Gotham FCs NWSL repeat hopes crushed in semifinal heartbreaker to Spirit

So after all that, after six combined yellow cards and the two from Bruninha that forced Gotham FC to operate down a player, after the two frames of extra time and the one final Washington Spirit corner in the 121st minute that Ann-Katrin Berger barely — feet on one side of the goal line, ball smothered on the other side — kept out of the net, it came down to three consecutive goals by the Spirit and three consecutive saves from Aubrey Kingsbury in the penalty shootout.And instead of a chance to become just the third team in NWSL history to win consecutive titles, the reigning champions — revamped with a collection of stars in the offseason, the superteam label following them throughout the year — are eliminated after a final score 1-1 (3-0) at Audi Field on Saturday/Five minutes away from a second consecutive trip to the NWSL title match, all it took was a costly yellow card, a free kick and a header to unravel Gotham’s playoff run, with Kingsbury’s final save against Jenna Nighswonger in penalties securing Gotham’s exit.Near the end of regulation, Nighswonger picked up a yellow card — Gotham’s third of the match — in the second minute of stoppage time, and the Spirit’s Hal Hershfelt headed the ensuing free kick past Berger and sent the sold-out crowd into a frenzy. But for most of the final 40 minutes of the second half, though, Gotham was positioned for a chance at history.Only two teams had ever won consecutive championships in NWSL history.

The Current did it first in 2014-15.Then, the North Carolina Courage in 2018-19.And even before her team-leading nine goals during the regular season, Esther González had already etched her place into Gotham FC history with her final tally of the 2023 campaign — when she found a pocket of space inside the 18-yard box, flicked her head to the right and redirected the corner into the net to snap a tie in the NWSL championship match. One year later, when Gotham needed to snap a tie against the Spiri...