The National Women’s Soccer League playoffs start this Sunday, November 7. The action begins with quarterfinal matches in between the fourth-seeded Chicago Red Stars and fifth-seeded NJ/NY Gotham FC and also in between the third-seeded Washington Spirit and sixth-seeded North Carolina Courage.
The previous match will air on CBS Sports Network as well as the last on Paramount+.
The Red Stars, led by Mallory Pugh, Casey Krueger, Sarah Gorden as well as Kealia Watt, will certainly be making their sixth-straight playoff look. Gordon, one of the group’s top protectors, played every minute of the team’s 24 matches this period. Gotham FC features soccer tale Carli Lloyd, who is retiring after the period.
The 2021 Golden Boot winner Ashley Hatch leads the Spirit against the Courage, including celebrity novice Trinity Rodman as well as goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who has actually taped 11 clean sheets this season.
The Portland Thorns FC covered the regular-season standings with a record of 13-6-5, adhered to carefully by the OL Reign at 13-8-3. The Reign were NWSL’s top-scoring group. Both have actually made a quarterfinal bye. Rose city will face the champion of the Chicago-NJ/NY matchup. OL will satisfy the champion of the Washington/North Carolina competition. Both semifinal matchups will occur Sunday, November 14 on CBS Sports Network.
The NWSL finals will certainly be played Saturday, November 20 on CBS.
The Courage will be playing for their third consecutive NWSL playoff title after winning the champion in 2018 and 2019. The 2020 normal period and also playoffs were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic. (The League did play a 25-game competition that summer season, called the Challenge Cup, as well as the Fall Series a few months later on.) Chicago, who fell to North Carolina in the 2019 champion, return to the playoffs as well, looking for a much better outcome.
Gotham FC appears in the postseason for the first time because 2013 and the Spirit for the first time because 2016, when they made the champion.