.S. women's national soccer team player Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem in a game on September 5, 2016, explaining that her decision was a "nod to Kaepernick and everything that he's standing for right now". Anticipating Rapinoe's protest, Spirit owner Bill Lynch, moved the national anthem's performance ahead of the Spirit-Reign match without warning or notice to occur before the players' appearances on the pitch. Jeff Plush, the league's commissioner, was present at the game and told reporters that he was unaware of Lynch's plans and disagreed with the act of moving the anthem's performance. The Spirit's players issued a joint statement also disagreeing with Lynch's decision to move the anthem without first consulting the team's players or coaches.Club
Roster
The first-team roster of Washington Spirit.'
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Team management
Source:Competitions
Preseason
On January 26, the Washington Spirit announced its preseason schedule.Regular season
Regular season standings
Results summary
NWSL Playoffs
Squad statistics
Source: NWSLSquad statistics are of regular season only
Transfers
In
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred From | Fee/Notes | Date | Source |
| 12 | FC Bayern Munich | Signed | ||||
| 20 | Florida State | 2016 NWSL College Draft - 1st Round | ||||
| 17 | Arizona State | 2016 NWSL College Draft - 2nd Round | ||||
| 1 | KIF Örebro DFF | NWSL Player Allocation and trade for DaCosta | ||||
| 6 | Vittsjö GIK | NWSL Player Allocation | ||||
| 22 | Portland Thorns | Trade for Reynolds | ||||
| 14 | Fortuna Hjørring | Signed |
Out
| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred To | Fee/Notes | Date | Source |
| 17 | Canberra United | |||||
| 12 | Vittsjö GIK | Waived | ||||
| 25 | Vittsjö GIK | Waived | ||||
| 2 | Portland Thorns FC | Trade for Kleiner | ||||
| 16 | FC Kansas City | Waived | ||||
| 22 | Seattle Reign | NWSL Distribution Draft | ||||
| 20 | Portland Thorns FC | Waived | ||||
| 22 | Chicago Red Stars | Trade for draft pick and Labbé | ||||
| 28 | FC Slovácko |
Honors and awards
NWSL Yearly Awards">NWSL awards">NWSL Yearly Awards
NWSL Team of the Year">NWSL awards#Teams of the Year 2016"> NWSL Team of the Year
[NWSL Player of the Month]
| Month | Player | Month's Statline | Ref. |
| July |  Estefanía Banini | 4 goals; Spirit 4-1-0 in July |
NWSL Weekly Awards">2016 National Women's Soccer League season#Weekly awards">NWSL Weekly Awards
[NWSL Player of the Week]
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
| 13 | Estefanía Banini |
[NWSL Goal of the Week]
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
| 2 |  Ali Krieger | ||
| 13 | Estefanía Banini | ||
| 16 | Christine Nairn |