One half of the NWSL Championship is now locked up, with the Washington Spirit getting a thrilling semifinal win over NJ/NY Gotham FC in penalties on Saturday. The Spirit equalized against the defending champions in stoppage time, and held on through extra time and a penalty shootout for the win.
For the second straight weekend, Washington hosted a playoff game in front of a sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 fans — 19,365, to be exact. And once again, the Spirit got the win, with goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury playing hero to send the team to the NWSL Championship. Her three clutch saves led Washington to a 1-1 (3-0 in PKs) win.
It was an incredibly tight matchup between the two teams, who ended the regular season with similar records and the exact same number of points. (Washington earned the higher seed due to a slight advantage on goal differential.)
Gotham came out swinging, with forward Esther González getting a shot off the crossbar within the first minute. But the momentum soon evened out, with both sides playing aggressively and getting good looks. Washington in particular was able to create opportunities to score, but couldn’t get the ball into the back of the net.
A number of excellent saves from both keepers kept things at 0-0 heading into halftime. Gotham keeper Ann-Katrin Berger blocked off the Spirit’s best look of the first half with a wild double save, while Kingsbury hit a perfectly timed save on a charging Esther.
It was a very physical game, with the teams picking up a total of 42 fouls. (Gotham ended with 23 fouls, four yellows and a red card, while the Spirit had 19 fouls and two yellows.)
Esther broke the stalemate in the 56th minute, hitting a soft, well-placed header into the goal off a ball from Gotham midfielder Yazmeen Ryan, who in turn got the ball from a beautiful through-ball from Rose Lavelle.
The Spirit picked up the urgency after the Gotham goal, with several players getting off shots. Washington’s nerves only increased for the final 15 minutes, but even with a series of chaotic moments in the Gotham box could not get the ball into the goal.
After 93 minutes and 14 shots, Washington finally broke through in stoppage time, with midfielder Hal Hershfelt nailing a header off a free kick from defender Makenna Morris.
Morris and Hershfelt nearly followed it up with an encore, but Hershfelt’s header off Morris’ corner kick went just over the crossbar. With the 1-1 score holding through the end of stoppage time, the equalizer sent the game into extra time.
Extra time brought some extra drama, with Gotham defender Bruninha getting sent off in the 101st minute after drawing a second yellow card. Bruninha, who subbed into the game in the 65th minute, earned the second yellow off a late challenge to Spirit forward Trinity Rodman.
Suddenly down a player with plenty of extra time remaining, Gotham found itself in a tricky situation. Washington had a big chance right after the red card, with Ashley Hatch getting a great shot off a Rodman cross, but Berger was able to tap the ball over the crossbar for a massive save.
Even playing with 10, Gotham had two massive chances in a row, with two straight Jenna Nighswonger corner kicks going to two straight Esther headers and, unfortunately for Gotham, two straight Kingsbury saves.
With seconds left in extra time, the Spirit had one more chance, getting the ball close off a corner kick, but Berger was just able to keep it from going over the line.
The save sent the game to a penalty shootout — just the second-ever playoff shootout in NWSL history.
Despite Berger’s best efforts, Hatch, Lena Silano and Tara McKeown all nailed their penalties for the Spirit. Kingsbury, meanwhile, ended up with three straight saves on a series of admittedly lackluster penalty kicks from Esther, McCall Zerboni and Nighswonger. Those saves secured the Spirit win.
Gotham, especially Berger, gets some credit for the grit in this match. But in some ways this was Washington’s game all along: The team had significantly more looks on goal, getting in 27 shots and 10 on target, and maintained a slim but important lead on possession. The next step will be ensuring that more of those shots go into the goal.
The Spirit will now return to the NWSL championship for the first time since winning it all in 2021. Washington will face either NWSL Shield winners Orlando Pride or the Kansas City Current, with the teams set to face off on Sunday.