The Washington Spirit to host two matches with spectators at their 5000-seat stadium in Leesburg, VA in April.

Rick Bowmer / AP Photo

The Washington Spirit ended their National Women’s Soccer League season Saturday in a dramatic and disappointing fashion.

The second-seeded Spirit was upset by the seventh-seeded Sky Blue FC out of New Jersey on tiebreaking penalty kicks. Sky Blue FC advances to the NWSL Challenge Cup’s semifinals later this month in Herriman, Utah.

Late last month, the NWSL became the first professional sports league to restart amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament, set up with a “bubble” for players and staff, has been played without fans in the stands. Other leagues are following similar approaches. Players are being secluded inside hotels and league-sanctioned areas, which is causing boredom.

Eight of the nine teams are playing with only the Orlando Pride sitting out due to ten positive coronavirus tests, though those results came into question days after announcing their pullout.

Like other professional sports league, the NWSL has had to deal with complications. A number of popular players, including World Cup stars Megan Rapione, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, and Ashlyn Harris, are not playing, often citing health and injury concerns. Unlike other leagues, all NWSL players are being paid even if they don’t play.

Now, there’s talk that fans could be allowed to watch in-person the final games of the tournaments, an idea that some players do not think is a good idea.

There’s also the issue of who is allowed into the bubble. The NWSL is allowing players’ children to live with them during the month-long tournament, a decision that the athletes are cheering. It also has led to the colorful playground next to the playing field to get its own Twitter handle.

In addition, players wore “Black Lives Matter” warm-up shirts and often kneeled during the national anthem. During the Spirit’s first game of the tournament against the Chicago Red Stars, an emotional scene played out with a number of players showing their support for the movement.

The Spirit seemed to have a path to win their first NWSL championship. Friday, the league’s top seed North Carolina Courage was knocked out by the Portland Thorns leaving the Spirit as the favorite. With superstar and 2019 World Cup hero Rose Lavelle on their side, it was looking like it was falling into place for one of the league’s original franchises. And for a majority of the match, the Spirit looked to be the better team.

But it was not to be. Missed opportunities and injury concerns — Levelle, who is employed by the US Soccer Federation and not Spirit, was asked to be limited to 30 mins a game because of an ankle injury — had the game scoreless through regular time.

On a penalty kick shootout, Sky Blue FC triumphed.

“Knockout football shows no respect — no respect for your status, no respect for your record — and here it has proved it again,” Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke told the Washington Post.

And, now, the team will look forward to next season and hope that they will once again be playing in front of their fans at Audi Field and their new home in Loudoun County in 2021.

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