The Washington Spirit did it again. Sorry, again. No wait, again. For the fourth straight playoff game (two in 2021, two these playoffs), the Spirit came from behind to win, defeating Gotham FC on penalties. Hal Hershfelt scored the equalizer in first half stoppage time, then it became the Aubrey Kingsbury Show. And what a show it was, she came up with multiple big saves, then, in front of a packed and rowdy supporters’ section, she saved three straight Gotham penalties to secure the win.

After an opening ten or so minutes in which the champions very much looked like champions, the Spirit settled and started to find ways to fight back. Gotham gave the home team a couple early scares, but Rose Kouassi eventually started returning the favor tenfold to terrorize their fullbacks.

It wasn’t just Kouassi, Leicy Santos was showing her quality all over the pitch, playing various hilarious games with Gotham defenders. A crowd favorite was her improvised juggling move along the touchline to freeze and evade multiple Gotham defenders in a combination with Kouassi.

However, Gotham are talented and were last year’s champions for a reason. When they found time and space to fight back, they caused quite the scare. Aubrey Kingsbury had to pull off an unbelievable save in the 32nd minute after Esther got through for a 1v1. Kingsbury made herself big then went to ground at the perfect time to yoink the ball off González’s foot before she could shoot or get in position to force a penalty.

Halftime came with the match scoreless, but Kingsbury’s heroics were perhaps some light foreshadowing of what was to come.

HT | 0-0

The second half kicked off with the flow of play seeming unchanged, until ten minutes in when Gotham took the lead. A good combination gave Yazmeen Ryan time and space in the box and lofted a cross toward 5’3″ Esther González, who timed her jump well and nodded a slow but well-placed header across goal that bounced into the side netting. It’s fairly remarkable how often Esther wins headers and scores that type of goal, she should teach seminars.

Anyway, it was very annoying for the Spirit. They’d solved Gotham’s pressure to isolate their fullbacks over and over, but good defending either intercepted or cleared passes, or blocked shots at goal. If there’s one thing we know about this Spirit team, though, it’s that as long as the ball is in play and time is on the clock, they will back themselves to find a way.

However, I have to admit, heading into seven minutes of stoppage time the vibes were tense and the Spirit were still struggling to find that incisive move. There were a couple promising moves that made Audi pre-erupt, but they were scrambled clear or held by Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

Then, in the 93rd minute of stoppage time, the Spirit found another way to score a late goal. Jenna Nighswonger brought Trinity Rodman down in the wide area outside the box, earning herself a yellow card and setting up a critical set piece for the Spirit. If you press pause on everything here to whip out your calculator you’d dive into numbers that show that, statistically, Gotham have the best set piece defense in the league, while the Spirit are the second worst at creating chances at goal from set pieces.

Lol, nerds. (It me, I am one such nerd.)

This is why we love this sport. In this moment none of that mattered. An entire twenty-seven game compilation of data that provides solid information on averages, and therefore expectations, didn’t mean a thing. Makenna Morris lined up the set piece and sent in a flat cross at a good velocity. The pace and placement of the cross allowed it to avoid Gotham defenders until it found her ex-Clemson teammate, Hal Hershfelt, who met it perfectly and sent the ball inches beyond the reach of Berger and into the net for a 93rd minute equalizer.

The goal was the Spirit’s thirteenth (13!!) goal scored in the final fifteen minutes of a match. That alone is absurd, that this came in stoppage time of a semifinal was incredible. Also, Audi fully erupted.

FT | 1-1

In added extra time the Spirit rode the wave of a late equalizer, while Gotham tried to reset the intensity back into fight mode. But they maybe turned the dial a bit too much. Bruninha, who received a yellow card seven minutes after subbing on, was beaten by Trinity Rodman in the 101st minute and reached out to pull her down from behind. She tumbled over Rodman, who did not appreciate the tackle, and the referee had no choice but to issues a second yellow.

Not only was Gotham out of fullbacks, forcing head coach Juan Carlos Amorós to play Lynn Williams at right back, they were now down a player. The Spirit were boosted by the advantage and were desperate to find the winning goal against depleted opposition.

Except Gotham defended well, were patient, and still found a way to be dangerous. Kingsbury had to momentarily fly to swat away another header that was floating toward a corner of the goal. The Spirit didn’t find the late punctuation in added extra time and the game headed to penalties.

AET | 1-1

Aubrey Kingsbury grabbed the ball and started walking toward goal, repeatedly raising her arms to extract more and more rowdiness from the Audi crowd. It must have worked. Ashley Hatch stepped up, who is an expert penalty taker, and sent her shot by Berger to give the Spirit the lead. Esther, who’d beaten Kingsbury earlier, stepped up but was denied by Kingsbury with a great reaction diving save. Next was Lena Silano, who confidently sent Berger the wrong way and put the ball in the opposite top corner.

Up stepped McCall Zerboni. Kingsbury gave a fake sep to her left then dove hard to the right. Zerboni bought the initial movement and sent her kick straight at Kingsbury who swatted it away. Center back Tara McKeown stepped up for the Spirit’s third attempt. She hit a low rolling shot that just snuck under the glove of a diving Berger and spun into the bottom corner.

Jenna Nighswonger stepped up for Gotham, who needed to score to prolong the shootout. Kingsbury, again, came up huge. She didn’t fall for the runup or the disguise the left-footed Nighswonger tried to sell. Instead, Kingsbury went low and to her right yet again, smothering the ball and winning the game for the Spirit. She got up, grabbed the ball and hurled it into the air as her teammates sprinted toward her for a hug.

For the fourth playoff game in a row the Spirit successfully came back from a goal down to win. This time it took penalties, but Kingsbury heroics sent the team and Audi into delirium. The game was a masterful tactical battle with terrific team and individual performances throughout. An absolute instant classic that we were all honored to witness. And now, you’ll have one more chance this year to watch your Washington Spirit: The NWSL Championship game, in Kansas City, next Saturday.

Three takeaways

• Rose Kouassi’s playoff debut. One of the key advantages for the Spirit is that Gotham—particularly Gotham’s fullbacks—hadn’t played against Rose Kouassi yet. They understood very early, and throughout the game, why that was previously something to be thankful for. Kouassi, along with Rodman, wreaked absolute havoc. By the end of the game Gotham used for fullbacks, three received yellow cards, and one picked up a second yellow to put them down to 10.
  
  
• Kings. Bury. Kings Kings. Bury. Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury was absolutely immense. The penalty shootout itself is incredible. After hyping up the crowd and stirring Audi into a frenzy, she proceeded to never let Gotham get the ball in the net, making three consecutive penalty saves. But even before that she was in superb form, springing to bat away a couple decent efforts on goal in extra time. In the first half she made a goal saving diving maneuver that saw he take possession right off Esther’s foot. At her peak she’s one of the best keepers in the world, and for over 120 minutes plus a penalty shootout, she showed that today.
  
  
• Love. Before the playoffs began Aubrey Kingsbury was asked if she saw any parallels between this team and the one that won in 2021. Her response was that there was a similar ‘never say die’ attitude and belief that was genuine, no matter the circumstance. She also remarked that the chaos surrounding the team in 2021 (a public and messy ownership battle in the wake of abuses uncovered under previous coaches and ownership) fueled them, whereas this 2024 iteration is fueled by love for one another. In two playoff games, the Spirit have shown a team-wide willingness to be fully bought in, covering for one another, and relying on each other to find a way to win games.

Box Score

NWSL Playoffs – Semifinals

Washington Spirit 1 (Hershfelt 94′), [3]

Gotham 1 (Esther 56′), [0]

Lineups

Washington Spirit (4231): Kingsbury; Krueger, Morgan, McKeown, Metayer (Carle 79′); Hershfelt, Stainbrook (Morris 62′); Kouassi (Ratcliffe 89′), Santos (Silano 79′), Rodman; Hatch

Gotham (433): Berger; Freeman (Bruninha 65′), Davidson, Sonnett, Carter (Nighswonger 46′); Sheehan (Zerboni 82′), Martin, Lavelle (Kizer 91′); Stevens (Williams 72′), González, Ryan (Silva 91′)

Misconduct Summary

Washington Spirit: Krueger 97′, Rodman 102′

Gotham: Carter 17′, Sheehan 23′, Bruninha 72′ & 101′, Nighswonger 93′, Zerboni 116′

[image courtesy of the Washington Spirit]