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Washington, D.C. (11/14/2026) – In front of its sixth-straight playoff sellout crowd, the Washington Spirit defeated Utah Royals FC, 2-1 to punch the club’s ticket to its third straight NWSL Championship, which will be hosted next Saturday, November 21 at 8 p.m. at Audi Field.
The third straight semifinal at Audi brought electric energy to DC. Despite the excitement, the Spirit was quickly forced to defend after the starting whistle. In the first minute, the Royals earned a corner off of a deflection. Shortly after, in Olimpico style, the Utah corner kick curved, took one bounce and landed in the net.
Unphased, the Spirit quickly earned its own corner kick at the other end of the field but after a series of crosses and rebounds, the side was unsuccessful in finding the goal. After minutes of high press from Washington, Trinity Rodman served up a cross for Sofia Cantore near the end line and Cantore flicked the ball in the net with a backheel shot to put the Spirit on the board. The goal was Cantore’s seventh of the year across regular season and playoffs and Rodman’s tenth assist.
Rodman took full advantage of the left wing flying past Royals defenders while Clara Luvanga handled her defenders on the right. Both players were in sync from the start of the match. Andi Sullivan held down the back with her defenders making a huge tackle in the 20th minute to shut down a Royals attack. In the 42nd minute, Santos delivered a promising ball into the box, and it went out for a Spirit corner. Cantore ripped a shot in the 46th minute, missing just wide.
The second half started deadlocked at one goal apiece and the pressure was on. The Spirit came out strong, taking up space in the Royals’ final third. Quickly, the home side’s pressure paid off as a full team press forced a Utah defender to pass back to goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn but the pass didn’t find its mark. Luvanga picked it up instead before it could reach the keeper and flicked the ball over McGlynn and into the net for the lead. The goal marked Luvanga’s fourth of the year and the fourth straight match in which she’s provided a goal contribution.
The Spirit knew the next minutes were important and locked down in the defensive third. Tamara Bolt and Monique Ngock joined the team on the field, on for Sofia Cantore and Leicy Santos, respectively. Despite the shots from Washington, keeper Sandy MacIver came up with a big save 78th minute, shutting down a Royals attempt.
In the final moments of the match, the Spirit held it down, shutting down almost every attempt by Utah to go past midfield. After just four minutes of stoppage time, the whistle blew sending the Spirit to the NWSL Championship match at Audi Field next week.
The Spirit will host the NWSL Championship match at Audi Field on Saturday, November 21 against the winner of tomorrow’s semifinal between Gotham FC and the Kansas City Current.
-NWSL Match Report-
Match: Washington Spirit vs. Utah Royals FC
Date: Saturday, November 14, 2026
Venue: Audi Field (Washington, D.C.)
Kickoff: 12 p.m. EST
Weather: Mostly cloudy, high-40s
Scoring Summary:
| Goals | 1 | 2 | F |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Utah | 1 | 0 | 1 |
UTA – Cloé Lacasse – 2′
WAS – Sofia Cantore – 8′ (assisted by Trinity Rodman)
WAS – Clara Luvanga – 56′
Lineups:
WAS: 18 – Sandy MacIver; 14 – Gabrielle Carle; 24 – Esme Morgan; 9 – Tara Rudd; 13 – Lucia Di Guglielmo; 10 – Leicy Santos (8 – Monique Ngock 74’); 12 – Andi Sullivan; 7 – Mélissa Bethi; 2 – Trinity Rodman; 25 – Clara Luvanga; 27 – Sofia Cantore (16 – Tamara Bolt 74’)
Unused Substitutes: 28 – Sara Wojdelko; 5 – Élisabeth Tsé; 11 – Claudia Martínez; 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi; 26 – Paige Metayer; 33 – Ashley Hatch; 35 – Madison Haugen
UTA: 1 – Mandy McGlynn; 14 – Nuria Rábano; 2 – Tatumn Milazzo; 8 – Kate Del Fava; 22 – Miyabi Moriya (6 – Kameron Simmonds, 81’); 17 – Ana Tejada; 3 – Jameese Joseph (13 – Brecken Mozingo, 81’); 99 – Madison Hammond (5 – Cece Delzer; 52’); 24 – Cloé Lacasse; 21 – Kiana Palacios; 4 – Paige Cronin (11 – Mina Tanaka, 63’)
Unused Substitutes: 23 – Mia Justus; 15 – Dayana Pierre-Louis; 16 – Courtney Brown; 30 – Alexa Spaanstra; 71 – Ali Swensen
Stats Summary: WAS / UTA
Shots: 19 / 10
Shots On Goal: 6 / 4
Saves: 1 / 4
Fouls: 10 / 13
Offsides: 4 / 1
Misconduct Summary:
UTA – Mina Tanaka – 71′ – Yellow Card
WAS – Trinity Rodman – 90+4′ – Yellow Card
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