SAN JOSE, Calif. — Spirit players on Thursday afternoon fondly recalled what happened a year ago in the NWSL semifinals.
Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury said it was a “great game, competitive.”
There were great saves for Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit. It was a physical battle with a fair share of theatrics.
Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt scored the equalizer toward the end of regulation to send the game into extra time. Ultimately, the Spirit won in a shootout.
But the drama and intensity seem par for the course every time these two teams meet on the pitch.
Saturday’s championship match between eighth-seeded Gotham and the second-seeded Spirit should be no different.
“You’re gonna get a good game between Spirit and Gotham, that’s just inevitable,” Gotham defender Emily Sonnett said. “Both teams are really organized. Both teams have incredible players, incredible talent that’s hard to stop. It’s exciting to watch.”
Hershfelt concurred.
“Every time we play them, whether it’s in the postseason or regular season, it’s just kind of a crazy game — always,” Hershfelt said. “They’re a great team, and we’re a great team, and I feel like we both bring a lot of intensity on both sides, so there’s always something. But yeah, I mean, they’re great to play against. We play similar styles, so I feel like it’s always a really fun, competitive game.”
These two teams always seem to bring the best out of each other.
Is it time to deem this an official rivalry?
Spirit forward Trinity Rodman was among the many who believed so.
“I think Gotham, there’s now a little bit of a rivalry,” Rodman said. “So that’s exciting for us and the fans and, obviously, just the entertainment of the game.”
Saturday will be the 44th time these clubs have met — more than any other two teams in league history. It’s the second straight year they’re meeting in the playoffs, though the stakes have never been higher.
There’s the regional proximity of the two clubs that makes Gotham vs. Spirit a natural rivalry. But the history between the two has added fuel to the fire.
“We had the rivalry week where they kind of team up teams to be rivals, and maybe it didn’t feel super authentic at first, but I definitely feel like it’s starting to be a budding rivalry,” Gotham midfielder Rose Lavelle said. “Any time you play a team that many times, there’s going to be history behind each year.”
Gotham holds no residual feelings after last year’s semifinals disappointment at the hands of the Spirit.
“I don’t think too much about the opponent, to be honest, other than the film that we’re watching and the good ways to break them down and what to be aware of,” Gotham forward Midge Purce said. “So I think all that stuff kind of comes more into my mind after the game, when someone gets the bragging rights for a year and then it’s fun. But right now, nope, we beat the 1 seed, we just beat the 3 seed, and now we have to take out the 2 seed.”
Saturday should be another spirited chapter of this rivalry.
“We’re two great teams, and we have people who can gut out results regardless of how we’re feeling that day or how things may be going,” Hershfelt said. “And I feel like that’s kind of what we attribute that to, just the talent that we have, and we have players that are able to put stuff away.”
