Washington Spirit defeated Gotham in shootout to reach the NWSL finals

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury saved all three penalties she faced as the Spirit defeated reigning champion NJ/NY Gotham FC in a 3-0 penalty shootout at Audi Field on Saturday to advance to next week’s NWSL Championship.

The two teams played to a 1-1 draw for 120 minutes after the Spirit forced extra time in the final moments of regulation.

Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt scored Washington’s equalizer in second-half stoppage time to offset Esther González’s goal earlier in the period for Gotham, who played the final 19 minutes of extra time on a player. Kingsbury followed with her heroics in the shootout, sending a sold-out crowd of more than 19,000 fans into a frenzy in the US capital.

“(I) just read it right,” Kingsbury said after the game. “And I think it’s more about the confidence and the fact that the fans are behind me. I really tried to get them involved because I knew that would give us a big advantage for their penalty takers coming forward and try to make one for it.” wall of fans. I would be scared.”

Washington will play the winner of Sunday’s semifinal between No. 1 seed Orlando Pride and No. 4 seed Kansas City Current in the NWSL Championship on Nov. 23 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

“I think we are here because we deserve it,” said Spirit head coach Jonatan Giráldez. “Nobody gave us anything. We deserved to win last week. We deserve it today because we created more chances than Gotham. But I don’t want to stay here. I want to keep moving forward.”

No. 2 seed Spirit withstood early pressure from No. 3 seed Gotham, including González’s shot off the crossbar in the opening minute, before increasing the pressure on the visitors.

But Gotham got on the board first through González, whose 56th-minute goal was Gotham’s first shot in 47 minutes.

Gotham midfielder Yazmeen Ryan stepped on the ball on the right flank and played a pass inside to midfielder Rose Lavelle, who dribbled briefly before placing a no-look pass behind the Spirit’s defense and into the path of Ryan, who sent her run had continued. Ryan collected the ball on the back line and delivered a cross to the penalty spot, where an unmarked González adjusted her body to head the ball back towards the near post.

Lavelle nearly doubled the lead 13 minutes later when she blocked a slow clearance attempt by Spirit goalkeeper Kingsbury in the Washington 6-yard box, but the ball went just wide of the goal.

Washington, led by American star and MVP finalist Trinity Rodman, continued the pressure throughout the second half and eventually found the equalizer in stoppage time.

Gotham substitute Jenna Nighswonger fouled Washington defender Tara McKeown just outside the penalty area and conceded a free kick in a dangerous position. Spirit substitute Makenna Morris tapped a free kick straight to the head of fellow rookie Hershfelt for the equalizer in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.

Three minutes later, Morris stepped up and hit a driven corner kick – a point of contention for the Spirit all day – onto Hershfelt’s head again, but her header went just over the crossbar.

Gotham played behind a player for most of extra time after defender Bruninha, who entered the match in the 65th minute, was shown a second yellow card and sent off for a professional foul on Rodman just in front of the Spirit’s bench. Rodman stared at Bruninha and held up her hand to mimic a card shown before Rodman exchanged words with Gotham defender and USWNT teammate Emily Sonnett. Rodman also received a yellow card.

Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said he did not want to speak negatively about the referees, but pointed out that Bruninha received two yellow cards for two fouls. Gotham had already used all available substitutions when Bruninha was sent off.

“We had a specific plan,” Amorós said of how the team adapted. “I think it worked very well, how we wanted to attack, how we wanted to defend. We limited their opportunities, so maybe they put pressure on us, but we limited the opportunities. And in the end we had two really good players.” chances to win it.”

Each team had a clear chance to win the match after Gotham was reduced to 10 players.

Gotham FC goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger tipped a shot from Spirit forward Ashley Hatch over the crossbar just before extra time, and Esther almost headed home a second goal in the 115th minute when she connected with a Nighswonger corner. Kingsbury dived to the right to push the shot wide.

Kingsbury then stepped up and saved all three Gotham attempts in the shootout, first from González, followed by shots from midfielder McCall Zerboni and then Nighswonger. Hatch, Lena Silano and McKeown converted penalties for the Spirit.

“She is brilliant,” Giráldez said of Kingsbury. “Not because of punishment, because she is a professional in the way she trains every day. It’s insane. I’ve never seen that before.”

The penalty shootout was only the second in NWSL playoff history. Washington last lost to the Western New York Flash (now the North Carolina Courage after relocation) in the 2016 NWSL Championship.

The Spirit are looking for their second NWSL championship after winning the title in 2021, when then-rookie Rodman provided an assist to Kelley O’Hara for the trophy-winning goal.

Washington won that trophy while players publicly protested their former owner, Steve Baldwin, for allegedly enabling a toxic culture at the club.

“I honestly have similar feelings to ’21 — something felt like destiny,” Kingsbury said. “And I would say the same thing. Obviously we don’t have the media circus and all the chaotic energy around us that we had in ’21, but on the other hand it’s all positive things.”