By OkayGoal 
The day we have been waiting all season for has arrived. The NWSL world descends upon San Jose for the final between the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC at PayPal Park. These two teams have taken different paths to get here. The Spirit survived a late scare from Louisville in the quarterfinal and handled Portland in the semifinals. Both of those wins were at home.
Meanwhile, Gotham turned into road warriors, upsetting both Kansas City and Orlando in their two games to get here. Two upsets might not be the best term considering Gotham’s roster, but based on seed, they have defied expectations. That’s the best part of the NWSL postseason: all you have to do is just get into the playoffs, and anything can happen. That’s how we got here. Here’s an insight into the final.
No. 2 Washington Spirit vs. No. 8 Gotham FC, Saturday, November 22nd, 8:00pm EST/5:00pm PST, CBS
The history between these two teams is tight when looking at the all-time record. The Spirit holds a slight advantage with 17 wins to Gotham’s 13 wins, with 11 draws shared between the two sides. However, this season, it was Gotham who got the better of the Spirit. Gotham actually went into Audi Stadium and beat the Spirit 3-0 all the way back in April. The second matchup ended in a 0-0 draw. Gotham has played the Spirit incredibly well, but the numbers show the Spirit wasted their chances. The xG from the Spirit’s 3-0 loss was 2.6 to 1.9 in favor of Washington, and the same goes for the 0-0 draw with the Spirit at 1.1 and Gotham at 0.3. Now, this is how Gotham has advanced to the final, too. They didn’t outplay the Current or the Pride by a wide margin, but they played great defense and scored clutch goals when they mattered. Surely, the Spirit is aware of this going into the game and will look to score an early goal, unlike either of their first two playoff games.
I wish I could say this will be an open game with a lot of goals, but any type of final will usually be slower-paced. Neither side wants to take the risk and concede an early goal. This has been a trend throughout the playoffs as well, with none of the playoff games featuring more than three goals. Gotham has nothing to change in its game plan. Ann-Katrin Berger and Gotham’s backline, with Rookie of the Year Lilly Reale, have been phenomenal through the postseason. The only goal they’ve conceded was Ellie Wheeler’s goal at the end of regular time in the quarterfinal. Gotham can do more than just frustrate the Spirit; they can take the fight to them in this game and look to capitalize on the counter. I do expect the Spirit to hold the ball the majority of the time, whether Trinity Rodman starts the game or not. It’s a matter of chance creation, and they did that successfully against Portland after the scare against Louisville.
Gotham seems like a team on a mission, having repeated their run to the final from two years ago. Yet, the Spirit was in this position last year in the final and lost. Of course, last year they were slight underdogs against Orlando, this year they’re the favorites to win the title. The best matchup that could determine the outcome of this game is Hal Hershfelt versus Jaelin Howell. Both do so much for their team in the middle of the field, and they are sure to have a few battles against one another. This is the type of matchup that will go to extra time and most likely penalties. In the end, I’m still picking the Spirit because they have shown their depth this season and have games without Trinity Rodman. With Rodman back, I like the Spirit’s chances to clinch their first NWSL Championship in franchise history.
Prediction: Spirit Win 1-1 (PK Shootout)
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