NWSL playoffs: San Diego, Kansas City advance with dramatic late winners

Alex Morgan had the winner for San Diego, and Kate Del Fava delivered in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time for Kansas City

Alex Morgan (foreground right) scored the winning goal for the San Diego Wave against the Chicago Red Stars.Read moreChicago Red Stars

by Jonathan Tannenwald

Published Oct. 17, 2022, 12:22 p.m. ET

San Diego Wave 2, Chicago Red Stars 1

Alex Morgan scored past fellow U.S. national team veteran Alyssa Naeher in the 110th minute to give the expansion San Diego Wave a 2-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars in their first-ever NWSL playoff game.

Yuki Nagasato opened the scoring in the 10th minute for No. 6 seed Chicago, pouncing on a rare mistake by San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. The No. 3 seed Wave’s Emily van Egmond tied the game in the 67th minute, scoring her first goal in the NWSL since 2014 and electrifying the crowd of 26,215 fans — the largest attendance for a playoff game in league history.

San Diego will visit the No. 2 seed Portland Thorns in Sunday’s first semifinal (5 p.m., CBS Sports Network). It will be a star-studded matchup of Morgan and Naomi Girma against Portland’s Sophia Smith, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Crystal Dunn.

Kansas City Current 2, Houston Dash 1

Kate Del Fava scored in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time for Kansas City, spoiling the party at Houston’s first playoff game after nine years in the NWSL.

Lo’eau LaBonta first put Kansas City ahead in the fifth minute with a penalty kick, which she followed with her latest viral goal celebration. Sophie Schmidt equalized for Houston in the 21st.

The Dash’s announced attendance of 21,284 fans shattered the team’s all-time attendance record. The actual attendance might not have been that, but it was definitely bigger than the previous record of 13,025.

Kansas City will visit this year’s top seed, Seattle’s OL Reign, in Sunday’s second semifinal (7:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network). It will be the first NWSL playoff clash between teams from the cities since the former FC Kansas City beat the Reign in the 2014 and 2015 title games — and the Reign topped the standings in those seasons, too.

Coincidentally, their manager back then was the same as now, Laura Harvey. Kansas City was coached at the time by current U.S. national team manager Vlatko Andonovski.