
NY/NJ Gotham FC and OL Reign will square off in the 2023 NWSL championship after defeating Portland Thorns and San Diego Wave FC, respectively, in Sunday’s semifinal tilts. Here’s what you need to know:
- Gotham’s Katie Stengel broke a scoreless tie in the 107th minute with a spectacular strike that held as the game-winner in a 1-0 decision over the defending NWSL champions.
- OL Reign knocked off top-seeded San Diego with a 1-0 victory thanks to a 47th-minute goal from Veronika Latsko.
- USWNT legends Ali Krieger (Gotham) and Megan Rapinoe (Reign) — who are both set to retire after the 2023 NWSL season — will meet in the final. Both are seeking their first career NWSL title.
- The 2023 NWSL Championship is set for Nov. 11 in San Diego at 8 p.m. ET.
How Gotham FC secured the win
The Thorns looked the far nervier side in the first half, perhaps still not entirely past their regular season-ending 5-1 loss to Angel City despite the three-week break between that game and their semifinal against Gotham. That might have been part of the reasoning behind the change in goal as well, with usual starting keeper Bella Bixby benched for Hogan. But if the Thorns were the nervier side, then Gotham were a little duller in the final third, which meant Hogan was never particularly tested.
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Both teams were certainly affected by the wet conditions, with plenty of slip ‘n slide tackles and balls skidding on the soaked turf. And both teams committed their share of physical challenges in bodying each other off the ball, or sometimes simply slamming into each other, such as Morgan Weaver clattering Gotham goalkeeper Mandy Haught late in the first half with the ball nowhere nearby.
The game opened up more in the second half as the Thorns substituted on Natalia Kuikka and Hina Sugita. With Sugita behind her, Olivia Moultrie was able to penetrate deeper into Gotham’s territory along with the rest of their offense, pushing harder on the edges of the 18-yard box with runs and crosses. It was for naught in regulation; Sophia Smith, who has been returning to full 90 play after an injury, wasn’t able to singlehandedly pull the Thorns to a lead, especially with teammate Morgan Weaver not quite calibrated right in front of goal and scuffing her chances.
The game only got sloppier into stoppage as players became visibly tired and touches got sloppier. Outside of Stengel’s game-winner, there wasn’t a particularly threatening moment on the night from either side. Gotham did well to disrupt and frustrate the Thorns all through the end of extra time, gritting out a win down to the very last second. — Steph Yang, women’s soccer writer
Who stood out?
Becky Sauerbrunn had a good defensive game for the Thorns which was crucial as Gotham kept putting fellow Thorns center back Emily Menges to the test. Mandy Haught was similarly decisive on the opposite end, ably coming off her line several times for Gotham, including a great swoop onto the ball to deny Sophia Smith who was clear and free in front of the goal.
In the offense, Moultrie was a crucial element in the Thorns attack in her free-roaming role, whether picking out Crystal Dunn or Smith, or taking the space for herself and dropping a ball back into the box from the end line. For Gotham, it was clear that they wanted to run much of their attack through Jenna Nighswonger, asking her to serve the ball into the box from the left or be willing to take the shot herself also covering Dunn, but Lynn Williams put in a heroic level of effort through 120 minutes of regulation and then extra time.
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And of course, Gotham substitute Stengel took the field by storm, scoring immediately after the start of the second half of extra time with a genuine worldie curled right inside the post and under the top corner of the goal. — Yang
How OL Reign took down San Diego
OL Reign dominated proceedings in the first half and fashioned several goalscoring openings through Rapinoe and Canada international striker Jordyn Huitema but could not break the deadlock. Despite suffering a series of injuries since the USWNT clinched its fourth World Cup in 2019, Rapinoe showed glimpses of her brilliant best and was among the most impressive players during the first period, displaying a touch and weight of pass on another level to almost anyone else on the pitch.
Shortly after the half-time interval, the Reign made its pressure tell through Latsko, whose mishit cross-looped over Kailen Sheridan in the San Diego Wave net to open the scoring. Wave midfielder Makenzy Doniak came close to leveling proceedings minutes later, but her well-struck effort from outside the box was confidently gathered by Claudia Dickey, whom the Wave struggled to truly test all evening.
The Wave found its feet in the fixture midway through the second half. First, 19-year-old USWNT international Jaedyn Shaw was unlucky not to find Alex Morgan with a lofted through pass, which would have set the striker away in a 1v1 situation, but Dickey was quick off her line to intercept. Morgan then fashioned an opening from outside the box with 10 minutes remaining of regulation time, but her tame left-footed effort fell comfortably into the grasp of Dickey. Amirah Ali offered a sparkplug on the left wing from the bench for the Wave but could not find an end product after breaking into the Reign’s final third on a couple of occasions.
For Wave, losing 1-0 to a mishit cross is a cruel way to end an excellent, NWSL-shield-winning season. For the Reign, the season culminates on the same ground next week, where they will face Gotham — with the chance to hand Rapinoe the first NWSL Championship of her career. — Elias Burke, U.S. soccer staff writer
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Who stood out?
Across the 90 minutes, veteran Rapinoe looked a step above the rest as she controlled the game from the left wing. Even as San Diego found a foothold in the second period, her commitment to helping full-back Phoebe McClernon was crucial to avoid the Wave overloading the Reign’s left side. As legs began tiring and the affair became more stretched into the second half, Rapinoe’s longtime international teammate Rose Lavelle began to show her quality. Lavelle offered an outlet to help ease San Diego’s pressure and created decent openings for the forwards by carrying the ball from the midfield to the final third before being taken off on the 83rd minute.
From a Wave perspective, Shaw impressed in the second half as she moved into the No. 10 position behind Morgan. Despite her age, she is a precocious talent who can hurt opposition defenses through line-breaking passes or speedy dribbling and clearly has a promising future at the top level of the game. Had her final ball been slightly better, the Wave might have found a route back into the game. On the other hand, Morgan struggled to make a meaningful impression and failed to take advantage of her goalscoring opportunities. — Burke
Highlights of the matches
Can't hit it much sweeter than that 💥
Katie Stengel gives Gotham the lead! pic.twitter.com/dCvVIptqm8
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023
HOW DID THAT GO IN?!? 🤯@V_Latsko12 gives @OLReign the lead from an impossible angle! pic.twitter.com/YUiKbPhrfY
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 6, 2023
What they’re saying
“I think it being on my left was a little special,” Stengel said of her game-winner. “And a goal that I think I’ve practiced many, many years, and to finally have it come in such a big moment was huge. And I was just very happy to be in the right place, right time.”
“We did such an amazing job at regaining the ball in the middle, we doubled down and we had back pressure,” Haught added. “And that was just incredible fight from everyone on the team to press from behind and from the front. And that is really how we were able to stop a lot of (Portland’s) transitions and attacks.”
“It seems a bit poetic that the championship game is ending with Krieger and Pinoe’s last game,” Lavelle said. “I think it’s really special to be able to get (Rapinoe) there.
“But not just her, I think like Jess (Fishlock), Lu (Barnes), Laura (Harvey). I think they’ve been the backbone of this club and have made this club into what it is, so I think it’s really special to finally get to this moment and be able to be on this stage.”
Required reading
(Photo: Troy Wayrynen / USA Today)
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