Time appeared to slow down for Washington Spirit forward Rosemonde Kouassi as she chased down the ball on the sideline 27 minutes into her team's 2-0 NWSL semifinal victory over the Portland Thorns on Saturday at Audi Field.

Kouassi practically flew to the sideline as she kept the ball in bounds and left Thorns defender Kaitlyn Torpey in her dust. It took exactly 16 seconds for the ball to go from Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie 's foot for a Thorns corner kick to the back of the opposite net, some 120 yards away, where Gift Monday tapped in a pass from Kouassi.

The goal punctuated a suffocating first half of pressure from the Spirit and clinched Washington a second consecutive trip to the NWSL Championship. The goal also perfectly encapsulated the Spirit's recent suc

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