The reigning NWSL champion Washington Spirit advanced the Challenge Cup final after taking down OL Reign on penalties, 9-8, following a 0-0 deadlock in regulation.

With the win, the Spirit’s unbeaten streak extends to 20 straight competitive matches since last August.

Spirit goalkeeper and reigning NWSL goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Kingsbury came up big for the home team, converting a penalty in the shootout’s third round before making the game-winning save on reigning NWSL MVP Jess Fishlock.

“Every keeper just wants to score,” she said. “We have dreams. Usually we are all failed forwards.”

What an absolute legend‼️@AubreyBledsoe 👑pic.twitter.com/E4CG00l0Gv

— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) May 5, 2022

The game’s finish followed up a dramatic ending to the full 90 minutes. Deep in stoppage time, Washington’s Anna Heilferty made hand contact with the ball on a redirected corner kick from OL Reign’s Megan Rapinoe.

The referee blew the whistle to call the play dead, but the whistle signaled the end of regulation, not the penalty the OL Reign players wanted.

After the game, Rapinoe said the referee told the Reign that Heilferty’s arm was against her body, so a handball would not be called.

“The hand was out on f—ing Jupiter,” Rapinoe said, while Reign coach Laura Harvey said the no-call was “embarrassing.”

The Spirit move on to play the North Carolina Courage in Saturday’s Challenge Cup final. The Courage beat the Kansas City Current 2-1 on Wednesday.

“This team wants to win trophies,” Kingsbury said. “We don’t care what trophy it is. If it’s five [versus] five in practice, I want to win. I know everyone else wants to win. Every opportunity we get to compete, we’re there to win.”

US skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender will not compete at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied her appeal concerning alleged point manipulation by Canadian officials.

The tribunal determined that Uhlaender's dispute fell outside the 10-day window preceding February 6th's Opening Ceremony. The decision appears to exhaust all options for the five-time Olympian to compete in what would have been her sixth Winter Games.

The controversy dates to Uhlaender's final qualifying race on January 11th in Lake Placid, New York. That's when Canadian skeleton coach Joe Cecchini texted Uhlaender telling her he had bad news. In a recorded phone conversation, he subsequently appeared to outline his plan to manipulate the qualifying competition's point system.

"We've had some crazy races that have not gone our way this year," Cecchini said in the recording. "And I'm like, 'I can just eliminate any possibilities here.'"

Cecchini withdrew four Canadian athletes from the race, reducing available ranking points and preventing Uhlaender from earning enough points to qualify for Milan Cortina.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jennifer Sey (@jenseysf)

Canada remains unsanctioned despite widespread Katie Uhlaender support

The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation investigated the Uhlaender case and supported her allegations. Afterwards, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee concluded she was sidelined due to unfair actions at Lake Placid. However, Team Canada remains without any international sanctions.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton defended the decision as appropriate and aligned with athlete welfare and sport integrity. Despite growing support from officials acknowledging the system was manipulated, no one has intervened.

41-year-old Uhlaender as competed in five Winter Olympics, registering her best performance in 2014 with a fourth-place final finish at the Sochi Winter Games.

US wildcard entry Hailey Baptiste delivered a stunning upset over world No. 17 Emma Navarro at the Abu Dhabi Open on Tuesday, winning 7-6(6), 0-6, 6-3 in a dramatic three-set battle.

The victory marked unranked Baptiste's fourth-career Top 20 win, as she advanced to her her first WTA 500 quarterfinal. Fourth-seeded Navarro, who entered as a tournament favorite, couldn't go the stretch despite dominating the second frame.

Baptiste saved a set point in the opening tiebreak with an expertly placed volley before clinching the set with a drop shot. Her fellow US talent responded emphatically, blanking her opponent 6-0 in the second set.

The turning point came when Baptiste left the court between sets for a mental reset. The strategy proved effective, as she approached the decider with renewed focus and aggression.

"I just had to grind and keep digging and digging," Baptiste said postmatch.

"Obviously the second set was not great for me, but I'm really happy I was able to turn it around. I just left the court to reset, I didn't really tell myself much — I never really leave the court, so me doing that was enough to reset."

Baptiste broke Navarro at 4-3 in the final set with a powerful forehand winner, then closed out the match with her seventh ace. The win ended Baptiste's three-match losing streak to Emma Navarro, dating back to their first meeting in 2018.

Baptiste will next face 2023 tournament runner-up Liudmila Samsonova in the Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals. Fellow US player McCartney Kessler also advanced Tuesday, scoring an upset victory over sixth-seeded Leylah Fernandez.

Unrivaled made a historic splash on Friday, setting a new pro women's basketball regular-season attendance record as 21,490 fans packed the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia for the 3×3 league's first-ever tour stop.

"It was unbelievable. You could feel the love tonight," said Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier about the record-breaking crowd. "It's just a testament to what we're building here, how much people believe in it."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Friday's Unrivaled tally — which also shattered a venue record for the highest attendance of any event — blew through women's basketball's prior record, set in the 2024 WNBA season when a 20,711-strong crowd watched the Indiana Fever top the Washington Mystics inside DC's Capital One Arena.

The reward for Friday's crowd was a larger-than-life performance, as Lunar Owls guard Marina Mabrey dropped a league-record 47 points — complete with 10 three-pointers — in Friday's 85-75 win over Rose BC.

"I think the city is ready for women's professional sports," Philadelphia product and Rose BC guard Kahleah Copper said following the doubleheader, with the City of Brotherly Love gearing up to launch a WNBA expansion team in 2030. "I'm excited that one, it's here, and two, that I'm a part of it."

Last week's success in Philly has Unrivaled already eyeing more tour stops for the offseason league's 2027 season, with this year's action finishing up on the venture's 3x3 home court in Miami.

"We're going to continue to make the sports world proud by the product we put out," Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell told reporters.

WSL club Arsenal earned some new silverware on Sunday, lifting the first-ever FIFA W Champions Cup after claiming a 3-2 extra-time win over Brazilian titans SC Corinthians in Sunday's final.

The South American side overcame two one-goal deficits in regulation, with Corinthians midfielder Gabi Zanotti first offsetting Arsenal forward Olivia Smith's 15th-minute opener in the 21st minute before midfielder Victória Albuquerque played hero with a last-gasp stoppage-time penalty to again equalize following Gunners defender Lotte Wubben-Moy's second-half strike.

Arsenal attacker Caitlin Foord sealed the deal in extra time, sinking a breakaway goal in the 104th minute to secure the reigning Champions League victors the inaugural world title.

"It feels good, just to get on the scoresheet," said Foord following the Gunners' intercontinental club victory. "As a forward, that's your job, but to do it in a moment like this is special.... I don't think it's really sunk in yet, but it's nice to write our names in the history books, that's for sure."

Arsenal did have a a couple notable advantages in the debut edition of the FIFA W Champions Cup, with the final hosted on the club's home pitch at London's Emirates Stadium as well as the fact that the WSL season is currently in full swing.

Meanwhile, both Corinthians and the NWSL's Gotham FC — who claimed a dominant 4-0 Sunday victory over Morroco's ASFAR to take third in the competition — entered the tournament during their winter offseasons.

"It is what it is," said Corinthians head coach Lucas Piccinato postgame. "We hope next time Arsenal will come to Brazil to play against us. I think it would be better if it was in a neutral venue."