Three years after winning the National Women’s Soccer League championship, the Washington Spirit two victories away from a second title: on Saturday, they’ll be taking on defending champion NY/NJ Gotham FC in a league playoff semifinal match at Audi Field.
Whether you’re a longtime fan hoping to score tickets or a filthy casual hopping on the bandwagon, here’s what you need to know about the Spirit—and how to watch the match.
The Spirit are killing it this year
After their 2021 championship, the Spirit stumbled, winning only three matches in 2022 and missing the playoffs in both 2022 and 2023. Under new head coach Jonatan Giràldez, who previously coached Barcelona’s women’s team, the squad has won 18 matches during the regular season, good for a No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
The Spirit also have been fun to watch: the team scored the second-most goals in the NWSL (53) and is led by star forward Trinity Rodman, a contender for NWSL Most Valuable Player whose signature move, the Trin Spin, has hypnotized fans and players alike.
The Spirit have also shown grit. In a playoff quarterfinal victory over Bay FC, the team started four rookies and was without three key players—NWSL assist leader Croix Bethune, team co-leading goal-scorer Ouleymata Sarr, and veteran Andi Sullivan. Nevertheless, they managed a 2-1 come-from-behind home victory after Rodman forced an own goal in extra time.
How to watch
After packing Audi Field with a sellout crowd of over 19,000 people for last week’s match, the team expects their semifinal game to sell out, too. At press time, tickets are still available on Ticketmaster, starting at $34. If you’d rather not make the trek to Audi Field, though, these bars will be showing the match on their TVs.
