2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship

2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship
Championship, presented by Budweiser, of the 2020 National Women's Soccer League Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret
Event2020 NWSL Challenge Cup
Houston Dash Chicago Red Stars
2 0
DateJuly 26, 2020 (2020-07-26)
VenueRio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Woman of the MatchShea Groom, HOU
RefereeKatja Koroleva
Attendance0 (Behind closed doors)
2021 →

The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship was a soccer match held on July 26, 2020, at the Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. It was the final match of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, a one-off competition marking the resumption of the 2020 National Women's Soccer League season following the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The match was played behind closed doors due to the pandemic and was broadcast on CBS beginning at 12:30 ET.

Houston Dash won the match 2–0 against Chicago Red Stars to win the tournament.

Road to the final[edit]

Further information: 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup

The 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup was a one-off tournament during the 2020 NWSL season to mark the league's return to action from the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight National Women's Soccer League teams participated in the tournament. The tournament, played behind closed doors in the Salt Lake City area, began on June 27 with a preliminary round, followed by a knockout round.

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.

Houston Dash Round Chicago Red Stars
Opponent Result Preliminary round Opponent Result
Utah Royals FC 3–3 Match 1 Washington Spirit 1–2
OL Reign 2–0 Match 2 Portland Thorns FC 0–0
Sky Blue FC 0–2 Match 3 North Carolina Courage 0–1
Washington Spirit 0–1 Match 4 Utah Royals FC 1–0
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
2 Washington Spirit 4 7
3 OL Reign 4 5
4 Houston Dash 4 4
5 Utah Royals FC (H) 4 4
6 Chicago Red Stars 4 4
Source: NWSL
(H) Host
 Final standings
Pos Team
 Pld Pts
4 Houston Dash 4 4
5 Utah Royals FC (H) 4 4
6 Chicago Red Stars 4 4
7 Sky Blue FC 4 4
8 Portland Thorns FC 4 3
Source: NWSL
(H) Host
Opponent Result Knockout round Opponent Result
Utah Royals FC 0–0 (3–2 p) Quarter-finals OL Reign 0–0 (4–3 p)
Portland Thorns FC 1–0 Semi-finals Sky Blue FC 3–2

Match[edit]

Details[edit]

Houston Dash2–0Chicago Red Stars
 Report
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Houston Dash
Chicago Red Stars
GK 1 United States Jane Campbell
RB 9 United States Haley Hanson Yellow card 82'
CB 11 United States Megan Oyster
CB 25 United States Katie Naughton
LB 2 Canada Allysha Chapman
CM 6 United States Shea Groom
CM 13 Canada Sophie Schmidt
CM 19 United States Kristie Mewis downward-facing red arrow 29'
RW 8 Canada Nichelle Prince downward-facing red arrow 87'
CF 3 England Rachel Daly (c)
LW 14 United States Brianna Visalli downward-facing red arrow 78'
Substitutes:
GK 20 United States Lindsey Harris
GK 99 United States Amanda Dennis
DF 17 United States Erin Simon Yellow card 89' upward-facing green arrow 87'
DF 23 United States Ally Prisock
MF 5 United States CeCe Kizer upward-facing green arrow 29'
MF 10 United States Christine Nairn
MF 28 United States Cami Privett
FW 4 Canada Maegan Kelly
FW 7 United States Katie Stengel
FW 12 United States Veronica Latsko upward-facing green arrow 78'
FW 16 Jamaica Kayla McCoy
FW 24 United States Jamia Fields
FW 26 United States Bridgette Andrzejewski
Manager:
England James Clarkson
GK 1 United States Alyssa Naeher
RB 28 United States Kayla Sharples Yellow card 4' downward-facing red arrow 68'
CB 11 United States Sarah Gorden
CB 8 United States Julie Ertz (c)
LB 29 Canada Bianca St. Georges downward-facing red arrow 89'
CM 24 United States Danielle Colaprico
CM 10 United States Vanessa DiBernardo
CM 9 United States Savannah McCaskill downward-facing red arrow 78'
RW 2 United States Kealia Watt
CF 5 United States Rachel Hill
LW 33 Mexico Katie Johnson downward-facing red arrow 79'
Substitutes:
GK 21 United States Emily Boyd
GK 38 United States Cassie Miller
DF 14 United States Zoe Morse upward-facing green arrow 79'
DF 23 United States Julia Bingham upward-facing green arrow 89'
DF 30 United States Hannah Davison
DF 32 United States Zoey Goralski upward-facing green arrow 68'
MF 25 United States Cassie Rohan
FW 7 United States Michele Vasconcelos
FW 15 United States Makenzy Doniak upward-facing green arrow 78'
FW 19 United States Sarah Luebbert
FW 22 United States Zoe Redei
Manager:
United States Rory Dames

Woman of the Match:
Shea Groom, HOU[1]
Assistant referees:
Jennifer Garner
Tiffini Turpin
Fourth official:
Tori Penso

Match rules

Broadcasting[edit]

The match aired on CBS and CBS All Access in the United States and Canada, and on Twitch internationally.[2] Jenn Hildreth and Lori Lindsey served as play-by-play announcer and analyst respectively on CBS, reporting remotely, while Mike Watts and Jen Cooper did the same on Twitch. Marisa Pilla was the on-field reporter. Most of the show's production staff operated off-site, including a fully remote integration model production, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States.[3][4]

CBS Sports soccer reporter Sandra Herrera and studio host Sherree Burruss hosted the pre- and post-game shows on CBS Sports HQ along with Aly Wagner. Alex Morgan also joined the pregame show.

The match registered a 0.44 Nielsen rating and 653,000 viewers, becoming the league's largest-ever domestic broadcast audience. The match viewership represented a 293-percent increase over the 2019 NWSL Championship match.[4]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Each team was given only three opportunities to make substitutions, excluding substitutions made at half-time.

References[edit]

  1. ^ @NWSL (July 26, 2020). "A shift worthy of a 🍺 @sheabayy2 is..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ Levine, Matthew (July 25, 2020). "NWSL announces broadcast talent for championship, presented by Budweiser, of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  3. ^ Dachman, Jason (June 30, 2020). "NWSL Makes Broadcast-Network Debut on CBS With Full REMI Workflow". Sports Video Group. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Costa, Brandon (May 7, 2021). "NWSL Challenge Cup Final Brings Full Production Resources Back Onsite". Sports Video Group News. Retrieved July 19, 2023.

External links[edit]

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