Gotham’s move to a 5,000-seat venue raises questions for the NWSL, while Utah eye another upset and Angel City rue a controversial exit.
The National Women’s Soccer League quarterfinals brought plenty of excitement; from Trinity Rodman scoring a brace and chipping in an assist, to the Utah Royals stunning San Diego Wave, and of course a late-minute penalty to cost Angel City a chance to advance to the semis.
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There’s also the drama that appears to be following Gotham FC and that’s over the reigning NWSL champs’ field quality. Gotham FC hosted Seattle Reign on Sunday in the quarterfinals at their usual home field at Sports Illustrated Stadium. The pitch was far from adequate playing conditions, and raised a lot of concerns from both teams. Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amorós took accountability for the field’s conditions, and on Monday the semifinal match that was scheduled to be played at SI Stadium was moved to a smaller venue, Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York City.
This venue holds 5,000 people and is used by amateur events and some matches for NYCFC’s second team.
Between having to move from their home stadium that holds 25,000 to a much smaller venue for the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs is a setback for the league, however while trouble arises in New York, Washington keeps on rolling, figuring out a way to schedule their semifinal match to be held at Audi Field.
The Washington Spirit worked with MLS side DC United to reschedule a football game that was going to be played on Saturday at Audi to secure their home field for the match against the Utah Royals. While this is a scheduling solution and not a field condition solution, it’s last-minute drama that is noise when the focus should be on the soccer being played in the playoffs.
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Next up, the semifinals will kick off with now only four teams remaining and battling it out for the championship ticket. Gotham FC will host Kansas City Current and the Washington Spirit will host the Utah Royals.
There’s a lot to unpack and look forward to after the quarterfinals, and GOAL writers have some thoughts in this edition of… The Rondo.
How concerning is it that Gotham had to relocate their match?
Gotham will be playing their semifinal match at the 5,000-seater Icahn Stadium following issues at Sports Illustrated Stadium (SIS).
Celia Balf: Very concerning. In no world should field conditions or poor scheduling impact a playoff home match for one of the best, if not the best, teams in the NWSL. This entire situation is messy and disappointing. Good on Gotham for acknowledging the unfit field conditions and taking ownership there, but it’s not all on them? I also am put off by how the Red Bulls handled it all. They are still playing an international friendly on the field, while Gotham are moving to Randall’s Island for their semifinal game.
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Alex Labidou: Very. I think it’s emblematic of a wider problem in women’s sports, and that has to change. For all the talk about rising valuations, bigger salaries and growing audiences, there are still moments when the actual competition feels like an afterthought. Gotham having to relocate a semifinal because of the condition of their home pitch is a glaring example.
The details of Gotham’s stadium agreement matter when assigning responsibility, but the state of the pitch last weekend was unacceptable. And the Red Bulls’ initial response, wishing Gotham luck before drawing attention to their own match, was embarrassingly dismissive. They later said they had worked with Gotham and the NWSL to address the concerns, but couldn’t guarantee the requested work could be completed in time. That explanation deserves acknowledgment. It also doesn’t change the fact that this occasion warranted more care.
There’s a responsibility on the women’s leagues, too. We just saw the Atlanta Dream play a WNBA Finals game at 12:30 p.m. on a Thursday because of arena scheduling conflicts. These are the biggest games of the season, and securing venues, protecting playoff dates and establishing workable backup plans need to happen well in advance. The circumstances aren’t identical, but the parallels are worrying. Players and fans should be enjoying these moments, rather than dealing with the consequences of another last-minute scramble.
Ruby Naylor: The Red Bull friendly match coming up on Saturday was the beginning of the end, but the final nail in the coffin was the horrible pitch condition of Sports Illustrated Stadium during Gotham’s quarterfinal match last Sunday. Whoever is responsible for upholding a professional standard of grass pitch at SIS is at fault, as are all the people who are in charge of that group. To allow the pitch to get to a point where Gotham were fined $10,000 because of how below par the surface had become is embarrassing for all those involved. I recognize that Gotham is leaving the stadium in a season, but until then, it’s the bare minimum that Gotham do not fear for an injury every time they play at home. They worked hard to earn the home-field advantage in the playoffs, and this really put a damper on how much of an ‘advantage’ it is.
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Who’s the favorite after the quarterfinals?
The Washington Spirit have made it to the NWSL finals the last two consecutive seasons.
CB: Washington Spirit had the best showing out of all the teams in the quarterfinals. However, this isn’t the first time they’ve shown up and shown out in the playoffs, all before making it to the finals to drop the ball. The Spirit have now been in the finals the past two years, but haven’t been able to claim the championship trophy. Trinity Rodman also hasn’t looked this good in a while, so I think based on the Spirit having something to prove after missing out on the coveted championship title the past two years, plus Rodman’s form, I’m going with the Spirit.
AL: I’m leaning toward Washington. Gotham still look like the strongest team on paper, but the Spirit’s confidence and dominance in their opener made a compelling case. With Trinity Rodman healthy and firing on all cylinders, Washington have a player capable of deciding any match left in this tournament. Could this finally be their year? After that performance, there’s every reason to believe it could be.
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RN: Tournament football is a about defense and momentum. The only team riding strong momentum is Washington Spirit. Both Gotham and Kansas City scraped by, so they will have to work on the mentality part more than anything. Spirit are coming off of scoring four goals against the side that has won the NWSL Championship the most. If they ride that and stay clinical, it’s theirs to lose. Utah rightly earned their spot and should be taken very seriously, but I would NOT want to play Washington Spirit at a (Rowdy) Audi Field after that win.
Did Portland disappoint?
Portland Thorns were knocked out of playoffs after a 4-1 loss to the Spirit.
CB: Yes. Washington ate them up, and conceding four goals after being pretty locked in defensively all season was concerning. This was a match I was expecting to see Sophia Wilson shine, but she was incredibly quiet.
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AL: Losing to Washington wasn’t the surprise. The manner of the defeat was. Conceding four goals in a playoff match exposed a significant gap in quality between the teams on the day. And as good as Sophia Wilson has been this season, she was far too quiet in the quarterfinals. Portland need to find ways to get more out of her in these games. This time, her Triple Espresso bandmate stole the show.
RN: Yes, conceding four goals against a team you’re meant to be pretty evenly matched with is disappointing. When you concede a goal really early on and then another goal in a really avoidable way, it is VERY hard for the forwards to mentally step up, so the team was flat for 35 minutes.
The substitutions late in the first half definitely made an impact and were smart choices because at the beginning of the second half, Portland looked like the better team. Before Spirit’s fourth goal, the Thorns had a HUGE chance to score and make the game 3 – 2. If they scored that chance, then game on. But they missed, and then conceded almost right away, and that final goal was the nail in the coffin. Then the red card came, and no one believed anymore. It’s a game of two halves, and that one chance changed the trajectory of the whole match.
Is Trinity making her case for MVP?
Trinity Rodman scored a brace and added an assist in the Spirit’s 4-1 victory in the quarterfinals.
CB: She is up for regular season MVP, but for the playoffs, a brace and an assist are already on track for MVP of the playoffs. Regular season MVP still should probably go to Ashley Sanchez because she scored 20 goals!
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AL: I still think Ashley Sanchez is the shout here, despite North Carolina narrowly missing the playoffs. Her improvement from last season has been enormous, and without her production, the Courage would likely have been much closer to the bottom of the table than the playoff line. That said, Trinity Rodman would be a worthy runner-up. Her two-goal display against Wilson and the Thorns was another reminder of just how dangerous she can be.
RN: She scored a quarterfinal brace, but the MVP should be the best player from the regular season, and then you do a playoffs-specific MVP. I don’t believe she was the MVP in regular season, but so far, she has made herself unignorable in the playoffs.
Did Gotham barely scrape by against Seattle?
Gotham FC beat Seattle 1-0, after Reign FC defender Jordyn Bugg scored an own goal.
CB: I thought it was an O.K. performance from Gotham. They had some good moments, but also, Seattle stayed in the match a little too long. It’s playoffs, so you can’t write any team off, but the fact Seattle lost the game because of an own goal is likely not the way Gotham would want the first playoff match to go. For such a stacked midfield and forward line, the home side really struggled to execute its chances.
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AL: No. This was a tactically astute win from Gotham. Yes, the breakthrough came courtesy of a Jordyn Bugg own goal, but they took an early lead and showed the defensive discipline to protect it. Would you like to see more going forward from Sam Kerr, Jaedyn Shaw and Midge Purce? Sure. But let’s not forget that Seattle are a very good team. There’s value in winning a playoff game like this, even when the attack isn’t clicking.
RN: They sureeee did. They had zero shots on target and still won. Has a team ever done that?? Tierna Davidson and Ann-Katrin Berger are incredible, but the forwards did not look hungry enough. Sam Kerr was essentially ghosted for 90 minutes, and the wingers seemed to struggle to settle. Guro Reiten had a decent opportunity from on the edge of the box, but she skied it. Then Reiten and Midge Purce had an open net when they won the ball from Claudia Dickey at the halfway line, but they didn’t shoot right away, and the opportunity was lost. In the final 20 minutes or so, Seattle looked the more likely to score. They had an excellent opportunity that went just wide of the post, and they had a goal called offside after Davidson did extremely well to hold her run. The better team won, but there was luck involved there.
Are Utah to be feared?
The Utah Royals upset San Diego Wave, beating the No. 2 seed 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
CB: I’m so here for this Utah team. Talk about so many historic moments this season, and such humility and just good all-around soccer being played. Defense wins championships, and with Mandy McGlynn in top form and making jaw-dropping saves, her performance can take them far. Also, just encouraging to see the cohesion this team has from defense, through the midfield and to the front line.
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AL: Was Utah’s win impressive? Absolutely. Does it make them favorites? No. San Diego have had their inconsistencies, and one win doesn’t suddenly make the Royals the team to beat. But you have to be encouraged by a club that has spent so much time near the bottom of the table. Utah have earned the right to be taken seriously, even if I’m not ready to pick them to win it all.
RN: Yes, every playoff team is to be feared. The second you underestimate someone, you go home and that’s exactly what happened to San Diego Wave. They weren’t scared enough of Utah, and it cost them. They should have learned from KC Current’s loss to Gotham last year. With the brick wall that is Mandy McGlynn in net and a strong defense with Del Fava, the opponents must be incredibly clinical if they want to score. Washington Spirit will need to take the expected goals that come to them because San Diego did not, and it cost them heavily. Spirit did exactly that against Portland, so it will definitely be a great matchup.
Was the penalty against Angel City the right call?
Michelle Cooper scored a penalty kick against Angel City to advance the Kansas City Current onto the semifinals.
CB: It was the right call, but just a tough way to lose a game for Angel City, especially because they were on a ten-game unbeaten streak entering the match. Michelle Cooper executed a great penalty kick, and at the end of the day, a shove, a proper fall in the box, most referees will call that.
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AL: Yes. You can debate how harsh the decision was, but for me, Angelina Anderson’s shove on Kayla Sharples was enough to justify the penalty. This was more than incidental contact: the shove sent Sharples to the ground. Whether Anderson intended to concede a penalty is beside the point. She gave the referee grounds to award one.
RN: The foul (or lack thereof) was one of those where if the ref calls it on field, VAR will let it stand, but if there’s no on-field call, it’s not enough for VAR to call the ref to the monitor for a check. It was entirely dependent on the type of main referee that was in charge of the match, which speaks a lot about what is wrong with the sport right now. We need a lot more consistency from the referees as a whole. It’s an extremely harsh way to go out, especially when that game was incredibly evenly matched. It does not feel like the fair result; it should’ve been battled through the extra time and then penalties, but football is never fair. We know this.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
