After a season of turmoil, the NWSL playoffs have finally arrived.

Taking the pitch in Sunday’s quarterfinal games are the Chicago Red Stars against NJ/NY Gotham and the North Carolina Courage against the Washington Spirit. The Portland Thorns and OL Reign have earned byes to the semifinals on Nov. 14.

That the NWSL season has been a long and challenging road to this point is an understatement. The regular season has been overshadowed by off-field issues including allegations of abusive coaches, staff firings, COVID-19 outbreaks and ownership concerns. In addition to training and competing, players across the NWSL have spent endless amounts of energy fighting for change within the league.

At some point, for the sake of players’ well-being, things must return to normalcy, enough for the athletes to enjoy the game of soccer again. The playoffs seem like a good place to start.

“There’s so much that’s been up in the air off the field, and it’s tough to put any more energy towards that now at this time of the year,” said Washington defender Sam Staab. “I think we’ve all just kind of taken a step back from there and just been like, ‘Let’s focus on us, let’s focus on us as players’ … We’ve had a pretty tough year, so we’re just going for it.”

On that note, bring on the quarterfinals.

The stage is set.

The first round of the @NWSL playoffs kick off this Sunday. pic.twitter.com/OyZDRXJC8A

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 1, 2021

No. 4 Chicago Red Stars vs. No. 5 NJ/NY Gotham FC

First and foremost, Gotham coach Scott Parkinson is going to hit the restaurants when Gotham’s plane lands in Chicago. Priorities.

“I know all the food places around there, so that would be good to get some food,” Parkinson said when asked about returning to Chicago, where he was assistant coach for the Red Stars until Gotham hired him in August.

“I am obviously comfortable with that environment,” he said of the Red Stars. “I know the team. The Red Stars are always in the playoffs, so if you want to win this thing, you probably have to find a way of going through them or a team that already has.”

Chicago is making its sixth straight playoff appearance, coming off of an 11-8-5 record in the regular season, while Gotham has been ruler of the draws at 8-5-11. The teams’ three meetings this year resulted in two ties and a Gotham victory.

What makes this matchup intriguing is that both teams are on a serious roll. The Red Stars have lost only one game in their past nine matches, and Gotham went unbeaten in their last eight games. They also have two players each on the NWSL October Team of the Month: forward Midge Purce (NJ/NY), midfielder Morgan Gautrat (CHI), and defenders Caprice Dydasco (NJ/NY) and Sarah Gorden (CHI).

🌟 October's Own 🌟

Your October Team of the Month 👏

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 4, 2021

Gotham’s backline will be tested against Mallory Pugh and Kealia Watt, who are each in the NWSL’s top five for shots and shots on goal. They should present the biggest challenge to NJ/NY goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who is third in the league with 76 saves and was named to the Goalkeeper of the Year shortlist on Friday.

Then there’s Gotham forward Carli Lloyd, who could be playing in her final game as a professional, though she’s not looking at it that way.

“I think you’ve just seen in every NWSL game, anything happens,” Lloyd said. “So we’re going to have to go there, we’re going to play really well, and we’re going to have to fight to the end.”

The teams will kick off on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.

No. 3 Washington Spirit vs. No. 6 North Carolina Courage

Just last Sunday, the Courage were pulling for the Spirit in their game against the Houston Dash, knowing that a Spirit win would send them to the playoffs. Washington delivered, and now the teams will go head-to-head Sunday as opponents once more.

Unlike Gotham and the Red Stars, the Spirit and the Courage are coming into the quarterfinals on two very different pages.

Washington soared through the final months of the regular season. North Carolina … did not. Five of the Courage’s nine losses came in their last seven matches. They don’t have any players on NWSL’s October Team of the Month, while Washington has four: goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, defender Sam Staab, and forwards Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch, who won the 2021 Golden Boot for the first time in her career with 10 goals.

With 10 goals in 20 games @ash_hatch33 was the @NWSL's top scorer for the 2021 regular season.

Read more: https://t.co/D80dQiBYj6 pic.twitter.com/ECx6FWFTNM

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 2, 2021

Washington also has the upper hand from their regular-season matchups, having defeated the Courage twice and tied once. Their most recent meeting on Oct. 13 resulted in a 2-1 win for the Spirit.

“Performance-wise, everyone battled, everyone competed,” North Carolina defender Kaleigh Kurtz said of the game. “There were a lot of really good takeaways. The two goals were really unfortunate; a poor mis-clearance by me on the first one, and then Casey was screened on the second one, so that’s really unfortunate.”

Kurtz is part of a strong Courage backline. In fact, the whole team has been efficient on defense. Despite being the last-place playoff team, they conceded fewer goals during the regular season (23) than the Spirit (26), who are the top team playing this weekend.

But even defense might not be an advantage for North Carolina. The Spirit have been working on their team shape over the past couple of months, and by the sounds of it, they’ve made progress.

“We’ve all gotten on the same page now of how we’re going to press, how we’re going to defend, and if we get beat, what positioning we want to get back into,” said Staab.

Given the way the teams have been trending, Washington appears to be in a better position to advance to semifinals. But, like Lloyd said, anything can happen in the NWSL.

Find out Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET on Twitch and Paramount+.

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern for Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can find her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.