The first time Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune experienced an NWSL playoff game at DC's "Rowdy Audi" Field, it was from the sidelines. The promising young star had experienced a major setback, injuring her MCL while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at nearby Nationals Park — just weeks after winning Olympic gold with the USWNT. "
"Sitting in the stands watching the game wasn't ideal," she told JWS this week. "But it was still very fun and very cool, just to have that whole experience, seeing Audi full and rowdy and the fans just very excited."
Bethune's changing fortunes — she'd go on to win both 2024 Rookie of the Year and Midfielder of the Year despite her late-August season-ending injury — underlined a 2024 season of extremes for the Spirit. Washington finished second in the NWSL standings, entering the postseason confident before ultimately ceding the championship game to Shield-winners Orlando.
This year, the club is hoping to finish the job, once again locked into second place and hunting the franchise's second NWSL title. And for Bethune and her teammates, the sense of deja vu is palpable.
The Spirit emerges from a season of constant change
The Spirit underwent their second midseason coaching change in two years this past June, when manager Jonatan Giraldez left to take over fellow Michele Kang-owned club, France's OL Lyonnes. Adrián González — last season's interim coach — reclaimed the team's top leadership role, guiding the Spirit to their second straight No. 2 finish in a surprising show of consistency for a club undergoing significant change.
"Things happen, not everything is permanent," Bethune said plainly, commenting on the staffing changes "I learned this in my college recruiting process: You don't pick a school for the coach, because the coach can always move."
And while Washington added significant depth over the course of 2025 — namely bringing on international standouts like Italy's Sofia Cantore and Nigeria's Gift Monday — the roster has struggled to overcome lingering injuries and absences. Bethune officially returned to play in April, registering two goals and two assists through 20 regular-season games, but overall availability has continued to plague the squad despite the training staff's best efforts.
Captain Andi Sullivan and starting outside back Casey Krueger are currently both on maternity leave. And superstar Trinity Rodman remains questionable after a freak knock to the knee in late October — two months after originally returning from a lengthy back injury.
Bethune misses NWSL Decision Day as injury issues take a toll
Last Sunday's Decision Day loss to the eliminated Utah Royals saw even more attrition, with impact players Leicy Santos, Gift Monday, and Rose Kouassi all left off the gameday roster. Even Bethune missed Sunday's regular-season finale with a thigh injury, though she's now listed as available after training alongside club medical staff this week.
This is when experience facing adversity comes in handy for the 24-year-old. "When I'm playing, I feel like I can see everything, but when you're not playing, you can really see everything," she said, stressing the perspective she's gained from sitting on the sidelines. "Just seeing how the game should flow, or how it is flowing."
Bethune has also learned to avoid pushing her body too hard if she's not feeling 100%, a mantra that can be both frustrating and, at times, liberating.
"I feel like, over the years, I've done very well at understanding when my body is telling me something, and listening to that," she said.
Returning from injury is difficult for any player, but particularly for those as creative on the pitch as Bethune. Known for confidence on the ball, audacious passing vision in the midfield, and the ability to turn towards goal herself if she senses weakness, the Georgia grad became a household name last year thanks to a free-wheeling partnership with fellow USWNT standout Rodman.
It took some time for Bethune to re-find her footing this season, learning how to not overthink exactly what makes her such a special player.
"Feeling like myself is just feeling like Croix Bethune," she said. "Doing what I do — momentum, rhythm, cheekiness, just feeling smooth and calm in the game."
Bethune looks to lean on Spirit culture ahead of quarterfinal test
Shaky availability — and the related threat of yet again falling short of the NWSL title — still looms over the Spirit as they head into this weekend's quarterfinal matchup against an extra-motivated Racing Louisville. But Bethune thinks the Spirit can lean on their depth for that creative spark, as injured players inch closer to a healthy return with every passing day.
"We're big on our culture," she explained. "The culture that we have off the field, within the team, is very strong. And when we incorporate the staff and the coaches, we're all on the same page."
Even without a full-strength roster, the Spirit have shown an ability to bend without breaking, riding the ups and downs of a topsy-turvy season without slipping from the league's top ranks. And that level of togetherness can be difficult to derail.
"Versatility, being close — we have a lot of options," Bethune said of her team's postseason strategy. "We have a lot of people that can play a lot of different positions."
"Once we get that rhythm," she added, "it's pretty scary for the defense."
The 2025 NWSL regular-season attendance numbers are in, with a Tuesday Sports Business Journal (SBJ) report outlining a 5% decline from the record highs the league saw in 2024.
Despite setting a new single-game record in August, the NWSL averaged 10,669 fans per match this season, down from average crowds of 11,250 last year — though the 2025 numbers do mirror 2023's attendance averages.
"Our underlying business is incredibly strong," NWSL COO Sarah Jones Simmer told SBJ, citing multiple single-game team highs. "Across the league, we're seeing consistent attendance growth, franchise-best seasons, and record-breaking moments in markets big and small."
The 2025 season saw the Portland Thorns unseat Angel City as the NWSL's top-supported team, with the LA club seeing a 15.8% drop in overall attendance before missing the playoffs for the second straight year.
ACFC's SoCal neighbor, the San Diego Wave, experienced the steepest 2025 fall, with ticket sales down 26.4% from 2024 and 35.2% from the 2022 expansion club's Shield-winning 2023 campaign.
Some teams did see gains, however, with the North Carolina Courage improving attendance by 40.8% over the last two years while the Washington Spirit's numbers jumped 42.3%, Gotham FC's rose 41.1%, and the 2024 champion Orlando Pride saw a massive 51.5% growth over the same period.
Though this year's attendance declines are not cause for immediate alarm, with two new teams launching next year — and even more in the pipeline — sustainability concerns are increasingly entering the expansion conversation.
The 2025 NWSL Playoffs are set, with Sunday's Decision Day mayhem finalizing the postseason bracket prior to next weekend's quarterfinals.
The No. 3 Portland Thorns took all three points while the No. 4 Orlando Pride eked out a draw to claim the remaining home-field advantage positions available, joining the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 2 Washington Spirit in securing hosting rights.
Hitting the road in next weekend's quarterfinals are the No. 5 Seattle Reign, No. 6 San Diego Wave, and No. 7 Racing Louisville, with Gotham also slipping in despite a tumble down to No. 8 — just above the postseason cutoff line.
Gotham falters while Louisville claims club history
Gotham and No. 9 North Carolina took Sunday's simultaneous kickoff down to the wire, with the Courage ultimately prevailing 3-2 to send the Bats skidding down the standings — though North Carolina ultimately fell short of their own postseason push.
"Going into the playoffs, we can't afford those kinds of lapses," Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said postgame. "We need to deliver consistent, top performances, and I honestly believe this group is ready to do that."
Meanwhile in Kentucky, Racing Louisville made franchise history, securing a club-first playoff berth with a 1-0 Decision Day win over No. 13 Bay FC.
Louisville winger Ella Hase notched the game-winner early in the second half — the NWSL rookie's first-ever professional goal — propelling Racing up the table and avoiding a fifth consecutive ninth-place finish for the 2021 expansion team.
"I'm so proud of this group, they deserve it so much," said Louisville manager Bev Yanez. "As a club, as a whole, and all the staff, all the work that they've put in all season, all the work that the players have put in, they bought into it."
How to watch the 2025 NWSL Playoffs
The 2025 NWSL Playoffs will kick off its quarterfinal round on Friday, when No. 4 Orlando hosts No. 5 Seattle at 8 PM ET, airing on Prime.
No. 2 Washington will then take on No. 7 Louisville at 12 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage on CBS.
The quarterfinals will conclude with a Sunday doubleheader on ABC, as No. 1 Kansas City hosts No. 8 Gotham at 12:30 PM ET before No. 3 Portland welcomes No. 6 San Diego at 3 PM ET.
Most NWSL teams have something to play for this weekend, as Sunday's Decision Day finale will determine crucial seeding going into the 2025 Playoffs.
Bucking the trend are the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 2 Washington Spirit, who have already locked in home-field advantage — leaving every other team above the cutoff line battling for seeding this weekend.
The No. 3 Orlando Pride and No. 4 Seattle Reign will face each other with the third seed on the line, while the No. 5 San Diego Wave, No. 6 Portland Thorns, and No. 7 Gotham FC could all contend for a home playoff match depending on the day's full results.
Gotham will take on the No. 9 North Carolina in their 2025 regular-season closer, as the Courage push to leap above the playoff line while the Bats aim to avoid a difficult path forward.
Whichever team clinches the No. 8 seed — likely either Gotham, Racing Louisville, or North Carolina — will travel to Kansas City to take on the record-breaking Shield-winners in next week's quarterfinal.
Boosting the Courage on NWSL Decision Day will be a sell-out crowd — North Carolina's second sell-out match of the 2025 season.
How to watch NWSL Decision Day 2025
No. 1 Kansas City and No. 5 San Diego will kick off the 2025 NWSL season's Decision Day at 3 PM ET on Sunday, airing live on ESPN.
The six remaining matches on the weekend's slate will start simultaneously at 5 PM ET, with live coverage on either ESPN or NWSL+.
USWNT and Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman has been sidelined, with the forward set to miss the rest of the 2025 NWSL season after exiting her club's 4-0 2025/26 Concacaf W Champions Cup win over Monterrey with a knee injury on Wednesday — hours after earning her first national team call-up since April.
The Athletic reported on Thursday that Rodman will be off the pitch for at least three weeks — encompassing the final NWSL regular-season matches as well as October's USWNT friendlies — though Thursday's scans showed she avoided long-term injury and could return to compete in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs.
Washington head coach Adrián González further clarified Rodman's status on Friday, confirming that the Spirit winger has a low-grade MCL sprain — a result the manager called "the best scenario."
Rodman's knock interrupts a strong run of play for the 23-year-old, who registered five goals and two assists since recovering from a lingering back injury in August.
Sitting second in the NWSL standings, the Spirit already secured home field advantage for the upcoming playoffs, but the 2024 runners-up will see a potential postseason preview against a resurgent Orlando Pride this weekend.
The reigning NWSL champions earned two wins in their last three matches, rising to No. 3 on the league table after going winless through nine straight NWSL games.
"I think home field advantage is massive," Pride head coach Seb Hines said last week. "We experienced that last year. So if we can finish as high as possible, we can play here in front of our own fans."
How to watch the Washington Spirit vs. Orlando Pride this weekend
The No. 2 Spirit will host the No. 3 Pride at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on CBS.
With just three matchdays left in the regular season, Racing Louisville FC is on the brink of franchise history, launching themselves into contention for a 2025 NWSL Playoffs berth at No. 7 on the table behind a 3-1 win over the No. 9 North Carolina Courage on Saturday.
Louisville forward and USWNT rising star Emma Sears notched a brace while midfielder Kayla Fischer — Sears's collegiate teammate — also found the back of the net in the victory, with the Ohio State alums helping lift Racing to sit four points above the postseason cutoff line.
"I'm so proud of this group," Louisville head coach Bev Yanez said post-game. "I think that's a very big win in a very crucial time."
Joining the league as a 2021 expansion team, Racing Louisville is still searching for a first-ever ticket to the NWSL Playoffs, with an October 19th clash against a surging No. 3 Gotham FC marking the club's toughest test still to come in the 2025 campaign.
Notably, No. 8 San Diego's ongoing skid helped Louisville climb the standings, with the Wave suffering their seventh consecutive winless match in a 2-1 loss to the postseason-bound No. 2 Washington Spirit on Sunday.
All in all, the battle for both spots and seeding in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs is tighter than ever, as only four points separate Nos. 3 and 8 on the table — meaning competition will only heat up as the league races toward Decision Day on November 2nd.
With just four regular-season matchdays remaining in the 2025 NWSL season, the clock is quickly ticking down for teams making a late push to rise above the postseason cutoff line on the league table — including the No. 10 Houston Dash.
Currently sitting three points outside of playoff contention, a motivated Houston side will look to make a leap against No. 5 Orlando on Friday night, as the defending champion Pride continues reeling from their recently snapped nine-game NWSL winless streak.
"For us, the next couple of matches are finals," Dash head coach Fabrice Gautrat said after last weekend's 4-0 loss to the No. 2 Washington Spirit. "We have to keep approaching it one game at a time like we've been doing, but we definitely have to have a response against the Orlando Pride."
Notably, Houston enters Friday's matchup with new firepower in the midfield, as teen phenom Chloe Ricketts joins the Dash as a short-term signing from the Spirit before she moves to incoming expansion side Boston Legacy FC in 2026.
"[Ricketts] is very lively, has great energy, great attitude, is eager and ambitious," said Gautrat of Houston's Wednesday signee. "She could play anywhere on our front line, to be honest."
How to watch the Houston Dash vs. Orlando Pride
The No. 10 Houston Dash will host the No. 5 Orlando Pride at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on Prime.
The Washington Spirit punched their ticket to the 2025 NWSL Playoffs over the weekend, downing the No. 10 Houston Dash 4-0 on Sunday to maintain a six-point grip on No. 2 behind Shield-winners Kansas City.
En route to clinching the 2025 Playoffs, Spirit striker Gift Monday scored a first-half hat trick in just 36 minutes — the fastest in the Washington club's history at Audi Field.
"I want to say a very big thank you to my coach for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to start in this game," said Monday afterwards. "I think the hat trick has been waiting for me for a very long time."
With only four regular-season match-weeks remaining and just six points separating No. 3 from No. 9 in the NWSL standings, the battle for the league's final six postseason berths is heating up.
No. 3 Gotham FC is on a roll, extending their unbeaten streak to six games with Friday's emphatic 3-0 win over the No. 6 Portland Thorns, while No. 8 Louisville still clings to their spot just above the postseason cutoff line thanks to a 1-0 Saturday win over No. 11 Angel City — Racing's first victory in five matches.
Meanwhile, the No. 5 Orlando Pride halted their fall down the table by snapping a nine-match winless streak with a 2-1 victory over the No. 7 San Diego Wave on Friday — the reigning league champions' first three-point NWSL result since June 13th.
While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.
Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.
"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."
Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.
"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."
How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend
No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.
Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.
The No. 1 Kansas City Current officially clinched the 2025 NWSL Shield on Saturday, taking down the No. 6 Seattle Reign 2-0 to lift the 2021 expansion club's first-ever piece of league hardware.
"I thought that we won with a statement," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the match. "We showed that throughout the season we were the best team in the league."
Kansas City is now the fastest Shield winner in NWSL history, claiming the hardware — and the postseason's top seeding — with five regular-season matches still remaining.
Needing a 16-point advantage atop the NWSL standings to secure the Shield over the weekend, Kansas City's Saturday win combined with Washington's Thursday draw with Angel City to put the second-place Spirit out of reach of the 2025 regular-season title.
The Current's dominance this year has the club riding a 17-2-2 overall record, racking up 14 straight results as Kansas City haven't lost a match since May 2nd and haven't conceded an NWSL goal since June 14th.
"It's just justification of all the work that we've done this year, and last year, too," added Andonovski. "We talked last year that we had a great season, and we said we were going to come out stronger.... We proved that we are a better team than last year and we are going to keep growing as we go forward."