The Spirit are on the brink of clinching their third consecutive playoff appearance.
Washington defeated Houston 3–2 on Sunday to put them nine points above the playoff line with just three matches left. The Spirit currently sit in third place in the NWSL standings, trailing league-leader Gotham FC by six points and second-place San Diego Wave FC by two.
The Spirit’s next match is against Gotham on Oct. 17, which will have major playoff implications. A win or tie should secure a postseason berth for the team. Gotham FC tied Angel City 1–1 Sunday after surrendering an equalizer in stoppage time.
On Sunday, the Spirit dashed Houston’s playoff hopes, losing a one-goal lead twice before Clara Luvanga scored the game winner in the 84th minute. The loss eliminated the Dash from playoff contention.
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The Spirit have four wins in their last six matches and play the fifth-place Kansas City Current on Oct. 25 before concluding the regular season against the Chicago Stars, who are last in the league, on Nov. 1.
For the Spirit to clinch the league’s top record, they would need to win their remaining games, and Gotham and San Diego would both need to lose multiple matches. Both Washington and Gotham have similar schedules left, with one match against a team in playoff contention and one that isn’t, aside from the match against each other.
San Diego Wave FC has three remaining matches against the North Carolina Courage, Boston Legacy FC and Bay FC, all of which are eighth or lower in the league standings. It has possibly the easiest path to the NWSL Shield, which is awarded annually to the league’s top regular season team.
Perhaps a more realistic goal for the Spirit is clinching a home quarterfinal matchup, which is awarded to the teams that finish in the top four of the standings. The team has a five-point lead over Kansas City and is three points above fourth-place Utah, to clinch a home match in the postseason.
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