The NWSL champions have officially been crowned and they are the Washington Spirit.  The Spirit defeated the Chicago Red Stars 2-1 in extra time of the 2021 NWSL Championship Final at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky, after a season of upheaval and reckoning over player safety and treatment in the NWSL.  Despite the fact that the Washington Spirit dominated the stat sheet, Chicago was the first to score.

The Red Stars took advantage of the last seconds of the first half after Mallory Pugh, who had missed the Red Stars' semifinal win because of Covid-19 rules, went down with an injury and had to leave the game. Arin Wright, a defender, sent the ball to Rachel Hill, who headed it past Aubrey Bledsoe, the Spirit goalkeeper. In the 67th minute, the Spirit scored their first goal. Spirit captain Andi Sullivan stepped up to take the penalty after Red Stars defender Tierna Davidson was called for a foul on Tara McKeown. It wasn't the most beautiful goal, but it was a goal nonetheless. Cassie Miller, the goalkeeper for the Red Stars, chose the correct side, but Sullivan's strike slipped under her grasp.

The 2021 NWSL final went to extra time after regulation ended in a 1-1 stalemate. Rodman lofted a brilliant cross-pitch pass to Kelley O'Hara in the 97th minute, who headed it past Miller for her first NWSL goal of the season. The Spirit's championship victory comes after a season marked by struggle. The Spirit winning the 2021 NWSL title appeared unthinkable, if not impossible, just weeks ago, when coach Richie Burke was ousted following abuse claims, a continuing power struggle between the team's owners, and a Covid outbreak that resulted in two forfeited games in September.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Rachel Pearce]