And then there were two

It took penalty kicks (PK) with plenty of heroics from No. 2 Washington Spirit keeper, Aubrey Kingsbury (she saved three consecutive attempts by No. 3 NJ/NY Gotham FC players), for the squad to advance to the 2024 final match.

After regulation and extra time, the score was knotted 1-1 when PK began. NJ/NY Gotham FC led for most of the match after a goal in the 56th minute from Esther González (assist by Y. Ryan) broke through. But Hal Hershfelt equalized (90+3’ from M. Morris) to force the drama in front of 19,365 fans at Audi Field and send the No. 2 seed through to the finals.

No. 1 Orlando Pride used goals by McCutcheon (41' from Watt), Banda (53' from Strom) and Marta (a nifty open move to find an open net off a lead pass from Banda at 82' mark) to advance to their first NWSL championship, with a 3-2 win over No. 4 Kansas City Current, in front of 14,524 fans at Inter&Co Stadium. The Kansas City Current squandered goals by Debinha (33' from Cooper) and a final-moments PK by DiBernardo 90+13' in the loss.

The 2024 NWSL Championship match, presented by Google Pixel, will be hosted at CPKC Stadium. Watch No. 1 Orlando Pride take on No. w Washington Spirit live Saturday, November 23 at 8 p.m. (ET) on CBS and Paramount+.

Yep, in the end, No. 1 plays No. 2.

Preview the event here.