The final is tomorrow. Houston will face off against Chicago tomorrow, on July 26, at 10:30 am MDT at Rio Tinto Stadium. The game will be on CBS and Twitch. Additionally, for Chicago, Nagasato, Davidson, Gautrat and Short are all still out on the injury list. For Houston, none are out, but Oyster and Visalli are questionable. #NWSLChallengeCup final injury report for @chiredstarsPR and @HoustonDash. pic.twitter.com/eEcTaFzE84— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) July 25, 2020
For those who follow the refereeing as well, no one is surprised that Koroleva gets the final: REF: Katja Koroleva AR1: Jennifer Garner AR2: Tiffini Turpin 4TH: Tori Penso
From fivethirtyeight website: Sports Science Podcasts Video JUL. 24, 2020, AT 1:06 PM The NWSL Is About To Crown A Brand-New Champion What to watch for in Sunday’s Challenge Cup final. By Bria Felicien Filed under Soccer PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY FIVETHIRTYEIGHT / GETTY IMAGES In 22 games over the past month, the NWSL Challenge Cup saw breakout performances from the league’s goalkeepers, three playoff games decided on penalties, quarterfinal upsets of the top two seeds, and, after teams had combined for just one goal in four quarterfinal matches, a five-goal game in the semifinals. On Sunday afternoon, the tournament will end with the Houston Dash or Chicago Red Stars holding up their first NWSL trophy. The final match of the tournament will be held at Rio Tinto Stadium in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. The broadcast kicks off on CBS at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, and FiveThirtyEight’s Club Soccer Predictions give the Red Stars a 59 percent chance to win. Here’s what to watch for. Houston Dash 1-2-1 Even when no one else had confidence in them, the Houston Dash believed they could win. With their 1-0 semifinal victory over the Portland Thorns, the Dash reached their first final in club history. Before this tournament, they hadn’t even qualified for the playoffs. Forward Rachel Daly said the semifinal win was proof of how much the team believes in itself, including the starters, bench and staff. She said the team showed grit. “The city of Houston’s behind us,” Daly said. “I think a lot of people have doubted us in the past. Again, I always harp on that. The respect we have for each other and the belief we have in this locker room is phenomenal, and I think we have to take that into the next match in order to win.” So far, Daly has scored three goals in the Challenge Cup, tied for the league lead with Lynn Williams of the North Carolina Courage and up one on Dash teammate Shea Groom. If Daly scores again, she’ll surpass Williams and be in position to win the golden boot for the tournament. Despite the wear and tear of the tournament, Houston has suffered few injuries. The Dash missed Christine Nairn and Megan Oyster against Portland, but overall, the team seemed to benefit from the longer break between group play and the knockouts. Houston is also better if Nichelle Prince can create consistent chances, along with Kristie Mewis and Bri Visalli. The Dash are up for the challenge. Before the semifinal, Daly talked about controlling their emotions, and they’ll have to continue to keep those feelings in check to win it all against an experienced Chicago team. Chicago Red Stars 1-2-1 Chicago has been here before. The Red Stars have playoff experience, including the 2019 NWSL championship game. That history likely helped against an inexperienced Sky Blue squad in the semifinal; Chicago won 3-2 to advance to its second consecutive final. But the Red Stars also looked worn down after Wednesday’s match, a visible reminder of the fact that these teams have played six games since June 27. Though Chicago rotated its lineup, it still had to face the Spirit, Thorns and Courage to start group play. The Red Stars also lost a number of players during the tournament; some are questionable going into Sunday. Against Houston, players to watch include Bianca St. Georges, who scored and notched an assist against Sky Blue and had an overall outstanding tournament. This will also mark Kealia Watt’s first game against her former team. Watt didn’t score in the semifinal but contributed in a massive way on the defensive end. She’ll be important on both sides of the ball on Sunday. Red Stars coach Rory Dames complimented Savannah McCaskill, Katie Johnson and other young players after the semifinal. He’s willing to give them the chance to play in the big game, which can benefit them both now and in the future. “We’ll continue to get players experience,” Dames said. “We’ll continue to give players opportunities in these kinds of situations, and that’s the only way that they can grow, because you can’t replicate it.” Bria Felicien is an Atlanta-based writer who covers women’s basketball and women’s soccer. Her work can be found in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Next, Equalizer Soccer and more. @briafelicien
again, from fivethirtyeight website: UPDATED JULY 26, 2020, AT 10:28 AM CRS 59% chance to win, Dash 41% Club Soccer Predictions Forecasts and Soccer Power Index (SPI) ratings for 38 leagues, updated after each match. See also: How this worksGlobal club soccer rankings StandingsMatches NWSL CHALLENGE CUP 2020 USA Chicago4 pts 57.5 1.5 1.0 ✓ ✓ 59% Houston4 pts 50.2 1.4 1.2 ✓ ✓ 41% Design and development by Jay Boice, Reuben Fischer-Baum and Julia Wolfe. Statistical models by Jay Boice and Nate Silver.
Generally, don't copy-paste the content from news websites. 538 isn't behind a paywall, but it's still a very bad practice. Fine to post links, tweets, and quick summaries.
Although I have the utmost respect for what this tournament represents this year, I don't think this title is technically accurate. Today's winner can't properly be definied "New NWSL Champion": it will just be the winner of the "2020 Challenge Cup", that's most probably the best achievement an NWSL club will be allowed to reach this season, but I doubt it will be literally listed as a "NWSL title" in the books. Let's make it clear: in my opinion the winner will have all the rights to brag as if they effectively had become "NWSL Champion", but the pedantic in me can't allow it to be actually called a "NWSL title".
Chicago Red Stars line-up Naeher St. Georges Ertz Gorden Sharples Colaprico DiBernardo McCaskill Hill Johnson Watt Missing 4 likely starters in Davidson, Short, Gautrat, Nagasato. A little unclear how the defense will line up; Gorden is a more versatile CB/FB than Sharples but they may not want to disrupt the CB partnership. Houston Dash line-up Campbell Hanson Oyster Naughton Chapman Schmidt Mewis Groom Visalli Daly Prince Oyster had cracked rib(s) right? Didn't know you could recover from that so quickly! Nairn is the only player listed as out on the injury report, stating "general illness." Will be interesting to see Naughton and Watt face off against former teams.
[#4.HOU-CHI.#6] Oyster for Prisock. Here we go y'all. Everything on the line.#HoldItDown— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 26, 2020 Sharples for Goralski. IT'S THE 'SHIP!Here's your starting XI for #HOUvCHI, presented by @meijer. pic.twitter.com/tddaJPL4as— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) July 26, 2020 Houston: Q Oyster, Visalli (starting), Andrzejewski (not) / OUT Nairn Chicago: Q Colaprico (starting), Redei (not) / OUT Mautz, Wright, Nagasato, T.Davidson, Gautrat, Stevens, Short
Woops, CBS All Access links to a replay of the Chicago-Sky Blue semi. We're missing the exciting pre-game show
You don't. All that can be done is pain management. With 5 subs, I think she'll go as long as she can and they'll take her out. Unrelated. I was just listening to the McCaskill/Watt/Dames press conference from yesterday on Twitch. Ohai played her state high school championship game in 2009 at Rio Tinto. When asked about it, Watt turned to McCaskill and said "we played our high school championship on that field-it went to PKs. McCaskill: "Did you win?" Watt: "Yes" McCaskill: "Good."
Mewis went down rather easily IMO, but at the same time it was pretty obvious interference. And HOU is up 1-0
I really think Chicago is making a mistake playing Ertz back at central defense. It takes a lot of value out of her play by playing her so far away from the offense. Surely that have an adequate defender to fill that spot and allow Ertz up into the central midfield roll. There has been a PK from poor basic defending and a clumsy foul in the box. 1-0 for Chicago.
Gotta say, natural grass has a huge positive impact on quality of play. It was noticeable in the semifinals and already in the first 5 minutes here, compared to the group stage/QF. Manufacturers have improved turf over the years, but it just does not lend itself to the same fluidity.
Sharples's defending was... not sharp at all (sorry for the pun ). Crystal clear PK and well deserved YC for her. The PK was perfectly taken by Schmidt, who completely misled Naher. Good choice of the taker: it's better to chose the "safest" one than going greedy with giving it to the MVP and top-scorer Daly.
04' 0-0 K.Mewis fouled in box, yellow card on Sharples. 05' 1-0 Schmidt pk, right instep opens hip, snipes into 1/4 right back low, as Naeher dove wrong. Earned by @KristieMewie, converted by @sophieschmidt13 👊@HoustonDash lead early!1-0 | #HOUvCHI Tune in now on @CBS, @CBSAllAccess, and @Twitch.#NWSLChallengeCup pic.twitter.com/eXlO2npkkL— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 26, 2020 07' 1-0 Prince faces off vs. St. Georges at 4m box right, fakes stepping away, cuts endline and rounds her to 1m 6-right, crosses through 1m head-high but too far. Sheesh @nichelleprince7 🤧 pic.twitter.com/HsUKaGLPvp— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) July 26, 2020