Louisville, Kentucky (AP) —Kelly Ohella scored in the 97th minute and the Washington Spirit won the National Women’s Soccer League Championship on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars.
The championship game concludes the turbulent ninth season of the league. Due to the coronavirus problem, Spirit had to confiscate two games this season. The team played under interim coach Chris Ward after Ritchie Burke was fired in September for violating the league’s anti-harassment policy.
This was Spirit’s first league championship, winning the second seeded OL Reign 2-1 to advance to the semi-finals.
O’Hara, the defender of the US national team who won the World Cup in 2015 and 2019, scored his first goal of the season. The backpost header, which won her game, was removed from the NWSL Rookie of the Year Trinity Rodman.
Mallory Pugh, who did not play in the semi-finals due to the COVID-19 protocol, started for the Red Stars but left the game in the first half of the downtime with obvious injuries. Shortly after her departure, Rachel Hill won a cross from Arin Wright to give the Red Stars a 1-0 lead. Chicago beat top-seeded Portland Thorns 2-0 in the semi-finals.
Early in the game, Vanessa di Bernardo in Chicago was injured.
Despite their struggle, the spirit roster included Golden Boot winner Ashley Hatch and goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Bledsaw, as well as Rodman, the daughter of former NBA player Dennis Rodman.
Rodman almost tied the game with an explosion from a distance that hit the post in the 61st minute. But when captain Andy Sullivan took a penalty kick that defeated Chicago goalkeeper Cassie Miller, the spirit pulled even a little.
Chicago had a chance for a second additional time with a shot by Mackenzie Doniac, but was cleverly stopped by Bledsoe.
The match was canceled and players protested during the season after North Carolina coach Paul Riley was accused of sexual harassment and two former forced players.
Burke’s dismissal game, shortly before Riley was dismissed, was dismissed following a serious allegation leveled against him by former players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Sim. Following these reports, NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned and NWSL and US Soccer commissioned an independent external investigation.
When the league canceled the weekend match and play resumed, players paused the match and formed a circle in the middle, showing a quiet unity.
Fans of Saturday’s Championship Match had a sign that says “Sell Team, Steve” in connection with Spirit owner Steve Baldwin.
Rain’s coach, Farid Ventity, was also fired in the summer after an actual incident in which he was accused of improper behavior.
Next season, with the addition of Los Angeles Angel City FC and San Diego Wave, the 10-team league will expand to 12 teams.
The number of participants in the championship game announced at the Lin Family Stadium was 10,360. It was the second time that the title game was in overtime.
Broadcast on CBS, the game took place the day after Nike announced that it had extended its sponsorship deal with the league.
Spirit won the NWSL title 2-1 in overtime against the Red Stars
Source link Spirit won the NWSL title 2-1 in overtime against the Red Stars
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