Last four NVSL The champions are also semi-finalists in 2025. If this sounds predictable, it's not, at least not entirely.
New Jersey/New York Gotham (2023 champions) will be in Sunday's semi-final against the defending champions. Orlando Pride (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+) as a No. 8 seed that just pulled off the biggest upset in NWSL playoff history. Gotham defeated No. 1 seed Kansas City Turk 2-1 in extra time, ending Current's record-breaking season in points (65) and wins (21). Kansas City won the NWSL Shield, 21 points clear of second place. Washington Spirit.
The Spirit, the 2021 champions, lost in last year's final to Orlando and finished second in the league again this season. They will host the Portland Thorns on Saturday in the other semifinal (12:00 p.m. ET). The Thorns have been the gold standard of the NWSL since its launch in 2013, winning three league titles, most recently in 2022, and two NWSL Shields.
However, these Thorns were surprise semi-finalists. Of the participants in the 2022 NWSL Championship, only the captain Sam Coffey currently a starter three years later. The roster has changed due to trades and retirements, and Portland has endured a spate of early-season injuries in addition to missing the 2022 NWSL MVP. Sophia Wilsonwho recently gave birth to her first child.
Who will advance to the 2025 NWSL Championship in San Jose, California on November 22? Here's how the semi-finals could play out.
(4) Orlando Pride vs. (8) New Jersey/New York Gotham FC
Sunday, 3:00 pm ET on ABC/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+.
Orlando was unbeatable last year. The Pride won twice as regular-season and playoff champions, starting the 2024 season with a record 23-game unbeaten streak before finally losing as players were rested for the playoffs.
Six-time World Player of the Year MarthaNow 39, she played as if she had turned back time ten years. Forward Barbra Gang burst onto the scene with 13 goals and scored the winning goal in the NWSL Championship. The Pride allowed just 20 goals in 26 games.
However, this year it was a struggle. Banda's season ended in August due to injury. Martha scored just four goals and had an assist. And after a strong start to the season, the Pride endured a disastrous nine-game winless streak that stretched from June through September.
That skid ended with a 2-1 win over the San Diego Wave on Sept. 26, and Orlando hasn't lost since. Pride, even without Gang, looked the same as last year in their quarterfinal win over Seattle Rain last week. Midfielder Hayley McCutcheon returned to her scoring ability in the playoffs, Emily Sams put in a stingy defensive performance and Martha turned the clock back again with an epic 70-yard run in stoppage time to earn a penalty.
A passionate Martha spoke after the game about people disrespecting the Pride who “are still champions.”
“But at the same time, I love it when people talk about Pride so much and don't give it credit because it makes me feel good,” she said. “It makes me feel like I want to go and play and prove them completely wrong.”
Gotham enters this semi-final with even more problems on its shoulders. New York/New Jersey won the 2023 title as a sixth seed (lowest seed at the time) and was in serious contention for three trophies last year. Gotham won the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup in May. Mexico become the region's first champion and qualify for the first FIFA global club competition in January.
In this context, the playmaker SawThe postgame comments make sense: “My ass is an underdog,” she said after scoring the game-winner against Kansas City.
September Arrival Show from North Carolina Courage Thanks to a record intraleague transfer of $1.25 million, Gotham unveiled a new offensive outfit. She instantly hit it off with another USWNT midfielder. Rose Lavellewho remained healthy after undergoing major ankle surgery in the offseason.
Now Gotham heads to Orlando, hoping to beat the best team in the league. Player for player, Gotham is as talented as any team to make the playoffs, from Shaw to Lovell to Midge Purce the best and fearless German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
The big question once again concerns the health of the Spanish striker and 2023 world champion. Esther Gonzalezwho had not played for a month due to a thigh injury and watched the quarter-finals from the bench in a down jacket.
Hester has 13 goals this season, two fewer than NWSL Golden Boot team Kansas City. Temwa Chawinga. Esther practically dragged Gotham throughout the first half of the season as the team went through periods of inconsistency. Before the summer break, she scored all five of Gotham's wins, scoring four doubles. Gotham lost four of the six games in which Esther did not score during that time.
Her presence – or continued absence – could make the difference on Sunday.
(2) Washington Spirit vs. (3) Portland Thorns
Saturday noon ET
Speaking of trauma, let's talk about the Spirit. The most high-profile injury saga in the NWSL and perhaps women's soccer over the past year involved a USWNT star forward. Trinity Rodman.
After a brilliant performance at the 2024 Olympics and helping United States To win the gold medal, Rodman suffered from back pain during last year's playoffs and in 2025. In the 15 months since that tournament, she competed only once for the United States and missed most of the first half of the season due to injury.
Rodman left the Spirit in the spring to rehab in London, and in August she returned with a healthy back and a rejuvenated spirit, scoring a stunning stoppage-time winner 15 minutes into her return (against none other than Saturday's opponents, Portland). After that game, Rodman shed tears of joy and endurance, but another setback followed last month when she sprained her MCL.
She hasn't played since, including in last week's quarter-finals, and Spirit's injury problems have only gotten worse. Central defender Tara McKeown left the quarter-finals in extra time with an ankle injury, and defender Gabby Karl withdrew after half an hour with a hamstring injury.
These players are critical to Washington's defense, and it is no exaggeration to say that Rodman's energetic and bold play changes any game she enters.
Portland knows a thing or two about injuries. The Thorns lost their starting guards. Marie Muller, Nicole Payne and dynamic forward Morgan Weaver to season-ending knee injuries before the campaign even started in March. Portland's injury situation was so bad that it even lost a forward. Julie Dufour to a cruciate ligament rupture less than a month after acquiring it as a result of an exchange.
Combined with the absence of Wilson, one of the league's best offensive players, it looked like a lost year for the Thorns. In recent years, Wilson has put the Thorns on her back and led them to wins that would have otherwise looked unlikely. She scored the winning goal in the fourth minute of the 2022 final and celebrated the winning goal with a knowing shrug reminiscent of one of Michael Jordan's famous celebrations.
In her absence, Coffey and USWNT teammate Olivia Moultrie came up to carry the load. Combined with Canadian International Jessie Flemingthey provided the Thorns with a solid midfield foundation even when at various times goals were not scored or were conceded too easily at the other end of the field.
Coffey is considered by many of the league's technical staff to be one of the best midfielders in the world (inexplicably excluded from all 2025 NWSL awards shortlists). She is a tenacious defensive midfielder who also generates attacks from deep areas.
Moultrie had her best season of her career with eight goals and an assist. Seven of them came after the league's summer break, and she assisted Raelyn TurnerThe winning goal in extra time in the quarter-finals. Moultrie is only 20 years old, but she is in her fifth season in the NWSL after suing the NWSL at age 15 to sign a professional contract.
Coffey and Moultrie are the anchors of this new era in Portland, the no-hitter. Christine Sinclair and defender Becky Sauerbrunnwho both retired last offseason. If the Thorns are going to win a league-record fourth championship, they are likely to do so on the back of stellar performances from their midfield.
