We can’t act like we didn’t see this one coming. The NWSL Championship Game has been set. The two teams that are playing in the game are the same two teams that played last year, Seattle Reign FC and FC Kansas City. In the end, these are clearly the two best teams in the NWSL at the moment. It won’t last long though as the league is getting tougher and tougher every week.
Kansas City will be looking to win their second straight NWSL Championship. If they are successful in doing so, they will be the first team to ever win back to back championships. The Reign is looking to bounce back from a disappointing end to their rather fantastic 2014 NWSL season.
Reign Head Coach Laura Harvey had this to say after Sunday night’s win over the Washington Spirit in regards to last year's final, “I never want that feeling again in my life in regards to the championship game loss. I will take full responsibility for the fact that winning the league was enough for me [last year], until we lost the final. Probably the most devastated I’ve been after a game because I thought we played well in the game. We just couldn’t finish and I told the girls tonight that I never want that feeling again.”
Kansas City will not be an easy match for Seattle. Kansas City has been the model of consistency in the NWSL’s short three years. They are the only team to make the playoffs all three years. In 2013, they were knocked out by eventual champions, Portland Thorns FC. In 2014, they returned the favor and knocked out the Thorns on their way to beating the Reign 2-1 at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, WA.
In order to win the NWSL Championship, Seattle will have to do something that they have only done one other time, beat Kansas City. Including the playoffs, the Reign is 1-6-2 against Kansas City. They went 0-4-0 against them in 2013, 0-1-2 in 2014 and 1-1 during 2015.
It won’t be easy, but Harvey will have the players ready for this one and look to finish what they couldn’t last year. The NWSL Championship game is being held at a neutral site this year. It will take place at Providence Park in Portland, OR on October 1st. You can watch the match on FOX Sports 1. Kickoff is to be determined.