As Angel City makes its first-ever trip to the playoffs, we've got you covered on watch parties, broadcast information, and tickets, as well as our standard match preview. If you're curious about the postseason format, how the rest of the bracket stacks up, or what happens if Angel City advances, read on for answers.
Since the top six teams in the table make the playoffs, the first- and second-place teams get a bye in the quarterfinal round, in which the fourth seed plays the fifth seed and the third seed plays the sixth seed. The winners of those two matches go on to play the first and second seed, respectively. Those two winners will then face off in the championship, which is held at a predetermined site—this year, that's Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
This year that means Angel City plays OL Reign in the first quarterfinal and the North Carolina Courage play NJ/NY Gotham FC. The winner of the ACFC–Reign match will play San Diego in the semis, and the winner of Courage–Gotham will play the Portland Thorns.
Both semifinals will take place Sunday, November 5, and the final will be held Saturday, November 11.
Playoff soccer is different from regular-season soccer in one respect: the game can't end in a draw.
If a match is tied at the end of 90 minutes (plus stoppage time), 30 minutes of extra time—broken into two 15-minute halves—will be played. If the score is still tied after extra time, the game goes to penalty kicks.
As the league has grown, so has the playoff format. For the first seven years of the NWSL's existence, the postseason was contested between the top four teams in a two-round bracket.
Only three teams still in existence—Portland, North Carolina, and Washington—have lifted the Championship trophy; two now-defunct teams, FC Kansas City and the Western New York Flash, have also won it all. The reigning champion Thorns are the winningest club in playoff history, having won in 2013, 2017, and 2022. The Courage have two wins to their name, in 2018 and 2019.
Angel City is the only first-time playoff team in 2023, with the Wave only having one prior postseason appearance, and Gotham two.
You can read our preview of Angel City's game here.
North Carolina and Gotham will play on Sunday, October 22, at 4:00 p.m. Pacific. The match will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
Gotham and Courage are two teams that have undergone major turnarounds in 2023. Neither made the playoffs last season, with North Carolina ending the season in seventh place by a single point, and Gotham finishing dead last.
After a difficult 2022 that saw a mid-season coaching change, New Jersey hired Juan Carlos Amorós in the offseason, and the Spanish manager made a series of big moves to elevate the club's roster. Key among those were selecting forward Jenna Nighswonger in the 2023 draft; acquiring midfielder Yazmeen Ryan from the Thorns as part of the three-team trade that brought Angel City the No.1 draft pick they used to select Alyssa Thompson; and trading for three-time NWSL champion and 2016 Golden Boot winner Lynn Williams.
Amorós's team plays a possessional, passing-oriented, high-pressing style, seeking to maintain control of the ball and win it back as quickly as possible when they lose it. They rank second in the league in average possession percentage and third in total passes; they have also won possession more times than any other team, both in total and in the crucial attacking third closest to the opposition goal.
Interestingly, the highest-possessing team is Gotham's quarterfinal opponent, North Carolina, who controlled the ball a whopping 60% of the time over the course of the season. That's a new look for the Courage under Head Coach Sean Nahas. Historically, the Cary-based club, which were the dominant team in the league from 2016–2019, have been synonymous with high-powered transitional soccer.
If from the outside the Courage's offseason looked like a flop—the team lost key players in forward Diana Ordoñez, midfielder Debinha, and defender Abby Erceg—their new style has proved successful. Key to the team's season has been Brazilian forward Kerolin, who has had a phenomenal season, notching 10 goals and three assists and recording the second-highest cumulative xG (expected goals) in the league.
Gotham have had the better of this matchup this year, earning two wins and two draws against North Carolina across all competitions. The Courage will also likely have to contend with Kerolin's absence, as the MVP frontrunner subbed off with an apparent knee injury in the team's season finale.