Washington Spirit clinch NWSL playoff berth as Gotham miss chance to seal Shield

Di Guglielmo scores first NWSL goal in 1-0 victoryGotham denied chance to clinch NWSL ShieldSan Diego secure top-four seed as Angel City rallyLucia Di Guglielmo scored her first National Women’s Soccer League goal and the Washington Spirit clinched a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over Gotham FC on Saturday.In other NWSL action, the San Diego Wave beat the North Carolina Courage 2-1, Angel City FC defeated the Denver Summit 3-2 and the Kansas City Current shut out the Utah Royals 2-0. Continue reading…

Lucia Di Guglielmo’s first NWSL goal sent Washington into the playoffs, while San Diego, Angel City and Kansas City also claimed victories on Saturday. Lucia Di Guglielmo scored her first National Women’s Soccer League goal and the Washington Spirit clinched a playoff spot with a 1-0 victory over Gotham FC on Saturday. In other NWSL action, the San Diego Wave beat the North Carolina Courage 2-1, Angel City FC defeated the Denver Summit 3-2 and the Kansas City Current shut out the Utah Royals 2-0. It was the first win for the Spirit (16-8-4) over Gotham since 23 June 2024.

The road loss at Audi Field denied Gotham (16-5-7) a chance to clinch the NWSL Shield and snapped their four-match unbeaten streak. Spirit midfielder Mélissa Bethi delivered a pinpoint lobbed pass to Di Guglielmo in the 70th minute. She slipped her shot past Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver made two saves for her 10th clean sheet of the season. Leicy Santos returned from injury and started for the Spirit in her