Washington Spirit vs. Gotham FC: Previewing the 2025 NWSL Championship

Eight of the league’s 14 teams earned a berth to the three-round, single-elimination postseason. There are no byes in the NWSL Playoffs, so the top-seeded teams duked it out with the rest of the field, and let’s just say, some brackets were busted.

The No. 1 Kansas City Current crashed out in the first round, suffering a 2–1 extra-time defeat to Gotham after forward Katie Stengel buried the game-winner. Prior to the upset, KC had lost only once on their home grass (ever) and were statistically the most dominant top seed in league history. Sheesh.

• The rest of the favorites won out — albeit, not easily — with the Spirit, No. 3 Portland Thorns, and No. 4 Orlando taking down No. 7 Racing Louisville, the No. 6 San Diego Wave, and the No. 5 Seattle Reign, respectively.

The second-round semifinals brought their own kind of thrills, starting with the Spirit taking down the Thorns 2–0 to reach their second consecutive final. Forward Rosemonde Kouassi orchestrated one of the best end-to-end runs you’ll ever see before dishing to forward Gift Monday for the opening goal, and Croix Bethune added the second in the 83rd minute.

• Don’t forget, Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman also made her return to the pitch in the semis after missing the last month with a knee injury. More on this later.

The next day, Gotham proved once again that they’re no underdog, eliminating Orlando 1–0 in the final minutes thanks to a stunning free kick from midfielder Jaedyn Shaw. A last-gasp save from goalie Ann-Katrin Berger meant Gotham were returning to the final as the lowest possible seed, a pattern that worked well for them in 2023.

Now, it’s the Spirit vs. Gotham in the ’ship. These squads met twice in the regular season, with Gotham recording a 3–0 win in April and their August match ending in a 0–0 draw. But with both teams now operating at maximum starpower, either one could raise that Tiffany trophy.

• Adding some more fuel to this fire, tonight marks the 44th time these two will face off, overtaking the Seattle Reign vs. Portland Thorns rivalry for the most NWSL games played between two squads. Guess Saturday night’s alright for fighting footy.