April 2, 2025 • 7 mins
For my money, going to see the Washington Spirit at Audi Field in Washington DC is the best event around. It's such an incredible atmosphere, the Spirit staff really pull out all of the stops, it's super family friendly and the athletes pour their hearts out. My family and I have been to a few games so far and already have tickets for a few more this season. It's amazing.
I'm hoping to help spread some of the Spirit love and excitement around the Baltimore area by having athletes from the team check in on my show from time to time to talk about what's going on with the team. My first guest this season is one of my favorite players on the team, Hal Hershfelt. Hall is in her second season with the Spirit. Her impact was immediately felt after being drafted last year.
In our conversation we talk about her injury, the vibe at Audi Field, and what's coming up for the Spirit. I hope you enjoy.
I'm hoping to help spread some of the Spirit love and excitement around the Baltimore area by having athletes from the team check in on my show from time to time to talk about what's going on with the team. My first guest this season is one of my favorite players on the team, Hal Hershfelt. Hall is in her second season with the Spirit. Her impact was immediately felt after being drafted last year.
In our conversation we talk about her injury, the vibe at Audi Field, and what's coming up for the Spirit. I hope you enjoy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's up, everybody, It's Saint Pierre. First of all,
thank you so much for checking out the Saint Pierre
on Air podcast. Special addition on the podcast this week
because I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one
of my favorite athletes from the local area here. That
is Hal Hirschfeldt. She plays for the Washington Spirit, the
NWSL team down in DC. If you're not familiar with them,
(00:20):
I highly suggest you check them out. For my money,
there is no more fun and entertaining game or event
that you can go to than a Washington Spirit match
at Audi Field in DC. It is so much fun,
super family friendly, The fans are great, It's always a
packed crowd, the energy is awesome. I love it so much,
and I want to bring some of that energy here
(00:41):
to Baltimore too. So I'm hoping to start up a
little partnership with the Spirit where I get a chance
to speak with different members of the team and really
just hype up Baltimore to get some more fans to
go down there to DC to check out these games.
So anyway, my first opportunity here is with Hal Hirschfeldt.
She's entering her second season with the Spirit, She was
drafted from Clemson University in twenty twenty four, and now
(01:02):
here we are. She's unfortunately injured and is only played
in the first game of the season against Orlando, but
we'll hopefully get her back soon. In fact, that's where
the conversation started. Well, I think the first question, the
big question is how's the injury and when can we
maybe expect to see you getting back on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I feel like right now, I'm just kind of taking
it day by day. I'm still in that like first
phase where I'm just trying to get all the swelling
and everything down and get like my balance back. But
hopefully here soon. I mean, it's not the shortest thing ever,
but still got a couple more weeks until you'll see
me fully back. But I'm really excited nonetheless, And of course,
like the season so long that like, I mean, yes,
(01:42):
it sucks that it's these first couple of games that
I'll be out, but you know, it's better now than
later on in playoffs or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So yeah, it's never fun to sit out and watch
your teammates have to go through without you, But like
you're right, I mean, this is this is the time
if you're going to be injured. This is the time
to be injured.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, But we're getting there. Was surely getting there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
How's the new season feeling in general? I mean, it
looks like the Spirit are off to a good start.
I mean I'm looking at the standings and of course
Orlando and Casey look like they're still up there as
the top dogs, just like last year or too. But
Spirit have looked great. You've had a lot of great
energy on the field. How are you guys feeling?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I think we're feeling good once again. This season
is so like if there's anything that I learned from
my rookie year, it's how long the season is and
how like it's so easy for teams to have inconsistency
when it comes to like highs and lows. But I
feel like for us, a big goal for us will
be like maintaining that consistency and like we're starting out
at the top of the table. How long can we
keep that up until the very end? You know what
(02:37):
I'm saying. So even though we've already had a loss,
like that's one of those things we can kind of
learned from so that we can attack the season like
with more experience and get after it.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I was at that game, the home opener. My family
is not season ticket rich, but we are many play rich,
so we got a few games that we're going to
this year. We were at the season opener and it
was just it was such an exciting game. You know,
the fans were so into it, even though it was
kind of windy and cool out there. The sold out crowd,
just massive amounts of people at that stadium. It was
kind of heartbreaking to see a loss, but you know what,
(03:09):
like people were leaving and I don't feel like people
were mad, Like sure you want to see a whim,
but I don't think they were like kicking cans. Like
it was kind of like, wow, we still experienced a
really great night.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
At the same Yeah, I mean regardless of like the
final score, it was still I thought we still played
well and it was a good game, and the turnout
was amazing obviously at Audi, like we have such a
great atmosphere. I even have friends on other teams that
come in and they're like, dang, like your home field
is so sick, and I'm like, yeah, that's where we
go every home game. But yeah, it's honestly like being
(03:41):
a player on the team. It gives me so much
pride that, like that's my home field and I get
to play every game there, so it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, what does that feel like? Can you go into
that a little bit more? Because I watch your away
games sometimes on TV and I see that some of
these other stadiums you play in are not always sold out,
and it's great. I mean, every city has to do
what they got to do to bring fans in, but
when people come to DC, like you can almost guarantee
us sell out every single game or at least a
very packed stadium. So it's got to feel a little
bit different being in your home place that way and
(04:10):
knowing you have such great support.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, it just honestly makes me so proud to like
play for this team and be in a community that
backs like not only their sports, but like women's sports.
I feel like that just goes to show like how
much our city cares and how much the fans care.
And they're very like interactive, like they're not like fans
that you don't hear them, or like they don't really
like go with the energy of the game, like they're
(04:32):
in there, like we got chans we have people like
swinging the towels. Even you make like a great tackle
or great clearance. It's not just about scoring goals, like
they're all over it. They're screaming. So it's just a
really sick crowd to play in front of.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Even watching this is really funny to me, Like in
our part of the stands, just watching even Trinity get
up and start running to warm up in that yeah,
and that home opener, like the stands blew up. I
was like, guys, it's going to be a minute, Like
she's got to stretch out.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Like they're in tune with it. They're just excited to
be there, and I love that for them, Like it's
just so great.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I've got a four year old and my daughter, like
she doesn't know much of what's going on, but she
knows she's there for a party, and she just keept
yelling the entire night. She's like, put the girl with
the pink heron, Put the girl with.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
That's so funny.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So coming up next, you've got racing. Louisville doesn't seem
like they're off to as hot of a start as
you guys maybe are, but still every game is a challenge.
How are you feeling about this next contest for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I mean, like every single game represents its own challenges,
and I think this will be what we had. We
already had an away game before, but just like like
I said, maintaining that consistency through those away games where yeah,
we'd prefer to play at home, but we're playing in
Louisville this time, and I know they haven't had the
best start of the season, but still this is a
(05:49):
great opportunity to work on ourselves and what we can
kind of like emphasize those games like common themes that
we try to work on. So just kind of still
worrying about us and what we're good at and what
we can, you know, achieve this.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Game out of curiosity. We already talked about how great
obviously being in DC is, But what's your other favorite
stadium to play in besides DC?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Gosh, DC obviously top top top, well natural for sure,
but I'd honestly say I had such a great experience
playing at the Thorn Stadium last year. Like their crowd
was crazy, like insane, and I mean it'll be raining
there and they still have like a good crowd because
(06:31):
I guess Portland people are used to Rain. I don't know,
but that was that was insane. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, I feel like for the men's and women's they
just have insane fan base.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, they do, they do well.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
How I just want to thank you again for your
time and appreciate everything you're doing, and hopefully we'll see
you on the on the pitch here, so I keep
saying Field even though I know it's not soccer lingo
and people are gonna get mad at me, but hopefully
we'll see you on the pitch here soon. So yeah, again,
thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Hal. Yeah, of course, thanks for abba me
Hey, what's up, everybody, It's Saint Pierre. First of all,
thank you so much for checking out the Saint Pierre
on Air podcast. Special addition on the podcast this week
because I had an incredible opportunity to speak with one
of my favorite athletes from the local area here. That
is Hal Hirschfeldt. She plays for the Washington Spirit, the
NWSL team down in DC. If you're not familiar with them,
(00:20):
I highly suggest you check them out. For my money,
there is no more fun and entertaining game or event
that you can go to than a Washington Spirit match
at Audi Field in DC. It is so much fun,
super family friendly, The fans are great, It's always a
packed crowd, the energy is awesome. I love it so much,
and I want to bring some of that energy here
(00:41):
to Baltimore too. So I'm hoping to start up a
little partnership with the Spirit where I get a chance
to speak with different members of the team and really
just hype up Baltimore to get some more fans to
go down there to DC to check out these games.
So anyway, my first opportunity here is with Hal Hirschfeldt.
She's entering her second season with the Spirit, She was
drafted from Clemson University in twenty twenty four, and now
(01:02):
here we are. She's unfortunately injured and is only played
in the first game of the season against Orlando, but
we'll hopefully get her back soon. In fact, that's where
the conversation started. Well, I think the first question, the
big question is how's the injury and when can we
maybe expect to see you getting back on the field.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I feel like right now, I'm just kind of taking
it day by day. I'm still in that like first
phase where I'm just trying to get all the swelling
and everything down and get like my balance back. But
hopefully here soon. I mean, it's not the shortest thing ever,
but still got a couple more weeks until you'll see
me fully back. But I'm really excited nonetheless, And of course,
like the season so long that like, I mean, yes,
(01:42):
it sucks that it's these first couple of games that
I'll be out, but you know, it's better now than
later on in playoffs or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
So yeah, it's never fun to sit out and watch
your teammates have to go through without you, But like
you're right, I mean, this is this is the time
if you're going to be injured. This is the time
to be injured.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, But we're getting there. Was surely getting there.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
How's the new season feeling in general? I mean, it
looks like the Spirit are off to a good start.
I mean I'm looking at the standings and of course
Orlando and Casey look like they're still up there as
the top dogs, just like last year or too. But
Spirit have looked great. You've had a lot of great
energy on the field. How are you guys feeling?
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah, I think we're feeling good once again. This season
is so like if there's anything that I learned from
my rookie year, it's how long the season is and
how like it's so easy for teams to have inconsistency
when it comes to like highs and lows. But I
feel like for us, a big goal for us will
be like maintaining that consistency and like we're starting out
at the top of the table. How long can we
keep that up until the very end? You know what
(02:37):
I'm saying. So even though we've already had a loss,
like that's one of those things we can kind of
learned from so that we can attack the season like
with more experience and get after it.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I was at that game, the home opener. My family
is not season ticket rich, but we are many play rich,
so we got a few games that we're going to
this year. We were at the season opener and it
was just it was such an exciting game. You know,
the fans were so into it, even though it was
kind of windy and cool out there. The sold out crowd,
just massive amounts of people at that stadium. It was
kind of heartbreaking to see a loss, but you know what,
(03:09):
like people were leaving and I don't feel like people
were mad, Like sure you want to see a whim,
but I don't think they were like kicking cans. Like
it was kind of like, wow, we still experienced a
really great night.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
At the same Yeah, I mean regardless of like the
final score, it was still I thought we still played
well and it was a good game, and the turnout
was amazing obviously at Audi, like we have such a
great atmosphere. I even have friends on other teams that
come in and they're like, dang, like your home field
is so sick, and I'm like, yeah, that's where we
go every home game. But yeah, it's honestly like being
(03:41):
a player on the team. It gives me so much
pride that, like that's my home field and I get
to play every game there, so it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yeah, what does that feel like? Can you go into
that a little bit more? Because I watch your away
games sometimes on TV and I see that some of
these other stadiums you play in are not always sold out,
and it's great. I mean, every city has to do
what they got to do to bring fans in, but
when people come to DC, like you can almost guarantee
us sell out every single game or at least a
very packed stadium. So it's got to feel a little
bit different being in your home place that way and
(04:10):
knowing you have such great support.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Yeah, it just honestly makes me so proud to like
play for this team and be in a community that
backs like not only their sports, but like women's sports.
I feel like that just goes to show like how
much our city cares and how much the fans care.
And they're very like interactive, like they're not like fans
that you don't hear them, or like they don't really
like go with the energy of the game, like they're
(04:32):
in there, like we got chans we have people like
swinging the towels. Even you make like a great tackle
or great clearance. It's not just about scoring goals, like
they're all over it. They're screaming. So it's just a
really sick crowd to play in front of.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Even watching this is really funny to me, Like in
our part of the stands, just watching even Trinity get
up and start running to warm up in that yeah,
and that home opener, like the stands blew up. I
was like, guys, it's going to be a minute, Like
she's got to stretch out.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Like they're in tune with it. They're just excited to
be there, and I love that for them, Like it's
just so great.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I've got a four year old and my daughter, like
she doesn't know much of what's going on, but she
knows she's there for a party, and she just keept
yelling the entire night. She's like, put the girl with
the pink heron, Put the girl with.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
That's so funny.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So coming up next, you've got racing. Louisville doesn't seem
like they're off to as hot of a start as
you guys maybe are, but still every game is a challenge.
How are you feeling about this next contest for sure.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
I mean, like every single game represents its own challenges,
and I think this will be what we had. We
already had an away game before, but just like like
I said, maintaining that consistency through those away games where yeah,
we'd prefer to play at home, but we're playing in
Louisville this time, and I know they haven't had the
best start of the season, but still this is a
(05:49):
great opportunity to work on ourselves and what we can
kind of like emphasize those games like common themes that
we try to work on. So just kind of still
worrying about us and what we're good at and what
we can, you know, achieve this.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
Game out of curiosity. We already talked about how great
obviously being in DC is, But what's your other favorite
stadium to play in besides DC?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Gosh, DC obviously top top top, well natural for sure,
but I'd honestly say I had such a great experience
playing at the Thorn Stadium last year. Like their crowd
was crazy, like insane, and I mean it'll be raining
there and they still have like a good crowd because
(06:31):
I guess Portland people are used to Rain. I don't know,
but that was that was insane. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Yeah, I feel like for the men's and women's they
just have insane fan base.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Yeah, they do, they do well.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
How I just want to thank you again for your
time and appreciate everything you're doing, and hopefully we'll see
you on the on the pitch here, so I keep
saying Field even though I know it's not soccer lingo
and people are gonna get mad at me, but hopefully
we'll see you on the pitch here soon. So yeah, again,
thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Hal. Yeah, of course, thanks for abba me
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