Players rip 'atrocious' SI Stadium pitch in Gotham win over Seattle - ESPN

HARRISON, N.J. — Sunday's NWSL quarterfinal match between Gotham FC and Seattle Reign FC was ugly by all standards — including the field.

«Let's be real, there's no way a playoff game should be played on that s---,» Seattle Reign FC head coach Laura Harvey told ESPN after her team's 1-0 loss to hosts Gotham FC. «I just can't believe they've allowed it. They knew it last week.»

The NWSL fined Gotham FC $10,000 for the poor conditions of the field for last week's regular-season finale, Harvey said, and ESPN subsequently confirmed. Gotham is a tenant and does not control the stadium, which hosted a rugby match two days before the regular-season finale and a New York Red Bulls MLS match Saturday night.

On Sunday, 18 hours after the MLS match ended at Sports Illustrated Stadium, the field for the NWSL quarterfinal was sandy with visible brown patches.

Gotham FC advanced despite not putting a shot on target, becoming the first team in NWSL history to achieve that feat. Jaedyn Shaw's corner kick deflected off Reign defender Jordyn Bugg for an own goal in the fourth minute. It was the eventual winner.

Both teams said the field affected how they played.

«I feel the obligation to almost apologize for the state of the pitch,» Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said.

Seattle Reign FC midfielder Jess Fishlock, who is retiring and played her final game Sunday after the Reign's loss, called the field «atrocious.»

«It was so bad,» Gotham FC defender Jess Carter said of the field as she walked through the tunnel after the match.

«It's pretty sandy out there and a little unstable,» Gotham midfielder Jaelin Howell said. Howell was questionable for the quarterfinal after sustaining an ankle injury on the same field last week, but she