The Washington Spirit and Seattle Reign faced off in the NWSL semifinals for the second straight season with a berth to the NWSL Final on the line. The Reign and Spirit faced off three times during the regular season with Seattle taking the series two to one.

Seattle won the most recent matchup 2-1 last weekend in Maryland. Seattle’s two goals came from Jess Fishlock and Megan Rapinoe. Washington’s lone goal came on a penalty converted by Diana Matheson. Laura Harvey used the same lineup from last week and the only change in the Spirit’s lineup being Ali Krieger being away to attend a family wedding.

The Reign got the nationally televised match started and pressed for an early goal. They nearly got on the board in just the 4th minute. Merritt Mathias fired a shot and had Spirit goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris beat, but unfortunately she didn’t have the post beat. Three minutes later, Katrine Veje intercepted a bad back pass from the Spirit, but Harris was able to make the save to keep the score level.

Ten minutes later, the Reign was once again attacking in the final third. Veje sent in a long cross that found Megan Rapinoe, but she was unable to get the shot on frame. In the 24th minute, the Spirit tried to send the ball back into the box. Fishlock was able to block the cross and found herself one on one with a defender. She waited for Rapinoe to arrive and laid the ball off to her. Rapinoe’s shot was blocked by the Spirit.

The Spirit had a few chances in the final 15 minutes. The first coming in the 30th minute as Francisca Ordega sent in a cross, but Reign goalkeeper Hope Solo was able to punch the ball out for a corner.  Just before halftime, the Spirit had a few chances, but was not able to convert. After one min of stoppage time, both clubs headed to the locker room tied at 0-0.

The Spirit took the second half kickoff and looked to get on the board first. Sadly for them, it would not happen as the first ten minutes of the second half were dominated by the Reign. In a span of about three minutes, the Reign earned four separate corner kicks, but was not able to convert them.

The Reign kept pressing and pressing looking to get on the board. They finally were able to do so in the 71st minute. Rapinoe found herself down the left side of the field and after some nifty foot work, she created some space to send a cross into the box. It appeared that Mathias was able to get a foot on the ball, but was not able to get it in the goal. The ball fell to Beverly Yanez, who had just entered the game, and she slotted it home to give the Reign a 1-0 lead.

Just five minutes later, the Reign found the back of the net again. Little played the ball to a streaking Rapinoe down the left side of the pitch. As she made her run into the box, she decided to take a shot on goal and buried it far post.

It appeared that the game would end 2-0 in favor of the Reign, but Seattle was not done yet. After the Spirit was unable to clear the ball out of the box, the ball fell to Mariah Bullock who had just entered the match to replace Rapinoe. On a volley, she roofed the shot into the net, beating Harris for the third and final goal of the night.

The Reign returns to the NWSL Championship game for the second straight year and will face FC Kansas City, again. The match will be on October 1st and be played at Providence Park in Portland, OR. The game can be seen on Fox Sports 1.