DC loses a real one
The Spirit news keeps on coming. Yesterday the Washington Spirit announced, and today it was confirmed in an announcement video, that rookie forward Tinaya Alexander has transferred to Montpelier HSC.
Tinaya @tinayaalexande3
rejoint le MHSC— MHSC (@MontpellierHSC) September 20, 2022
The move comes as a slight shock, but also makes sense. Despite the Spirit’s injury problems and severely truncated early season schedule, Alexander totaled two starts (one in the Challenge Cup, one in the regular season) and 270 minutes all season, with just 167 minutes played in the regular season.
Alexander is a 23-year-old forward in a phase of development where match time at the professional level is important. Unfortunately, the one area the Spirit have a lot of depth is in attack, and particularly in winger/wide forward areas. It appears that after a conversation, Alexander and the President of Soccer Operations, Mark Krikorian, agreed.
“After speaking with Tinaya, we decided to allow opportunities for a transfer and think her move to Montpellier HSC is the best move for her career at this time. We are very appreciative of all that Tinaya brought to this club over the past seven months and are excited to watch her succeed in France.” -Mark Krikorian; source: Washington Spirit
Alexander is an intrepid player who’s not afraid to take big steps in her career. She left Arsenal’s academy in 2017 to play soccer at LSU, being named Louisiana Sports Writers Player of the Year in her final season.
Tinaya also has a life story that makes her impossible to root against. Good luck in the future Tinaya, you’ll always have fans in DC.