Trinity Rodman scored in the seventh minute and added a late assist in the visiting Washington Spirit’s 3-0 victory over the Chicago Stars on Sunday.
In the day’s other National Women’s Soccer League matches, the Houston Dash edged the Boston Legacy 2-1, Angel City FC shut out the Utah Royals 3-0, and Bay FC defeated Racing Louisville 2-0.
Rodman provided an early spark, lifting a shot over Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher in the seventh minute. She sealed the win 78 minutes later, sending a lofted cross to Tamara Bolt’s head for Washington’s final goal.
Andi Sullivan doubled the Spirit’s lead from the penalty spot in the 34th minute after Chicago’s Bea Franklin was called for a handball in the box. Sullivan placed the kick into the bottom left corner.
Chicago (5-18-2) outshot Washington 5-4 despite the Spirit (14-7-4) controlling nearly 60% of possession.
The Houston Dash snapped a four-game winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the Boston Legacy at Centreville Bank Stadium in Rhode Island.
Sunday’s match was Houston’s first under interim head coach Jaime Frias.
Kylah Harper delivered the winning ball to Messiah Bright in the 85th minute. Bright’s header slipped past goalkeeper Casey Murphy for her first goal of the season.
Boston (7-13-5) kept the pressure on Houston (8-12-5) throughout the match, forcing Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell to make 10 saves.
Houston opened the scoring in the 44th minute when Danielle Colaprico capitalized on a frenzy in the box and put the loose ball past Murphy.
The Legacy equalized 15 minutes later. Nicki Hernández fired a cross toward Aïssata Traoré, who, playing on a yellow card, beat the Dash defenders to the ball and scored for the fifth consecutive game.
Utah (13-9-3) was left severely short-handed against Angel City after defender Paige Cronin and midfielder Ana Tejada were ejected by the 24th minute.
Two minutes later, Ally Sentnor converted the resulting penalty kick past goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn to put Angel City (11-8-6) ahead in Sandy, Utah.
Just two minutes after coming off the bench for the second half, Taylor Suarez made it 2-0 with a one-touch finish off a pass from Gisele Thompson.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir capped the scoring in the 67th minute, dispossessing Tatumn Milazzo deep in Utah territory before rolling a shot past McGlynn’s right side.
Despite a slow start in San Jose, California, Bay FC scored twice in the opening 11 minutes of the second half to defeat Racing Louisville 2-0.
Bay (7-13-5) broke through in the 50th minute when Alex Pfeiffer converted a cross from Racheal Kundananji after Kundananji won the ball. Six minutes later, Racing Louisville (7-16-2) failed to clear another Kundananji cross, allowing Karlie Lema to finish.
The match also featured two milestones for Bay. Goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz recorded her 100th save of the season in the 82nd minute, becoming the sixth player in league history to reach the mark in a single season. Maddie Moreau made her 50th appearance for the club when she entered as a substitute in the 84th minute.
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FILE - Angel City FC forward Ally Sentnor moves the ball against Seattle Reign FC during the first half of an NWSL soccer match, Sunday, Aug. 9, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson,File)
DENVER (AP) — The Denver Broncos ' defense went back to the basics after a disastrous opener in Kansas City. It focused on the most fundamental part of football there is — tackling.
It was shored up in a hurry.
The defense limited Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville offense to three points in the second half — and none over the final 24 minutes — allowing Bo Nix to stage a comeback as the Broncos rallied for a 20-13 win Sunday.
“Look, our job is to play the game and give the ball to the offense,” linebacker Alex Singleton said after his defense's rebound.
A job made easier by simply wrapping up.
The Broncos re-emphasized fundamentals all week after missing a whopping 28 tackles in a 31-10 loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. They held the Jaguars under 100 yards rushing Sunday and kept Lawrence out of the end zone after he threw for three TDs and ran for another in a 34-20 win in Denver last December.
“It was being better this week and being one step better, having that short-term memory,” Pat Surtain II explained. “Erase that week and just focus on this week ahead."
The Broncos (1-1) were one of the top defenses in the league last season, but it wasn't on display in Week 1. That could possibly be chalked up to not playing all that many snaps in the preseason.
One thing's for sure — the team's confidence never wavered.
“It’s funny how everyone was freaking out after one game,” defensive lineman Zach Allen said. “We got back on track today.”
Trailing 13-3 in the third quarter, the defense dug in as Nix and the offense found their groove in reeling off 17 straight points to snap the Jaguars' nine-game regular-season winning streak.
The Jaguars finished the game by going interception, missed field goal and punt. The Broncos' last four drives looked like this: field goal, TD, TD and victory formation.
“It was a good day for the team to bounce back,” said cornerback Riley Moss, who picked off Lawrence's pass late in the third quarter. “There’s still things that we’ve got to work on. It wasn’t a perfect game, but we got the ‘W.’”
Last December, Lawrence threw for 279 yards and three TDs with no interceptions. This time, it was a different story. Lawrence threw for 138 yards in the first half but only 51 more the rest of the way. What's more, the Broncos held the Jaguars to 2 of 6 on third-down conversions in the second half.
“As as far what they did, it wasn’t anything that surprised us,” Lawrence said. "They played really good up front. They got after us a little bit and I thought we played on our heels a little bit.”
In constant pursuit was pass rusher Nik Bonitto, who had three QB hits. He led a group that kept constant pressure on Lawrence.
“They’re a great offense,” Bonitto said. “But at the same time, we look at last year's game and we see it was really just missed tackles that gave them a lot of points and even this year making sure that we’re playing to our standard.”
One of the biggest sequences of the game was in the third quarter and the Jaguars facing a first-and-goal at the 9. Denver held them to a field goal to make it 13-3 and keep the game in range.
“We made game-changing plays," said Surtain, whose team hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. “That’s what we did — just finding ways to get them off the field, finding ways to win third down. That was huge.”
AP freelancer Ashlyn Stapleton contributed to this report.
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Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange (85) runs the ball past Denver Broncos defenders Jonah Elliss (52) and Nik Bonitto (15) in the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Denver Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto (15) knocks the ball loose from the grasp of Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, right, in the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Lutzens)
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Quintin Morris (80) is stopped by Denver Broncos defenders Pat Surtain II (2) and Alex Singleton, right, in the first half of an NFL football game in Denver, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
