Washington Spirit beats Gotham in shootout to reach NWSL final - ESPN

Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury saved all three penalties she faced as the Spirit defeated reigning champion NJ/NY Gotham FC 3-0 in a penalty shootout on Saturday at Audi Field to advance to next week's NWSL Championship.

The two teams played to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes after the Spirit forced extra time in the final moments of regulation.

Spirit midfielder Hal Hershfelt scored the equalizer for Washington in second-half stoppage time to offset Esther González's earlier in the period for Gotham, who played the final 19 minutes of extra time down a player. Kingsbury followed with her heroics in the shootout to send a sold-out crowd of over 19,000 fans into a frenzy in the U.S. capital.

Washington will play the winner of Sunday's other semifinal, between No. 1 seed Orlando Pride and No. 4 seed Kansas City Current, in the NWSL Championship on Nov. 23 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

The No. 2 seed Spirit weathered early pressure from the No. 3 seed Gotham, including González's shot off the crossbar in the opening minute, before turning up the pressure on the visitors.

But Gotham got on the board first through González, whose goal in the 56th minute was Gotham's first shot in 47 minutes.

Gotham midfielder Yazmeen Ryan got on the ball on the right flank and played a pass inside to midfielder Rose Lavelle, who dribbled briefly before slotting a no-look pass behind the Spirit's defense and into the path of Ryan, who had continued her run. Ryan collected the ball on the endline and delivered a cross to the penalty spot, where an unmarked González adjusted her body to head the ball back toward the near post.

Lavelle nearly doubled the lead 13 minutes later when she blocked a slow attempted clearance