Audrey Bledsoe has won the MVP award of this match: from what I've seen, I'd say it was deserved (although maybe her placement wasn't optimal in the action of Chicago's goal).
As I said in the Red Stars thread I'm proud of the team for getting this far. Red Stars just ran out of players. Maybe one season they will go into the Championship with all their players healthy and available. One day they will win it all. I'm still mulling whether to renew my season tickets. I've been a loyal supporter of the Red Stars and the women's game in particular for a very long time. Maybe it's time for others to take over and do what I've done for over 26 years. The many trips around the country following the USWNT, the many College Cups, kids screaming "Miaaaa!" back in the day, the people I've met including many that post here, passionately defending my teams, players on boards. I did my part and It's been fun. The women's game is a great product, please keep supporting.
There was nothing Bledsoe could've done on the goal. With O'Hara beaten on the wing, Bledsoe has to come to the near post. The cross from Katie Johnson was perfect, clearing Bledsoe and dipping down, not floating wide. Once I saw the ball go over Bledsoe and start immediately dipping I knew it should be a goal. When we say far post, in this case we mean far post; not beyond the far post. Hill was crashing in right in front of the goal mouth. I'm happy for Washington to win but I admit I'm mean-spirited enough to not want O'Hara to score the championship goal because otherwise more people would take notice of how mediocre her play is and that her days with the national team should be over unless nobody's able to step up and claim the right back spot
Back from my watch party! (My initial reflections on the match bay be a bit biased.) Chicago seemed to control the game for the first 20-30 minutes, but then Washington started picking up the pace and controlled for most of the rest of the match (Chicago's stoppage time goal was, IMO, against the general run of play, though IIRC it was from a weird stoppage of its own). Washington absolutely dominated the statistics - at some point in the second half of extra time, I looked at my phone because I was curious and I think the S(oG) numbers were 30(10)-9(2) in favor of the Spirit, with possession something like 58%-42%. That said, there were a lot of shots that probably should have been passes to teammates instead - and even with that said, full credit to Chicago's defense for not letting the match be decided by more goals and/or before regulation ended, as I'm sure Washington easily could have scored more than they did. Chicago finally started attacking better in the second period of extra time, I assume evening out the stats a bit more, especially as I noticed Washington prone to blind-booting instead of trying to keep smart possession. Thankfully, Washington held on for the win! I am very curious as to what caused the extra unannounced 3min of stoppage, though.... no TV volume above the in-house crowd. There were three or four different groups at our watch party, including the portion of the Spirit Squadron that didn't make it to Louisville, so the joint was definitely rocking ^.^
I'm happy to have a new champion; I think I would have preferred to see Chicago win after coming so close many times, but still happy for Washington...especially for players like Andi Sullivan, the heart of the team, and the OG Tori Huster who has been there since the beginning but missed the team's first championship game.
Also this is nice: Congratulations to the Washington Spirit on winning your first-ever NWSL championship. Despite a year with no shortage of challenges, you’ve made the District and your country very proud.— President Biden (@POTUS) November 20, 2021 And since it's Biden, it feels genuine, like he actually knows that the city has a women's team.
Literally it stands for "original gangster," (I believe from the rap above...could have originated before that though) not that Huster is a gangster. It now just means the real original/old-school original. I believe Huster is the only current player who's been with the Spirit since the inaugural season. (In trying to confirm that, I just found out that if you Google Washington Spirit right now, Google has a fun surprise for you.)
A long time ago, 2 other guys and I ran an organization and we had a staff of mostly 20-something women. They called us the OWGs (Old White Guys). I'm sure it was a title of respect and admiration. Chicago's run for the championship was inspiring -- because the team it fielded was at best fourth among the NWSL teams in talent -- and that before the rash of injuries.
wow thanks!! So cool that google has acknowledged Washington Spirit winning and does animated stuff when you google the team!!
Biden is definitely tapped into the DC community, at least more so than a lot of politicians, since he's been either in the Senate or the White House almost continuously since the early '70s! Also worth noting that two presidential daughters are investors in the team, so the White House has an indirect stake in the Spirit. X-D
1462548294626803716 is not a valid tweet id Great move by the team after Huster injured out in the QFs. Heart of the team.
Europeans tend to send their defenders up in support of the midfield, that’s why it might look like they can dominate the mid more. Their still into the total-futebol concept, but it makes them especially vulnerable on defense(if the opponent got an counter going) I was surprised how strong Spirit & CRS defenses were, both had their 4-backs set up before the other could counter. The passes had to be incredibly accurate to penetrate the zone defenses In comparison in the high level Champions League match between Chelsea & Wolfsburg just about all the goals came through an ‘comedy of errors’ with often the last CB or even GK left to fend for themselves(since the rest of the defenders were further up/out of position to help) but in all fairness, it did make that CHE/WOB more entertaining to watch than the NWSL final due to all those defensive mishaps
TV numbers for the final are in! NWSL championship match on CBS on Saturday drew 525,000 viewersSome other soccer (English only):Liverpool-Arsenal (NBC) 877,000Leeds-Spurs (NBCSN) 455NYC-ATL playoff (ABC) 435Portland-Minnesota playoff (ESPN) 253Complete list: https://t.co/Nifif2qt0b— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) November 23, 2021 NWSL Championship didn't outdraw the EPL on NBC, but considering the amount of advertising and historic audience the EPL has, I think that's a pretty good comparison! And nice to see NWSL above the others.