The National Women's Soccer League championship occurred on Saturday, November 11th against Gotham FC and OL Reign. Gotham FC went from "worst to first" this season. Having been placed last during last season to win their first title was an amazing achievement for both the team and the coach. He was awarded coach of the year and worked extremely hard to get the team to where it got. OL Reign was one of the top 5 teams last season, but ultimately lost in a tough match 2-1.
The NWSL playoffs is an American construct of soccer creating chaos and adrenaline between teams fighting for their title that always brings out the best in women’s soccer. Both teams showed great skill and determination on the field, but Gotham showed more. It was an exciting game to watch and the atmosphere was electric, having the stadiums filled with more than there has been in history.
I believe that Gotham FC earned this title and deserved more than OL Reign who have been worthy of the title before, but Gotham had put every ounce of effort into this game as they said for Ali Krieger’s last game.
Ali Krieger is an American and international soccer player who first appeared on the United States Women's National Team in 2008 and made over 100 appearances. This season was her last and ultimately her most memorable, Gotham FC won their first title and it was an amazing end to Krieger's career.
Unfortunately on the other hand, it was also Megan Rapinoe’s last season and she was on the opposing team. However, with just playing six minutes, she tore her achilles. An awful ending to her soccer career, but she had a beautiful career overall, winning 3 World Cups, a golden boot and more.
What made this game unique is that Ali Kreiger and Megan Rapinoe are great friends who played together representing their country, and Rapinoe was proud of Kreiger and her success just as Kreiger was proud of Rapinoe.
Photo credits to Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons