The National Women's Soccer League final is set to be a grudge match between NY/NJ Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit, a fierce regional rivalry known for its high-energy play on the field.
The East Coast opponents will meet at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, at 8 p.m. ET Saturday (CBS/Paramount+) in the culmination of a highly competitive season for the women's league. It's their fourth matchup this year, in what fans have dubbed the "District v. Empire" feud.
Spirit defender Tara McKeown said after the semifinal that every time her team faces NY/NJ, "something crazy happens."
For the Spirit, it is a chance at redemption after having fallen short in the championship game last year.
Gotham, meanwhile, aims to prove the naysayers wrong after a major offseason shake-up. It will also look to avenge its loss to a Spirit team that knocked it out of contention last year in a nail-biting playoff semifinal that ended in a penalty shootout. Gotham defeated the Spirit 3-0 this season, and the following two matches this year ended in draws.
The Spirit moved on from Gotham last year to play the championship game against the Orlando Pride after a strong season that ended riddled with injuries. It ended up as a Cinderella story for the Pride, which won its first title, but a devastating blow for the capital city's squad.
A roster full of talent has allowed the team to remain consistent even though it started its season without its 2024 NWSL Rookie of the Year, Croix Bethune, and with star forward Trinity Rodman struggling with injury through the year.
Forward Gift Monday, who signed a three-year deal with the Spirit in March, has been an unexpected star for the team as she has led the squad with 10 goals in the regular season. Monday, 23, rejoined the team for the playoffs this month after having attended her father's funeral in Nigeria.
She scored in both of the team's playoff games, dedicating the goals to her late father.
Gotham's road to the NWSL finals was paved with bumps as it navigated the loss of stars such as Lynn Biyendolo, Crystal Dunn, Yazmeen Ryan and Jenna Nighswonger during the offseason. It also started the year without national star Rose Lavelle and lost its captain, Tierna Davidson, to an ACL tear in the third game of its season.
But the team was buoyed by Spanish national Esther Gonzalez, who was second in the NWSL's golden boot race, and 2024 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Ann-Katrin Berger.
Reconfiguring both its attack and its defense, Gotham has had something of an erratic year as it jumped up and down the standings. Though the team was third in the league in September, it dropped to eighth — the last spot for the playoffs — in November.
Gotham defeated the Kansas City Current, the top NWSL team this year, in a shocking quarterfinal upset and went on to defeat the Pride on Sunday. Both games featured goals by midfielder Jaedyn Shaw, whom Gotham acquired from the North Carolina Courage in September in a record-setting $1.25 million transfer deal.
Shaw called out Gotham's doubters, saying "underdogs my ass" at a team news conference after the Current game. She told ESPN on Sunday after she scored a game-winning free kick that she was happy to be going to the finals with Gotham.
"This team is so gritty; this team fights to the very end," she said. "This team plays for each other, and it's contagious."
