No. 8 seed Gotham FC to face No. 2 Washington Spirit in 2025 NWSL Championship

The GIST: In a twist more than a few GISTers saw coming, No. 8 seed Gotham FC will face the No. 2 Washington Spirit in Saturday’s NWSL Championship. Both clubs have won it all recently — Gotham in 2023 and the Spirit in 2021 — but only one can add to their trophy case. Let’s take a look back at the semifinals, and then a quick look ahead to the ’ship.

⬆️ Forwards Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham) and Gift Monday (Spirit) lift their squads: For the second time in club history, gritty Gotham will compete for a title as the last playoff seed. This time, it was Shaw, a late-season acquisition, who made all the difference.

• The USWNT up-and-comer scored the game-winner as time expired in their 1–0 dub over the reigning champ No. 4 Orlando Pride yesterday. What’s more, Shaw has been involved in all three of Gotham’s playoff goals thus far. Yes, way.

• As for the other semi, Saturday belonged to the Spirit’s Monday, who scored her second playoff goal in Washington’s 2–0 victory over the No. 3 Portland Thorns.

👀 The countdown is on to the championship in San Jose: These squads met twice in the regular season, with Gotham recording a 3–0 win in April and their August match ending in a 0–0 draw. But with both teams now operating at maximum starpower, either one could raise that Tiffany trophy. Saturday can’t come soon enough.