The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup semifinals are set with four teams set to square off for a spot in the Challenge Cup final. Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign, and Washington Spirit are the final four teams remaining after all 12 clubs competed in a six match group stage across three divisions. Fans can watch NWSL Challenge Cup on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Network.
Challenge cup semifinals are set to take place on May 4th, though facility logistics, stadium locations, and scheduling conflicts are the headlines ahead of the matches. OL Reign are the number one seed among the four semifinalists, and are scheduled to face fourth seeded Washington Spirit. However, the Challenge Cup schedule, combined with event overlap, means the top-ranked team will be unable to host their semifinal at home in Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.
How did this happen?
OL Reign recently announced that Lumen Field would be their home facility ahead of the 2022 season – a stadium that is also home to the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and MLS side, Seattle Sounders. The Sounders are hosting the Concacaf Champions League final against Pumas UNAM on May 4, and the OL franchise released a statement announcing they were unable to find a solution to secure home field advantage.
The semifinal will now be played at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia – a facility where the Spirit will play five of their 11 regular season home games in 2022. The Reign no longer have home field advantage, although if it's any consolation, the Spirit's all time home record at Segra is underwhelming with just two wins, four losses, and one draw.
To further complicate things, when the league announced match schedules, the Challenge Cup and regular season featured overlap between games. The group stage of the Challenge Cup has now concluded and the regular season will kick off on April 29th. Challenge Cup semifinals are set to take place on May 4 with Challenge Cup final on the horizon, scheduled for May 7th.
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No other options
An uncertain event born out of an unprecedented time, the Challenge Cup is now in its third edition, but finds itself in a place of limbo, with its overall significance called into question among players and fans with its place ahead of the regular season for a second year. Reign forward Bethany Balcer recently expressed some frustrations on twitter.
also sorry i’m on one this morning but why on earth does the challenge cup overlap regular season like where is the COMMON SENSE. now your reward for making the challenge cup final is having to play 3 games in 7 days yayyyy🙄
— Bethany Balcer (@bethanybalcer) April 21, 2022
Match overlap isn't an uncommon trend, globally, there are cup competitions that take place within a regular season, though this is the first time for the NWSL, and the Challenge Cup was scheduled with regular season overlap, with no public facing plan in place of the tournament's opening day should scheduling conflicts arise.
In an interesting coincidence these two teams are already scheduled for a regular-season match to take place on the east coast on May 1 at Audi Field, the MLS home of D.C. United. Audi Field, however, is also unable to host the Challenge Cup semifinal due to a prior scheduled event, the project play summit, hosted by The Aspen Institute. So that leaves us with the Spirit and Reign playing each other twice in the span of four days in Washington D.C. in two different stadiums with each side technically being the home team once.
What's next
Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage will play their Challenge Cup semifinal in Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park without conflict, but there could be an additional headache on the way. Regular season games for OL Reign, Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Washington Spirit will be rescheduled in the event they advance into the Challenge Cup final. Details have not yet been announced on the potential rescheduling conflict.
