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

Lucia Di Guglielmo scored her first National Women’s Soccer League goal to help the Washington Spirit secure a 1-0 victory over Gotham FC on Saturday at Audi Field in Washington, DC, clinching a playoff spot for the hosts. The win marked the Spirit's first victory over Gotham since 23 June 2024, improving their record to 16-8-4. The defeat snapped a four-match unbeaten streak for Gotham, keeping them at 16-5-7 and denying them a chance to seal the NWSL Shield. In the 70th minute, midfielder Mélissa Bethi provided a lobbed pass that allowed Di Guglielmo to shoot past goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver stopped two shots to record her 10th clean sheet of the season, while Leicy Santos made her first appearance since 8 August after returning from injury. Gotham defender Leila Ouahabi also made her club debut following the termination of her contract with the Chicago Stars. In other NWSL fixtures, the San Diego Wave defeated the North Carolina Courage 2-1 to secure a top-four playoff seed, lifted by goals from Melanie Barcenas and Trinity Byars. Barcenas scored her seventh goal of the season in the fourth minute to set an NWSL single-season record for teenagers, while the Courage dropped four of their last five matches. Angel City FC overcame a two-goal deficit to defeat the Denver Summit 3-2 with three unanswered goals, extending their unbeaten run to eight games. Meanwhile, Haley Hopkins scored twice to lead the Kansas City Current to a 2-0 victory over the Utah Royals.