South Jersey native Brittany Ratcliffe returns home for Concacaf W Champions Cup

In the 42nd minute of Washington Spirit’s Concacaf W Champions Cup match with rival Gotham FC, Williamstown, New Jersey’s Brittany Ratcliffe threatened the Gotham back line with another dynamic run, as she’d done throughout the entire first half. This time, she forced the outside and central defenders to collapse by tucking inside, creating room in the channel.

Teammate Heather Stainbrook slipped a pass into space for Ratcliffe to run onto at top speed. Her shot had plenty of power but with her momentum taking her away from goal, Gotham keeper Shelby Hogan covered the tight angle and made the save.

The Philly soccer fairytale ending would include Ratcliffe’s winner sending the Spirit to the top of the group B standings and into the semifinals, the player who grew up watching thePhiladelphia Charge play at Villanova Stadium being the one nudging her side closer to a FIFA Club World Cup in 2028. Unfortunately, that goal never came, however, Ratcliffe’s appearance in Wednesday night’s game was just as memorable because her Philly soccer fairytale continues.

“I love coming,” Ratcliffe said about her return to Subaru Park. “I think the stadium is beautiful. I love the bridge right there. It’s always a great atmosphere, always a beautiful sight.”

Though the quick turnaround prevented her from showing off the city to her teammates, the feelings of home brought a sense of an ease for a player known for her high energy on the field.

“It’s exciting. I would say some games, it’s just another game, but coming home and knowing I’m at my hometown field, it’s more fun. You have nothing to lose. You’re home. This is where you grew up, so just enjoy it.”

Ratcliffe, the former NSCAA High School All-American at Paul VI and All-ACC standout at the University of Virginia, played an outstanding ninety minutes as a right side winger, impacting the game on both sides of the field. In the 7 th minute, she broke down the right side and sent a bending cross toward Sofia Cantore, who’s header deflected off a defender and was cleared away.

In the 28th minute, Spirit midfielder Kate Weisner sent a cross into the box that bounced through traffic, where at the other end, Ratcliffe waited for the ball to come down. Ratcliffe wrapped her foot around it, but the high bounce and the quick defensive pressure forced her to sky the ball over the bar. Even late in the second half, when her legs may have grown weary, she continued carry her energy into dangerous positions, creating scoring chances as the Spirit pushed for a winner.

“I’m happy for her because she’s working so hard in the training sessions,” Spirit head coach Adrian González said after the game. “She’s a great leader, a great teammate, even though maybe sometimes she’s not getting a lot of minutes. But she’s so humble, always working for the team, working hard, and I’m very happy that today she could get 90 minutes at home.”

Ratcliffe is in her 10 th season as a pro. Drafted in 2016 by the Boston Breakers in the first round of the NWSL Entry Draft, she bounced around early in her career from Boston to Kansas City to Utah, eventually missing multiple years due to a knee injury, the Royals’ dissolution, and the Covid shutdowns. For a while, she trained at Vereinigung Erzgebirge alongside Sellersville’s Marissa Sheva, now with Sunderland in the English Championship, before resuming her career with the North Carolina Courage. In 2023, she scored multiple game-winning goals to lead the Courage to NWSL Challenge Cup title, earning All-Tournament honors.

Since joining the Spirit, she’s earned more minutes and more starts, and as the women’s game expands its competitive calendar with the addition of the Concacaf Champions Cup, Ratcliffe’s experience and energy become even more valuable. In every start of the tournament, she’s played 90 minutes, and with the Spirit clinching a league playoff berth last weekend, she’ll continue to play an important role as the team seeks a return to the NWSL Final, where last season they lost to Orlando 1-0. The Sprit won their only NWSL Championship in 2021.

“It’s obviously hard because of the travel, the wear and tear,” she said about the compacted schedule and the opportunities it creates. “We play Sunday, we play Wednesday, we play Sunday again. It’s a lot on people’s bodies, and obviously we don’t have a team where we can just swap out an entire 11. You have to play certain people 90 in all these games. But it’s good for people who don’t get a lot of minutes. It’s good to see how you can build a roster that can play no matter what.”

Ratcliffe is in her second year with the Spirit and appeared in her 100 th NWSL match last November. Last season, she played 90 minutes when Gotham and the Spirit played at Subaru Park in the NWSL-Liga MX Summer Cup.

On August 19th, Ratcliffe scored the third Spirit goal against Alianza in a 7-0 win in the Concacaf W group stage, a goal that could prove pivotal should the Sprit defeat Monterrey in two weeks in the group stage finale. A Spirit win would ensure first place over Gotham on goal differential, a tie-breaker edge the Spirit currently holds at 11-6.

In a 3-1 win over her former team, North Carolina, on June 10 th , Ratcliffe had a goal and an assist in the first half and earned NWSL’s Player of The Week honors.

With four league games remaining before the NWSL playoffs, Ratcliffe will be counted on again to ensure Washington earns a path through Audi Field as well as qualification in next spring’s Concacaf semifinals.

For one night, at least, she had the opportunity to be reminded of how her hard work has taken her from dreamer to professional player, using Subaru Park as the measuring stick.

“When I think about playing on this field when it was first built,” she said. “I think I came to the inaugural Union game. I don’t even know how old I was, but I remember driving over it when I’d go to club practice and seeing them build it and add to it each day, and now having played professional soccer for ten-plus years, I get to play in this stadium. You can’t write anything better than that.”