Megan Rapinoe's star shone bright once again on Sunday as the OL Reign were one of a handful of teams to clinch a playoff berth on a dramatic final day of the NWSL regular season. Rapinoe scored a brace in a 3-0 win for the Reign at the Chicago Red Stars, but it was far from the only high scoring game on a Decision Day with 17 goals across six games. Angel City FC provided the most stunning result of the day when they beat the Portland Thorns 4-0 to secure their first-ever trip to the postseason, ensuring an easy passageway for the San Diego Wave to win the NWSL Shield courtesy of a 2-0 win over Racing Louisville.
It was not good news for the Washington Spirit, who started the day in a playoff position only to lose 1-0 to the North Carolina Courage and slip out of the postseason conversation. Star forward Trinity Rodman picked up a red card in the 22nd minute, which made the game an uphill battle for the Spirit.
For Rapinoe and Gotham FC's Ali Krieger, the day's results mean the U.S. women's national team legends will each play another game before they retire at the conclusion of the season.
The Courage will host Gotham and the Reign will welcome Angel City when the playoffs begin on Oct. 22. The lower-ranked team who advances from those matches will then travel to face the Wave, while the other side will play the Thorns.
Here are some takeaways, as well as the day's final scores and the regular season's final standings.
Angel City's ascent
Up against the top-ranked Portland Thorns, the odds were most certainly not in Angel City's favor heading into Decision Day. That did not seem to bother the LA-based team very much, though, as they picked up a stunning 5-1 win en route to their first-ever playoff berth and went from eighth place to fifth in the span of 90 minutes. They were dominant throughout, and did so in style -- Sydney Leroux's bicycle kick to make it 4-0 was arguably the most impressive goal of the day.
Though the result is shocking, it is in line with Angel City's upward trajectory. The team fired head coach Freya Coombe in June after two wins from 11 games in 2023, but interim Becki Tweed then led the team on an 11-game unbeaten run that was only snapped last week. They came into the final day of the regular season with 10 points from five games, tied for the most with the Shield-winning San Diego Wave.
It could mean Angel City are peaking at just the right time, which could be the recipe for playoff success. Regardless of how the team's first postseason journey plays out, though, Tweed has likely made her case to earn the job on a full-time basis.
Disappointment on the east coast
Though Portland had a rough outing, no one had a worse day than the Spirit. The team started the day in a playoff spot and saw things go from bad to worse over the course of the 90 minutes. Rodman picked up a red card in the 23rd minute and then four minutes later they went down to the Courage.
They could not get back into the game, which the Courage was fully in control of. The Spirit still had hopes of staying in a playoff spot but other results did not go their way, either -- Angel City's win plus the Reign's 3-0 victory over the Chicago Red Stars meant that the Spirit slipped out of the playoffs entirely. They finished eighth and miss the postseason for a second year running, two short years after taking home the whole thing.
Gotham, meanwhile, still booked a playoff appearance but a day that started on a high took a quick downward turn. The team went up 2-0 and scored the first goals of Decision Day, but were 2-2 with 11th-ranked Kansas City Current by halftime, nor could they find another goal despite dominating in shots. As a result, they slid from third to sixth and continue their streak of playing all of their NWSL playoff games away from home.
Legends live another day
The last couple of weeks of the NWSL regular season have been spent saying goodbye to Rapinoe and Krieger, both of whom were part of the USWNT teams that won back-to-back Women's World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. With Reign and Gotham booking postseason spots, both will extend their storied careers by at least one more game.
No matter how far the Reign will go, the quarterfinal match will mark Rapinoe's official farewell to Seattle. She has played for the club for the entirety of her spell in the NWSL and for her, saying goodbye to the Reign at her celebration match on Oct. 6 was perhaps the most emotional of her swan songs.
As for Krieger, Decision Day marked her final home game at Gotham, who will play away for the entirety of their playoff run. Despite the disappointment of finishing in sixth, it marks an improvement from last season, when they did not make the playoffs at all.
With a chance to reset, both have the chance to add one final piece of silverware to their already illustrious careers.
"We said at the beginning of the year that we wanted to be on that podium and lift that trophy," she said in a post-match interview. "I know that our mindset is right there, mentality is right there, the principles and everything. Everyone's bought into that and the coaches instilled in us is super healthy and positive and we're going in the right direction."
Final scores
- Orlando Pride 1, Houston Dash 0
- Gotham FC 2, Kansas City Current 2
- Angel City FC 5, Portland Thorns FC 1
- San Diego Wave FC 2, Racing Louisville FC 0
- Washington Spirit 0, North Carolina Courage 1
- Chicago Red Stars 0, OL Reign 3
Final standings
- San Diego Wave, 37 points
- Portland Thorns, 35 points
- North Carolina Courage, 33 points
- OL Reign, 32 points
- Angel City, 31 points
- NJ/NY Gotham FC, 31 points
- Orlando Pride, 31 points
- Washington Spirit, 30 points
- Racing Louisville, 27 points
- Houston Dash, 26 points
- KC Current, 26 points
- Chicago Red Stars, 24 points
Bracket
Quarterfinals
Friday, Oct. 20
OL Reign vs. Angel City
Sunday, Oct. 22
North Carolina Courage vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC
Semifinals
Sunday, Nov. 5
San Diego Wave vs. OL Reign or Angel City
Portland Thorns vs. North Carolina Courage or NJ/NY Gotham FC
Championship
Saturday, Nov. 11
Winner of semifinal one vs. Winner of semifinal two
