The NWSL announced Friday a partnership with UKG, which will serve as the first presenting sponsor of the Challenge Cup and will bring the tournament’s prize money in line with the equivalent men’s tournament.

As part of the three-year deal, UKG will help the league increase the prize pool available to teams, raising the bonuses to equal footing with the men’s U.S. Open Cup, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told Sportico.

“We refuse to accept that one organization cannot make a difference in the fight for pay equity — just look at what these remarkable women have done with their collective voice to raise awareness on a national stage about a problem that has plagued our workforce for decades,” said Brian K. Reaves, UKG’s chief belonging, diversity and equity officer. “These worthy athletes are also champions on the field of equality. We are so proud to stand beside the NWSL and work toward bringing pay equity to a sport that, for too long unfortunately, reflected the working reality of many women.”

The NWSL’s CBA, which was ratified this year, outlines minimum bonuses of $1,000 for the winning team and $500 per runner-up, with the option for sponsors to help boost the overall prize money by funding some or all of the total.

According to Sportico, the bonus payouts for this year will be $10,000 per player for the winning team and $5,000 per player for the runner-up. Each semifinalist will receive $1,500.

In 2023, the total prize pool will nearly double, with payouts to match the men’s U.S. Open Cup. That tournament hands out $300,000 in prize money to split among the winning team, with another $100,000 going to the runner-up.

“Our partnership is purpose-driven, and we believe that will eventually lead to broader impactful change, not only for women in professional sports but for women and underrepresented groups worldwide who have advocated tirelessly for the equity they deserve,” Berman said in a statement.

In addition to partnering with the NWSL, UKG is partnering with Angel City’s Christen Press and Orlando’s Sydney Leroux to further advocate for equal pay.

“Every player in this league has worked their whole life to play professional soccer and have the means to support themselves and their families,” Leroux said in a statement. “Pay equity goes beyond the average 18 cents less that women are paid for every dollar that a man is paid — it is about people wanting to live the same quality of life, have the same opportunities, and live the same dreams as others doing the same work.”

With the Challenge Cup finalists decided, the regular season schedule required a bit of reshuffling.

The North Carolina Courage and Washington Spirit won Wednesday’s Challenge Cup semifinals, and both teams had regular-season contests scheduled for this weekend.

The regular season began prior to the finish of the league’s preseason tournament, to the consternation of some players, including OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer.

The Courage’s home match against the Portland Thorns, originally scheduled for Saturday, now will be played on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 7 p.m. ET.

The Spirit, meanwhile, will now play their away match against the Chicago Red Stars – also originally scheduled for Saturday – on Wednesday, June 8, at 8 p.m. ET.

OL Reign’s game against Racing Louisville will go on as scheduled at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, which caused Racing Louisville to respond in jest on Twitter.

The Kansas City Current will play at 5 p.m. ET Sunday against the Houston Dash.

North Carolina and Washington will face off Saturday for the Challenge Cup title at 1 p.m. ET at WakeMed Soccer Park, the Courage’s home stadium in Cary, N.C.

The North Carolina Courage moved on to their first NWSL Challenge Cup final after defeating the Kansas City Current 2-1 on Wednesday. They will play the Washington Spirit, who advanced in a penalty shootout following a controversial end to their match against OL Reign.

The Courage struck first against the current on a penalty kick by Debinha in the 19th minute. Diana Ordoñez added to the lead with 10 minutes to go in the half, making it 2-0 for the away team.

It was Ordoñez’s first NWSL goal in her first professional start after being drafted in the first round of the 2022 draft out of Virginia. She was assisted by Kerolin, who signed with the club prior to the season after spending two seasons with Madrid.

“It’s awesome, I was very, very excited,” Ordoñez said. “From what I’ve been starting to learn about [Kerolin’s] game…I feel like I never know whether she’s going to cross or going to shoot. But my thought process is always like ‘I need to be on the other end of this in case it does come across the goal,’ and it worked out. Came right to me.”

The Current made a charge in the second half, with forward Kristen Hamilton adding one for the home team with 10 minutes remaining in the match. But they could not complete the comeback.

“This one hurts for sure,” Current captain Desiree Scott said. “I think when you dig that big of a hole it’s hard to come out of it. But give full credit to our squad for that do-or-die attitude.”

But Hamilton added that she thought that the game would go a long way in helping the Current, who made the Challenge Cup knockout stages in just their second season as a club. While there is a mix of youth and veteran presence on the team, experience is a key factor in higher-level games.

“It meant a lot for us to have that first meaningful game for the club,” Hamilton said. “But it’s good to have those types of games on your belt, to kind of feel the atmosphere or feel what it’s about.

“What it takes to play games like this, It’s not easy to go in and start with the energy and anticipation around it. It’s a different type of game. You learn from every game you play in an environment like this.”

The Courage also continue to learn more about themselves as they go, returning to an NWSL final for the first time since winning the NWSL title in 2019 and after a tumultuous 2021.

“First half, I thought we were really good,” coach Sean Nahas said. “Obviously to go up 2-0 and play some pretty good football. The second half was completely [Kansas City], but the important thing is we didn’t break. We bent, but didn’t break. And to solidify that result against a good team, you know, I couldn’t be any prouder of the group.”

Courage defender Carson Pickett said that reaching the final is “crazy.”

“Getting back to being in a final this early seems a bit crazy,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like a preseason tournament, it feels like the real deal. To get Washington back at home, it’s perfect timing and a perfect place. We’re so excited. We can’t wait to get back home and play on our home turf and have our fans in the stands.”

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.”

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.”

When the OL Reign clinched the top seed for the 2022 Challenge Cup playoffs, their “reward” wasn’t enviable by any standards. After opening their regular season against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, the Reign will play three games in one week without home-field advantage.

Three days after the Spirit defeated the Reign 2-1, the teams meet again Wednesday night in the Challenge Cup semifinals in Washington, D.C. Both sides will also take the field again this weekend, either in the Challenge Cup final or their second regular season game. Whichever team makes the championship game on Saturday will need to reschedule its regular season match. The Reign are currently slated to play Racing Louisville FC at home, and the Spirit are supposed to visit the Chicago Red Stars.

Based on the current format, the scheduling conflicts and travel adventures are inevitable for the teams that advance to the Challenge Cup knockout stage.

“The crossover is something a lot of us were feeling is unfair, and we’re just wondering why anyone thought this was a great idea,” Reign attacker Ally Watt told Just Women’s Sports on Friday. “[Louisville’s] like, ‘OK, so are we coming this weekend, or are you guys busy?’ Why is this a conversation we have to run into? It’s just really bad. We’ll take it game by game, but it just sucks to be put in that position.”

While the Challenge Cup gives teams an opportunity to test formations and try out players in different positions, each club also sets out to win the preseason tournament.

“That’s a goal we have, and we worked really hard for it and we were in a good position to possibly do it, but now we’re put in another position where we’re not in a great position to do it because we have to play all these other games,” Watt said.

The Reign will also have to get through the Spirit in front of an opposing crowd to have a chance at the Challenge Cup trophy. Lumen Field, the Reign’s home stadium, is unavailable for the game because the MLS’ Seattle Sounders are hosting the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League final on the same night.

“We worked so hard to get the No. 1 seed, and now we don’t even get to [host] it,” Watt said.

Even Audi Field, the stadium the Spirit and D.C. United share, was originally unavailable because of a scheduling conflict with the Project Play Summit, pushing the semifinal game to the 5,000-seat Segra Field. In collaboration with the Aspen Institute and the teams, the NWSL announced last week that the game would be relocated to Audi Field, which can seat 20,000, with the summit taking place in the lead-up to kickoff. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is scheduled to speak at the event.

Now hours away from the match, the Reign have put their frustrations behind them.

“At the end of the day, I think there are so many things out of your control, and scheduling just is not in our control unfortunately,” said defender Sofia Huerta. “Everyone at one point probably has to deal with an unfortunate few games … The only thing we have on our minds is tomorrow’s game and winning the semifinals so we can bring the trophy back to Lumen.”

The Reign, who lost to the Spirit 2-1 in last year’s NWSL semifinal, will be hungry for vengeance. Despite consistently being one of the top teams in the league, they haven’t defeated Washington since 2018.

But when the Spirit are in the right mindset, they’re unbeatable. Since head coach Kris Ward took the helm on Aug. 7, Washington hasn’t lost, including in the NWSL championship last year and in Sunday’s regular season opener against the Reign.

The Reign nearly took an early lead when the Spirit conceded a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe then saved Rose Lavelle’s shot, kickstarting the Spirit, who scored five minutes later on their way to winning 2-1.

“It’s just a testament to the players and that mentality that they have,” said Ward. “Any situation, whether they’ve been up or down in score, up or down a player on the field, dealing with difficult decisions, whatever it is, they’ve always responded so well.”

The other semifinal will feature the North Carolina Courage and the Kansas City Current on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park. The Courage and Current didn’t have to deal with the same scheduling headaches, but they are also mixed up in the regular-season crossover. If the Courage advance to the final, they would have to reschedule their Saturday game against the Portland Thorns, while the Current would need to move their game Sunday against the Houston Dash.

The teams also head into the semifinal on short rest after playing their regular season openers on the West Coast. The Courage had just two full days in North Carolina between returning from their match Friday night against Angel City and leaving for Kansas City on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day it’s the situation that we earned, to be in this spot,” said Courage head coach Sean Nahas. “Whether or not I agree with how it’s scheduled, that’s not for me to debate.”

Washington and OL Reign play in the first semifinal at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday on CBS Sports Network, followed by Kansas City and North Carolina at 8:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and Twitch.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

The NWSL Challenge Cup continues Wednesday, with four clubs facing off in the tournament’s semifinals.

OL Reign vs. Washington Spirit

Wednesday, May 4, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network

OL Reign and the Washington Spirit will face off in a rematch of their Sunday regular-season matchup, only this time with a spot in the NWSL Challenge Cup final on the line. In their regular-season opener, the Spirit downed OL Reign 2-1, with Ashley Sanchez and Ashley Hatch inking their names on the scoresheet.

OL Reign will have a hill to climb after losing home-field advantage due to scheduling conflicts at Lumen Field, with the semifinal match now to be played at Audi Field in Washington DC.

Kansas City vs. North Carolina Courage

Wednesday, May 4, at 8:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+

Kansas City and North Carolina both enter their Challenge Cup contest on the heels of season-opening losses, the Current’s to Portland and the Courage’s to Angel City.

North Carolina looked like the stronger team throughout the Challenge Cup group stage, with the club’s attack firing on all cylinders. Kansas City’s defense will have to be ironclad to keep the Courage off the scoresheet and keep themselves in the game.

The NWSL Challenge Cup semifinal between the Washington Spirit and OL Reign next Wednesday has been relocated to Audi Field in Washington, D.C., the NWSL announced Thursday.

The league, in collaboration with the Spirit, D.C. United and the Aspen Institute, facilitated the move from Segra Field. The 5,000-capacity stadium in Leesburg, Va., is the Spirit’s other home field and a training facility for MLS club D.C. United.

Audi Field, a 20,000-capacity stadium, previously was considered unavailable due to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play Summit. That event is scheduled to run at Audi Field throughout the day leading up to the semifinal match.

The NWSL and MLS clubs and the Aspen Institute worked together to open the stadium to the Spirit, the NWSL said in its news release.

OL Reign initially was set to host the Challenge Cup matchup, having clinched the No. 1 seed with the best record in the tournament’s group stage, but a conflict at Lumen Field in Seattle forced the game to move east.

The Spirit and OL Reign’s semifinal contest will air at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, May 4, on CBS Sports Network.

The group stage of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup has come and gone, with a few teams meeting or even exceeding expectations, leaving behind a field with quite a few things to address in their limited time before the regular season starts on April 29.

The soccer on the pitch has continued to improve every week, as squads get to know each other better after an offseason of immense turnover. So, let’s take a look in the grade book at what went well, what needs to get better and what we can expect in the future for each team.

West Division

OL Reign (4-0-2) — A

OL Reign came into the Challenge Cup with high expectations, and by all measures have met them. The team finished unbeaten in six games, with a league-leading plus-6 goal differential, and 10 different players found the back of the net in the group stage. They were just as good on the road as they were at Lumen Field, which should serve them well as they travel to Leesburg, V.A. for a semifinal matchup with the Washington Spirit they are technically hosting.

As the Reign continue to tinker with their strongest starting XI, they haven’t yet hit their ceiling, which bodes well for the regular season. They could use the depth after waning on short rest in recent games, needing a stoppage time winner to get past Angel City and settling for a draw in San Diego.

Portland Thorns FC (3-2-1) — B+

Consider this grade on a bit of a curve: Arguably one of the five best teams in the league, the Thorns suffered for having OL Reign in their Challenge Cup division. They’ve tested their depth throughout the group stage, and at times have appeared to find answers for the holes in their midfield, even if Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn are ultimately irreplaceable.

After a COVID-19 outbreak left Sophia Smith and others out of their final lineup, the Thorns concluded the Challenge Cup on a down note. Once they start to control the tempo of games by slowing things down, they’re built to earn points under their new manager.

San Diego Wave FC (1-3-2) — B-

There are two ways to grade the California expansion teams: against other established clubs, and against their own expectations. The Wave’s lone Challenge Cup win came against fellow expansion side Angel City, but San Diego showed flashes of potential throughout the group stage.

Their attack is as stacked as advertised, with Alex Morgan in good form, Taylor Kornieck taking steps forward and rookie Amirah Ali getting off to a strong start. The Wave’s defense hasn’t been perfect, but goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan makes up for a lot of mistakes, and the backline has also had to deal with extra pressure due to a lack of control in the middle of the pitch. Naomi Girma has held her own regardless, and if she can get some help in front of her, the Wave could become difficult to break down. Their issues, as expected, lie in the midfield. Find solutions there, and the Wave quickly become a very competitive team.

Angel City FC (1-4-1) — B-

Fitting for Hollywood, Angel City had a clear narrative arc to their preseason. After building a roster for a very specific defensive system, the club then lost two starting defenders before the group stage even began. Other lingering absences meant that fans got only a glimpse of the intended starting XI in the Challenge Cup.

As ACFC adjusted and rotated in their depth options, they suffered a few rough results early on. But they turned the lessons from those losses into a winning performance against the Thorns in their group stage finale, and the frontline of Christen Press, Jun Endo and Simone Charley — with Savannah McCaskill behind them — looks like a real winner. If Angel City can get healthy, they’re going to win some games behind their starting XI in the regular season.

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Midfielder Desiree Scott has led the Current in minutes during the Challenge Cup. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Central Division

Kansas City Current (4-1-1) — A

Kansas City’s success in the Central Division should be celebrated as a massive turnaround, but those who have been watching closely had a sense the Current had these results in them. Perhaps more impressively, the Current found ways to win without two of their biggest offseason signings in Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis. They’re building a high-press system that can hurt teams on the counter-attack, and they’re winning games as a unit.

Rookie Elyse Bennett looks beyond ready for the professional level, Kristen Hamilton is comfortable leading the frontline, and the defense has held firm so that the results have matched the performances. They did have one very poor game down in Louisville, indicating that they haven’t perfected the system just yet, but it’s a style of play that will win them games.

Chicago Red Stars (2-2-2) — B

Chicago debuted a brand new three-back formation in the Challenge Cup group stage, deploying a midfield-flooding tactical philosophy with many players who did not get many minutes in 2021. That the Red Stars were in the running for the knockout stage until their final game is a testament to the new system, but they’ve also been hampered by starters’ absences, some of which are long term.

The biggest remaining questions for Chicago are who will carry the attack when Mallory Pugh isn’t available, and whether the midfield can turn numerical advantages into possession and control games. The Red Stars are capable of becoming a possession-based team, which is the complete opposite of how they lined up in 2021, but now they have to consistently turn that into points.

Racing Louisville FC (1-2-3) — B-

Racing Louisville has shown their youth and rawness at times during the group stage, which isn’t quite so dire since they are both of those things in the club’s second season. Their attack has been relatively efficient, finishing the Challenge Cup with a shots-to-shots on goal ratio that was tighter than a number of other teams. Jessica McDonald has been a welcome addition to the attack, and the continued development of second-year outside back Emily Fox and rookie midfielder Jaelin Howell into franchise cornerstones will pay dividends down the road.

Louisville doesn’t have the same talent ceiling that other flashy teams do, and they managed only one win for their efforts. But with three draws in the Challenge Cup, they showed they are able to get results when they are either outplaying their opponent or being outplayed. The next step has to be establishing a more defined style of play, while not letting themselves become a solvable puzzle.

Houston Dash (2-4-0) — B-

What differentiates Houston from the rest of the pack is the roller-coaster effect: In some stretches, they look as competitive as anyone, but in others, they get completely dominated. Recent addition Maria Sánchez is a bright spot for the club, but their defense needs work on all three lines. Their obvious gaps on the pitch have been exploitable too often (Mal Pugh alone scored four goals on the Dash in the group stage).

Since winning the 2020 Challenge Cup, the Dash have struggled with consistency, which is key to regular season success. The Dash can still do damage on the wings, but they need to bring that same intensity when the tide turns against them. They also have another level of uncertainty to overcome after head coach James Clarkson was suspended Tuesday based on initial findings in the NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint investigation.

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Brianna Pinto has shined in her first six games with the Courage. (Jay Anderson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

East Division

North Carolina Courage (3-0-3) — A+

No one counted the Courage out entirely after a tumultuous offseason, but I’m not sure we anticipated just how aggressive the new-look team would be this early in the year. The Courage started a number of players on the frontline with wing experience who have handled the goal-scoring well. They’ve also found ways to maintain the high-transition attack based on waves of pressure and quick-trigger counter-attacking soccer that has served the team so well in the past.

Debinha looks as good as ever, and new additions Brianna Pinto and Kerolin Nicoli give the Courage options in the center of the pitch. They had a tendency for sloppy distribution from the goalkeeping position and the backline, but goalkeeper Casey Murphy will help settle those channels when she returns as the starter.

Washington Spirit (2-0-4) — A-

The Spirit kept their unbeaten streak alive through the Challenge Cup group stage, salvaging a few results with furious comebacks after falling behind early. They still have the core group from their 2021 championship run, but they’ve had to be strategic with which players to rest — Andi Sullivan, for example, didn’t play the team’s final two group stage matches. Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez both look like they’ve taken steps forward, and the sight of Bailey Feist and Jordan Baggett points to depth the team might not have even had in 2021.

The Spirit have gotten off to slow starts, frequently having to overcome an adverse scoreline or a player advantage to earn points. They’ll want to figure out how to bring the intensity from the opening whistle as the year goes on.

NJ/NY Gotham FC (1-2-3) — B

There is no doubt Gotham has all the pieces to be a good team, but in a tough division in the Challenge Cup, they showed how much of a learning curve they still have. The team had individual moments of excellence, like Ifeoma Onumonu’s equalizer in the second game against North Carolina and Margaret Purce’s late winner over Orlando in the third game. But they’ve also conceded four goals on set pieces, indicating that the defense is still meshing with new keeper Ashlyn Harris, and the midfield doesn’t appear completely balanced, even with the addition of Kristie Mewis.

Gotham has so much going for them: dynamic strikers, veteran leaders and one of the best off-field presences in the game. In the regular season, they’ll look to take the next step as a unit on the field.

Orlando Pride (0-4-2) — C+

The Pride are the only NWSL team that have yet to win a game in 2022, but what pushes them into a passing grade are their injury circumstances and their future prospects. Orlando leaned into a full rebuild in the offseason, compounded by Marta’s season-ending ACL tear and Sydney Leroux’s lingering Achilles issue. Because of that, this Challenge Cup was more about the process than the results, and the Pride have still made gains from early-year frustration.

A low-block team defensively, Orlando has gotten better at bending but not breaking. Their final match, a 1-1 draw against Gotham, showed a team unafraid of getting stuck in, allowing them to disrupt long enough to earn a result. First-year Pride forward Darian Jenkins has been very active in her minutes, and she’ll surely be excited to see Leroux’s name back in the 18.

Claire Watkins is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering soccer and the NWSL. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

The NWSL Challenge Cup playoffs are set, with the league releasing the official bracket Monday.

No. 1 seed OL Reign will take on the No. 4 seed Washington Spirit, while the No. 2 seed Kansas City Current will face off against the No. 3 seed North Carolina Courage, with both matches set for May 4.

Due to a scheduling conflict, the top-seeded OL Reign will go on the road to face the Spirit at Segra Field in Leesburg, Va. OL Reign was awarded home-field advantage, but the Seattle Sounders are using Lumen Field on the same date as the Challenge Cup semifinal, which left OL Reign without a venue.

The match between the Spirit and OL Reign will kick off at 8 p.m. ET and will air on CBS Sports Network.

The Current and the Courage will play at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City at 8:30 p.m. ET, with the match to be streamed live on Paramount+.

The winners will advance to the Challenge Cup final on Saturday, May 7. The NWSL did not specify a start time for the final in their latest news release. The league initially set the championship game for 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET, and that time remains on the league’s official schedule.

OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer has been outspoken about the early start time for the final, making her thoughts known Thursday via Twitter.

“If you really cared about women’s sports you would actually put us at prime time,” Balcer tweeted at the NWSL and at CBS, which will televise the championship. “Thanks in advance!”

According to the club, should OL Reign win its semifinal match, the Challenge Cup title game will be played at Lumen Field.

Adding to the scheduling woes surrounding the preseason tournament, the Week 2 regular-season games for the Challenge Cup finalists will need to be rescheduled.

Balcer also criticized the overlap between the Challenge Cup and the regular season on her social media account.

“Where is the COMMON SENSE,” Balcer tweeted. “Now your reward for making the Challenge Cup final is having to play three games in seven days… I cannot sit idly by as the well being of the player’s is put in jeopardy by bogus kickoff times and high physical demand. Let’s be better.”

The NWSL faced a similar line of criticism last year, with players protesting the league championship’s 9 a.m. PT kickoff at Providence Park. The game was eventually moved to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, with a noon start time.

Angel City FC earned the club’s first franchise win Sunday, downing the Portland Thorns 1-0 in the final match of Challenge Cup group play.

Portland’s loss eliminated the Thorns from contention. Instead, the Washington Spirit advance to the tournament semifinals as the top second-place team among the three groups.

The Thorns faced a substantial challenge heading into the match, entering the contest without coach Rhian Wilkinson and players Sam Coffey, Meaghan Nally, Taylor Porter, Sophia Smith and Hina Sugita due to COVID-19 protocol.

Angel City started on the front foot, with Christen Press converting from the spot to put her side up 1-0 in the 29th minute.

The lone goal was enough to hold off the Thorns for the remainder of the match, securing the Los-Angeles-based expansion club its first-ever victory.