OL Reign won the NWSL Shield on Saturday, but not without a little help from Gotham FC.
The Portland Thorns were looking good to clinch the Shield, awarded for the best NWSL regular-season record, when last-place Gotham came up with an unlikely late comeback to turn a two-goal deficit into a 3-3 draw on the season’s final day.
The draw snapped a league-record 12-game losing streak and handed OL Reign a chance to swipe the Shield away from their Northwest rivals if they could defeat the Orlando Pride later in the evening.
The Reign emphatically did just that, winning 3-0 to clinch the third NWSL Shield in club history and first since 2015.
Seeing that OL Reign would not have clinched the Shield without some help from her team, Gotham star Midge Purce felt the least she could do is request a $10 payment from her USWNT teammate and Reign defender Alana Cook for “facilitating championship win.”
Cook duly obliged.
By clinching the Shield and the top overall seed in the playoffs, OL Reign locked down a NWSL semifinal at Lumen Field on October 23. They will face the winner of the quarterfinal between the Houston Dash and Kansas City Current match, which takes place on October 16.
On the other side of the bracket, the Thorns clinched a first-round bye by finishing second, and will host the winner of the quarterfinal between the San Diego Wave and Chicago Red Stars.
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