For all the drama that the last matchday of the NWSL regular season promised, exactly zero upsets came to be. In every single match on Decision Day, the higher-seeded team won. This resulted in an almost entirely static table, the exception being the Portland Thorns jumping over the Utah Royals, who fell to Shield-winners Gotham.
The area of the table that had the highest chance of chaos was the middle, as three teams were vying for the last available playoff spot. It was the Seattle Reign’s to lose, which seemed possible considering their opponent was the sometimes-dominant Orlando Pride. Barbra Banda, however, remained unavailable for the Pride, making an upset a whole lot less likely.
Going after Seattle’s spot in the postseason were the North Carolina Courage and the Denver Summit, two teams who usually have no problems scoring goals but a whole lot of problems conceding them. Logic would say that combination should have resulted in a back-and-forth thriller with mountains of goals, but the game remained 0-0 until second-half stoppage time, when Summit defender (and former Courage player) Kaleigh Kurtz knocked in an own goal. The win for North Carolina would have meant something had Seattle lost or drawn Orlando, but Reign defender Jordyn Bugg’s goal 20 minutes prior sealed the fate of all three teams.
A remarkable effect of North Carolina’s failure to make the postseason — by just one spot in the standings for the second year in a row — is that Ashley Sanchez’s season is over. With 20 goals, the winger won the Golden Boot, tied Temwa Chawinga’s single-season goalscoring record, and set the record for most goals scored in a season by an American. But she never did manage to find the back of the net in the last four games of the season, and the Courage’s other attackers never did supply enough to mitigate the impact of Sanchez’s fall back to earth. In Sunday’s match against Denver, it looked like Sanchez might get that golden 21st goal plenty of times, but keeper Abby Smith made some marvelous saves, and a terrific chip that did bypass Smith and pass the goal line was called offside. In the end, neither North Carolina nor Denver could get it done when they needed to, and Seattle did; none of the results feel particularly unfair.
Sanchez’s season might be over, but Jess Fishlock’s lives on. The league and Seattle original will be retiring at the end of the season, and Bugg’s goal means she’ll have one last opportunity to win a Championship. The Reign have won the Shield and appeared in the Championship game three times each in its history, but never has it secured the postseason trophy. Fishlock, the Welsh legend, will be Seattle’s talisman as it pursues playoff glory. That path will run through a quarterfinal visit to Gotham.
Elsewhere on the table, Utah’s loss to Gotham sets up a trip west to second-place San Diego Wave. Utah has been losing steam while San Diego has been peaking at the right time, so an upset in that match would be a real shock. Fifth-place Angel City will visit the Kansas City Current for a clash between two of the most in-form teams in the league. And in a repeat of one of last year’s quarterfinals, the Portland Thorns will face the faltering Washington Spirit at Audi Field.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
