Ella Hase scored early in the second half and Racing Louisville clinched the final NWSL playoff spot by defeating visiting Bay FC 1-0 on the last day of the regular season Sunday.
Racing Louisville (10-9-7, 37 points), who secured their first playoff berth in franchise history, take a five-match unbeaten streak to the postseason, though its two previous results were ties. Louisville needed to win to remain in the top eight and ahead of the North Carolina Courage in the race to the playoffs.
Hase scored in the 48th minute off an assist from Katie O’Kane.
Bay (4-14-8, 20 points) ended the season on a 15-match winless slide.
Courage 3, Gotham 2
North Carolina scored two early goals in Cary, N.C., but it needed a Louisville loss or tie in order to snatch the final playoff spot.
Meredith Speck and Manaka Matsukubo scored for a 2-0 lead and the margin was padded for North Carolina (9-9-8, 35 points) courtesy of Jessica Carter’s own goal early in the second half.
Playoff-bound Gotham (9-8-9, 36 points) scored on Rose Lavelle’s penalty kick in the 87th minute and Gabi Portilho’s goal in extra time.
Current 2, Wave 1
Debinha and Nichelle Prince, who entered as a substitute and scored for the first time this season, posted second-half goals as host Kansas City added to its history-making record.
The Current finished with a 21-3-2 mark (65 points), setting new marks for wins and points in an NWSL season. Haley Hopkins assisted on Prince’s winning goal in the 75th minute.
The Wave (10-9-7, 37 points), who also will be in the postseason, received a first-half goal from Dudinha.
Royals 1, Spirit 0
Paige Monaghan scored in the fourth minute and it held up in Sandy, Utah.
Washington (12-6-8, 44 points), which owns the league’s second-best record, enters the playoffs with a three-match winless string (0-2-1).
Lara Prasnikar assisted on the goal for Utah (6-13-7, 25 points). Monaghan notched her fifth goal of the season and one for the second match in a row.
Reign 1, Pride 1
Jordyn Bugg’s goal for Seattle in the 79th minute forged a tie as the teams played for playoff seeding at Orlando.
Orlando (11-8-7, 40 points) received a goal from Carson Pickett in the 76th minute, but the draw was enough to keep the Pride, who have a five-match unbeaten streak, ahead of Seattle (10-7-9, 39 points) in the standings. As the fourth and fifth seeds in the bracket, they will play again in Orlando in the quarterfinals.
Thorns 2, Dash 0
Deyna Castellanos and Jessie Fleming scored in the first half and Fleming assisted on the first goal as host Portland blanked Houston.
Portland (11-8-7, 40 points) ended the regular season with back-to-back shutouts.
Houston (8-12-6, 30 points) was unable to build on a shutout of Kansas City from its previous match.
Stars 2, Angel City 1
Ally Schlegel scored deep into extra time for the winning tally in Bridgeview, Ill.
The Stars (3-12-11, 20 points), who won for the first time since Sept. 7, received a second-half goal from Jameese Joseph to tie the match.
Miyabi Moriya scored in the 23rd minute for Angel City (7-13-6, 27 points).
–Field Level Media
