The race to the NWSL postseason is heating up, with only two weeks of competition remaining in the regular season.

U.S. women’s national team stars Megan Rapinoe and Mallory Pugh and recent call-up Hailie Mace all provided needed boosts for their NWSL clubs in the midst of the playoff race, in which just four points separate the top six teams.

NWSL Plays of the Week

Megan Rapinoe’s long-range stunner

OL Reign eked out a critical 2-1 victory Saturday over the North Carolina Courage, with Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle scoring the club’s two goals.

Rapinoe’s go-ahead finish came in the game’s 26th minute, with the OL Reign forward striking a long-range free kick past the Courage line and into the near post.

“Shooters shoot,” Rapinoe told reporters of her set-piece stunner, adding that she went for goal when she saw North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy was slightly off her line.

The 37-year-old now has five goals and four assists through 11 matches played.

“Well, it was pretty ugly, but we got three points on the road and that’s great,” Rapinoe added. OL Reign are in fifth place in the league with 31 points, three back of the San Diego Wave at the top of the table.

4th of the year for @mPinoe and the @OLReign of the @NWSL pic.twitter.com/6dYxybvr57

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 18, 2022

Mallory Pugh’s fast break

Mallory Pugh put on a show Wednesday night, notching a brace and an assist to help the Chicago Red Stars to a 4-0 shutout over the Kansas Current.

The USWNT forward’s first goal came in the eighth minute, as she nutmegged two defenders while going on a fast break the length of the field. Dribbling around the Current keeper, Pugh finished off her stunning effort with a low shot into an open net.

90 YARDS, 2 NUTMEGS, 1 GOAL 🤯
Take a bow, @MalPugh 👏

JWS x @Delta

Official Airline of the National Women’s Soccer League pic.twitter.com/vJ33CLw1Ys

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 15, 2022

Pugh stamped her name on the scoresheet again in the 60th minute, picking up the ball at midfield before beating her defender and letting off a low shot from the top of the box.

The 24-year-old capped off her dominant outing with an assist in the 72nd minute, finding Amanda Kowalski at the back post to convert a Red Stars corner kick into the team’s fourth goal of the night.

Pugh now has 10 goals and six assists through 14 matches played, putting her front and center in the NWSL’s MVP conversation.

Hailie Mace’s stoppage time rocket

Hailie Mace played hero for the Kansas City Current on Sunday night, salvaging a point for her team with a stoppage-time equalizer against the Portland Thorns.

The Current midfield lined up at the top of the box before striking a top-shelf rocket past the Thorns keeper to pull level with Portland.

Mace’s late-game banger marks her fourth goal of the NWSL regular season.

🚨 STOPPAGE TIME EQUALIZER FROM @hailiemace 🚨

JWS x @Delta

Official Airline of the National Women’s Soccer League pic.twitter.com/CM0AQSKSBd

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 18, 2022

“The fight, the mentality of the group as a whole, how much they care about each other, how much they care about the people in the stands, they just want to continually drive themselves forward,” Current coach Matt Potter said after the game.

After Sunday’s draw, the Current sit third in the NWSL standings, one point back from the league-leading Wave.

In today’s episode, Claire ponders another Sun postseason exit, and the risks and rewards of blowing things up in the pursuit of playoff glory.

She then previews the finals between the Lynx and the Liberty, with one key element she believes will earn one of the teams a title. She closes with some of the NWSL news of the midweek, which feels destined to shape the postseason and beyond.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

Subscribe to The Late Sub to never miss an episode.

With the 2024 NWSL Shield firmly in Orlando's hands, attention turns to the final three available playoff spots up for grabs as the regular season turns into the home stretch. The Chicago Red Stars, currently in sixth, could become the next team to clinch a postseason berth with a win against the surging Gotham on Saturday at 4pm ET (Paramount+).
 
Only Houston has been eliminated from postseason contention thus far, but Portland (7th) and Bay FC (8th) will try to hold off those below the playoff line to better their odds at a quarterfinal appearance. Racing Louisville appears poised to challenge for their own spot, sitting only three points below eighth place.

Both Portland and Bay FC will have their work cut out for them, as the Thorns take on first-place Orlando on Friday at 10pm ET (Prime), and Bay FC battles fourth-place Kansas City on Saturday at 10pm ET (ION). Amidst a losing skid, Portland is already looking toward the future after announcing this week that general manager Karina Leblanc will be transitioning out of her role at the end of the 2024 season.

Standings stragglers look to ward off elimination

With only three regular season matches left, Seattle, Angel City, San Diego, and Utah will all face elimination scenarios this weekend.

LA's playoff hopes hang by a thread after a three-point deduction due to a salary cap violation, but forward Alyssa Thompson is keeping the dream of the postseason alive. Thompson has scored five goals and registered two assists in her last seven NWSL games, including a crucial assist in a win against the Seattle Reign last weekend.

Six points off the playoff pace with three games to go in the regular season, Angel City will need Thompson at the height of her powers in their matchup against North Carolina on Saturday at 7:30pm ET (ION).

Andi Sullivan suffers season-ending ACL tear

The Washington Spirit announced on Wednesday that captain Andi Sullivan suffered an ACL tear in the team's loss to the Orlando Pride on Sunday, and will miss the rest of the 2024 season. A Spirit stalwart, Sullivan started all 21 regular season matches she appeared in for the club in 2024, tallying two goals.

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A post shared by Andi Sullivan (@sunnysulli)

Sulivan joins a growing number of injured Spirit contributors, including Croix Bethune (out for the season), Trinity Rodman, Casey Krueger, and Ouleye Sarr. The Spirit will take on Racing Louisville on Sunday at 5pm ET.

The MVP race heats up

With KC Current forward Temwa Chawinga running away with the 2024 NWSL golden boot, is there still intrigue to be found in this year's MVP race? Chawinga won NWSL Player of the Month for September, while forward Barbra Banda continued to excel with the unbeaten, Shield-winning Orlando Pride.

Banda's goal contributions are slightly off Chawinga's pace, with 13 goals and six assists to Chawinga's 18 goals and six assists. Chawinga leads the league in goals per 90 minutes, but Banda holds the title in goals and assists per 90 minutes, while both players comfortably lead the league in xG and npxG per 90.

It's been a year for blazing offense in the NWSL, personified by Chawinga and Banda's excellence. But voters will have to decide if individual contributions, playmaking, and total team success are a bigger part of the picture when deciding who will walk away with 2024 NWSL MVP.

Welcome back to Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie!

In today's episode, our hosts preview Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, and how Liberty center Jonquel Jones could be the final piece to her team's title hopes.

"Jonquel Jones, for the Liberty to walk away holding that trophy, she's got to show up bigger and better," says Leslie. "She's got to be dominant in the paint, she's got to get those boards, and she's got to block some shots. She's got to play out of her mind."

In the world of soccer, Kelley discusses the special importance of winning an NWSL shield, and makes a few bold postseason predictions (sorry Orlando and Kansas City!)

Coming off the success of JWS's Olympic commentary show The Gold Standard, Fast Friends features two legendary athletes serving up insider insights and unique takes on the biggest stories in women's sports every week.

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

In a battle between the top two regular-season finishers, the Minnesota Lynx will travel to Brooklyn to play the New York Liberty in the first game of the best-of-five 2024 WNBA Finals on Thursday.

Former UConn teammates and 2024 Olympic gold medalists Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier headline the matchup. Stewart's top-seeded Liberty will look to earn their first-ever WNBA title in their sixth Finals appearance.

Collier and the new-look Lynx are bringing a former dynasty back to the biggest stage, in the team's first finals appearance since their 2017 championship.

The road to the 2024 WNBA Finals

After topping the league in the regular season with a 32-8 record, New York put the No. 8-seed Atlanta Dream's season to bed in the first playoff round. To reach the 2024 Finals, the Liberty avenged their 2023 championship series, ousting Las Vegas and ending the two-time defending champs' three-peat chase in four semifinal games.

As for the Lynx, Minnesota claimed second in the regular season standings, just two wins shy of matching New York's record. They sent the Phoenix Mercury packing by sweeping the first round, but needed all five semifinal games to outlast the Connecticut Sun and book their seventh trip to Finals.

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Liberty's title mission meets Lynx's underdogs

The Liberty and Lynx aren't just the league's top teams. They led the East and West Conferences, respectively, and boast the WNBA's top offense (New York) and second-best defense (Minnesota).

That said, the 2024 WNBA Finals will pit a superstar-laden Liberty squad against a Minnesota team that few thought would even make the postseason when play began this year.

Alongside two-time MVP Stewart, New York's squad includes 2021 MVP Jonquel Jones, sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu, and a frighteningly deep bench.

On the other hand, only five players, including 2024 Defensive Player of the Year Collier, returned from Minnesota's 2023 team. Lynx boss Cheryl Reeve, the 2024 Coach of the Year, added key athletes to Minnesota's originally slim roster, including three — Courtney Williams, Bridget Carleton, and Alanna Smith — who were cut from various other WNBA teams in 2021 or 2022. All have made significant contributions as the Lynx proved early season expectations wrong.

"We didn't scare anybody," Reeve said after winning Tuesday's Game 5. "I'm not sure that anybody at any point in the season was like, 'Yeah, they have a real shot at winning a championship' other than the people that are in our corner. And I think we're continuing to have to make believers."

An historic WNBA Finals on deck

Entering the Finals, sports books heavily favor the Liberty, but the Lynx actually hold a 3-1 record against New York in 2024. That edge includes Minnesota's 94-89 victory over the Liberty in June 25th's Commissioners Cup final.

No matter who walks away with the 2024 championship, WNBA history will be made. Either the Liberty will claim their first title, or Minnesota will become the first franchise to win five championships. The Lynx are currently tied at four titles with the Seattle Storm and the folded Houston Comets.

How to watch the Lynx vs. the Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals

The Lynx and Liberty will tip off at Brooklyn's Barclays Center at 8 PM ET on Thursday, with live broadcast and streaming coverage on ESPN.