The regular season is over. The sweet but all-too-short NWSL playoffs are upon us. Let’s play some good old-fashioned American playoff soccer, shall we?
A rose to Orlando for sheer cussedness.
With their victory over North Carolina last weekend, the Pride brought about what was numerically the least likely playoff scenario. That’s not by a slim margin, either. Out of nine possible outcomes of the last week of the regular season, only one—a win by both Orlando and Portland—would have brought the Pride here for the semis.
They did it in magnificently cussed fashion, too, going up two goals, blowing their lead by letting Lynn Williams score two, then notching a last-minute game-winner on a beautiful free kick by Alanna Kennedy.