Clara Luvanga scored her second goal of the postseason in the 57th minute on Saturday, securing a 2-1 semi-final victory for the Washington Spirit against the Utah Royals.
The win sent the third-seeded Spirit to their fifth NWSL Championship and their third in succession. They will seek their second league title on home turf after being awarded hosting rights in June.
Luvanga capitalized on an errant pass to net the winner. She raced onto a ball from Nuria Rábano after it rolled past Utah centre-back Tatumn Milazzo, chipping it delicately over the advancing goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn.
The strike marked Luvanga’s fourth goal in all competitions since her September transfer from Saudi club Al-Nassr. Her contributions on the pitch made up for an earlier hesitation on defence.
Utah had opened the scoring in the second minute through Cloé Lacasse from a corner kick. Luvanga and Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver both failed to react as the inswinging delivery sneaked in at the near post.
The effort stood as the fastest goal in NWSL playoff history and the second of Utah’s first postseason appearance.
Luvanga made amends six minutes later by playing a diagonal ball to release Trinity Rodman down the left flank.
Rodman drove in a low cross toward the near corner of the six-yard box. Sofia Cantore arrived ahead of her defender to deliver a first-time finish for the equaliser in the eighth minute.
Washington, who won the 2021 title, will face either top-seeded Gotham FC or the fourth-seeded Kansas City Current in the final. Those two teams met in the other semi-final on Sunday.
Spirit goalkeeper Sandy MacIver spoke about the upcoming match at Audi Field. Hopefully it is third time lucky, she said, adding that the team is more motivated than ever.
