There are only two more weekends of NWSL action in 2025 – cue Debbie Downer music.
We’re not thinking about that though! Instead, we’re going to relish every second until the confetti falls at PayPal Park on November 22. But first, the Championship contenders must be decided, and if history is any indication, this weekend’s semifinals are sure to bring rewatchable moments for years to come.
In the fight to get to the final, teams put everything on the line. Players push themselves, get innovative, and do the damn-near impossible. Before any new highlights get added to the informal semifinal play “hall of fame,” we’re taking a look back at five of the best, most thrilling, “can you believe what you just saw” moments in NWSL semifinal history.
Before Debinha helped Kansas City go on a historic run, she was part of another record-breaking team: the 2019 North Carolina Courage. From 2017 to 2019, the Courage won three NWSL Shields and two NWSL Championships.
They were a powerhouse on every front, and Debinha’s free kick in extra time in the 2019 semifinals that sent them to their third-straight Championship is just… chef’s kiss.
Who doesn’t love a stoppage-time game winner? Make it a playoff game and a player who just returned from maternity leave, and well, that’s an instant classic.
In the 2022 semifinals, Portland’s Crystal Dunn fired a rocket on a corner kick to send the Thorns to the NWSL Championship – just five (!!) months after giving birth to her son. It would be a superhuman feat regardless, but to do it in a moment this clutch sends it to another level entirely.
The most heated rivalries reach a boiling point in the playoffs, and maybe that’s why we’ve only seen one Cascadia rivalry playoff game. It’s no surprise that the 2018 semifinals between the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign is one of the most memorable in league history.
After falling 1-0 early on, the Thorns mounted a comeback with Providence Park at their backs. Lindsey Horan (now Heaps) teed up Tobin Heath to even the game, and when that combo struck again in the 68th minute, the home crowd erupted. The play was called offsides, though replays refute the onfield call.
The Thorns let it fuel their fire, and just eight minutes later, the great Christine Sinclair crossed a beauty into the box that Heaps headed home for the game-winner. There’s a non-zero chance Providence Park measured on the Richter scale that day.
How does one pick a moment in one of the best NWSL games of all time? One suggests the entire game.
Playing in Portland is never easy on the visiting team, but the Western New York Flash took the challenge head on. In an absolute shootout, the Flash ultimately walked away with a win – after seven goals scored between both sides.
The game went to extra time, tied 2-2, and while the teams traded goals, ultimately the Flash took a 4-3 lead. As the Thorns mounted momentum in stoppage time, they put pressure on the WNY defense, and an Abby Dahlkemper header cleared the ball out of the box as the game expired. It was a header that saved the game from going to PKs.
A recent addition to the lore: the 2024 semifinal shootout between Gotham and the Spirit at Audi Field. Thanks to an Esther González goal early in the second half, Gotham held a 1-0 – until stoppage time.
Enter Hal Hershfelt.
Hershfelt leveled the game in the 92nd minute, forcing extra time and ultimately, a shootout. With the PK queen, Aubrey Kingsbury, in net, the Spirit triumphed. She saved all three Gotham PKs to send Washington to the final.
This time around, the Spirit and Gotham will both face different opponents in the semifinals. You won’t want to miss any of the action.
The Orlando Pride host Gotham on Sunday, November 16 at 3:00 PM ET. You can watch on ABC.
The Washington Spirit host the Portland Thorns this Saturday, November 15 at 12 PM ET. Tune in on CBS.
Check out the 2025 NWSL Playoffs Hub.
