As the respective top two seeds in the NWSL playoffs, the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit have been on a collision course to this moment.
Led by their elite goal-scorers, the Pride and Spirit will battle for the NWSL championship on Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo.
Both clubs won 18 matches in the regular season and showed off their different strengths throughout the campaign. Orlando set a league record with 60 points after starting the season on a 23-match unbeaten run (17-0-6), and it finished the season with 13 shutouts and just 20 goals allowed.
The Spirit potted 51 goals, second-most in the league, with five players contributing at least five. Trinity Rodman is the team’s talisman with eight goals and six assists.
Orlando, though, can lean on Barbra Banda (13 goals, six assists) as well as Brazilian legend Marta, who at 38 is playing for her first NWSL title.
“During this journey, there were a few times we faced a difficult situation,” Marta, who had nine goals in the regular season, told The Washington Post. “So I was just like, ‘Okay, this is not going to stop me, not going to stop what I want to show on the field.'”
Marta scored the critical third goal for the Pride in the semifinals as they held on to beat the Kansas City Current 3-2. Banda assisted on Marta’s goal while scoring one of her own.
The Spirit had a more intense run through the first two rounds of the playoffs. They beat Bay FC 2-1 in the quarters thanks to an extra-time own goal, then vanquished NJ/NY Gotham FC on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie.
“For me, we have the best players,” Spirit coach Jonatan Giraldez said. “We are in the best moment of the season. We are performing well, and (Saturday), we have a big, big opportunity to show what kind of team we are and why we are here.”
Orlando’s Emily Sams was voted the NWSL Defender of the Year. Washington raked in some individual awards, too, with Croix Bethune being named Rookie of the Year and Midfielder of the Year — but Bethune suffered a torn meniscus while throwing a first pitch at a Washington Nationals game on Aug. 28 and has missed the Spirit’s playoff run.
The Pride swept the season series with the Spirit, winning 3-2 on the road in April and 2-0 at home in October.
The Spirit won the 2021 championship and retain some key players from that squad like Rodman, forward Ashley Hatch and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The Pride are vying for their first league title.
–Field Level Media
