In the waning days of the regular NWSL season the fight for playoff contention is proving to be a nail biting battle that has anxious fans gripping the edge of their seats and players digging in to leave everything they have on the pitch. On Wednesday night, 8 of the league’s 12 teams fought for their share of points. Two of the biggest games to have watched were Angel City FC vs. Washington Spirit and North Carolina Courage vs. Orlando Pride. Both Angel City and North Carolina sit just outside of holding one of the six coveted spots.
Currently the Chicago Red Stars sit in the sixth spot and were one of the only teams to not have a mid week matchup. ACFC started the day resting in the seventh slot with the Courage inching their way up only 1 point behind. The first of these two highly anticipated games was between North Carolina and Orlando. North Carolina shut out Orlando while on the road in a 3-0 victory. Two of the three goals came from midfielder Debinha, whose first goal of the match marked the fastest scored goal for the Courage this season coming in the second minute. Debinha’s 2 goals marked her eighth and ninth goals of the season. Her contribution didn’t end there as she also assisted in a goal from Tess Boade in added time to the first half. The Courage handed the Pride their fourth straight loss and picked up 3 points, challenging Angel City to win their match in order to stay in contention.
Angel City followed by hosting reigning NWSL champions the Washington Spirit. It was evident from kickoff that Angel City knew how imperative this match was to their survival. The team came out with a strong attack maintaining much of the possetion in the first half and taking shot after shot against the Spirit’s Aubrey Kingsbury. After many attempts the first goal came in the 40th minute from Claire Emslie off a cross from ACFC captain Ali Riley down the center of the box. Entering the second half, Angel City was eager to add to the distance and give a cushion. Simone Charley, who subbed in at the half scored a header in the 51st. Both teams followed by trading possetion, but ultimately the Los Angeles team was able to stave off the dynamic attack of the Spirit’s trio of Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman, and Ashley Sanchez until the 88th. A controversial call that lead to heightened tensions resulted in a penalty kick from Hatch. The game ended with the Spirt falling to Angel City 2-1. Angel City nabbed their 3 points in order to keep the seventh seat and hold North Carolina off.
One point seperates the sixth, seventh, and eighth seats. With all three teams getting ready to play their final two matches of the season fans eagerly await the results of what are sure to be games that showcase the true grit of players duking it out for the final playoff seat.
The Chicago Red Stars meet the Portland Thorns on Sunday at Providence Park.
North Carolina with host Gotham FC this Saturday.
Angel City FC play their final home match against Racing Louisville on Sunday.
Written by Haley Becerra
Check out more NWSL content by clicking HERE.
Follow Sporting Her on social media: Instagram // Twitter // Facebook // Youtube
