2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship

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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
Event 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup
Houston Dash Chicago Red Stars
20
DateJuly 26, 2020 (2020-07-26)
Venue Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Woman of the Match Shea Groom, HOU
Referee Katja 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.

Contents

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

Road to the final

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
OpponentResult Preliminary round OpponentResult
Utah Royals FC 3–3Match 1 Washington Spirit 1–2
OL Reign 2–0Match 2 Portland Thorns FC 0–0
Sky Blue FC 0–2Match 3 North Carolina Courage 0–1
Washington Spirit 0–1Match 4 Utah Royals FC 1–0
PosTeam
PldPts
2 Washington Spirit 47
3 OL Reign 45
4 Houston Dash 44
5 Utah Royals FC (H)44
6 Chicago Red Stars 44
Source: NWSL
(H) Host
Final standings
PosTeam
PldPts
4 Houston Dash 44
5 Utah Royals FC (H)44
6 Chicago Red Stars 44
7 Sky Blue FC 44
8 Portland Thorns FC 43
Source: NWSL
(H) Host
OpponentResult Knockout round OpponentResult
Utah Royals FC 0–0 (3–2 p )Quarter-finals OL Reign 0–0 (4–3 p )
Portland Thorns FC 1–0Semi-finals Sky Blue FC 3–2

Match

Details

Houston Dash 2–0 Chicago Red Stars
  • Schmidt Soccerball shade.svg5' (pen.)
  • Groom Soccerball shade.svg90+1'
 Report
Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Katja Koroleva
Kit left arm dash20h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body dash20h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm dash20h.png
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Houston Dash
Kit left arm redstars19h.png
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body redstars19h.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Chicago Red Stars
GK1 Flag of the United States.svg Jane Campbell
RB9 Flag of the United States.svg Haley Hanson Yellow card.svg 82'
CB11 Flag of the United States.svg Megan Oyster
CB25 Flag of the United States.svg Katie Naughton
LB2 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Allysha Chapman
CM6 Flag of the United States.svg Shea Groom
CM13 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Sophie Schmidt
CM19 Flag of the United States.svg Kristie Mewis Sub off.svg 29'
RW8 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Nichelle Prince Sub off.svg 87'
CF3 Flag of England.svg Rachel Daly (c)
LW14 Flag of the United States.svg Brianna Visalli Sub off.svg 78'
Substitutes:
GK20 Flag of the United States.svg Lindsey Harris
GK99 Flag of the United States.svg Amanda Dennis
DF17 Flag of the United States.svg Erin Simon Yellow card.svg 89'Sub on.svg 87'
DF23 Flag of the United States.svg Ally Prisock
MF5 Flag of the United States.svg CeCe Kizer Sub on.svg 29'
MF10 Flag of the United States.svg Christine Nairn
MF28 Flag of the United States.svg Cami Privett
FW4 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Maegan Kelly
FW7 Flag of the United States.svg Katie Stengel
FW12 Flag of the United States.svg Veronica Latsko Sub on.svg 78'
FW16 Flag of Jamaica.svg Kayla McCoy
FW24 Flag of the United States.svg Jamia Fields
FW26 Flag of the United States.svg Bridgette Andrzejewski
Manager:
Flag of England.svg James Clarkson
Houston Dash vs Chicago Red Stars 2020-07-26.svg
GK1 Flag of the United States.svg Alyssa Naeher
RB28 Flag of the United States.svg Kayla Sharples Yellow card.svg 4'Sub off.svg 68'
CB11 Flag of the United States.svg Sarah Gorden
CB8 Flag of the United States.svg Julie Ertz (c)
LB29 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Bianca St. Georges Sub off.svg 89'
CM24 Flag of the United States.svg Danielle Colaprico
CM10 Flag of the United States.svg Vanessa DiBernardo
CM9 Flag of the United States.svg Savannah McCaskill Sub off.svg 78'
RW2 Flag of the United States.svg Kealia Watt
CF5 Flag of the United States.svg Rachel Hill
LW33 Flag of Mexico.svg Katie Johnson Sub off.svg 79'
Substitutes:
GK21 Flag of the United States.svg Emily Boyd
GK38 Flag of the United States.svg Cassie Miller
DF14 Flag of the United States.svg Zoe Morse Sub on.svg 79'
DF23 Flag of the United States.svg Julia Bingham Sub on.svg 89'
DF30 Flag of the United States.svg Hannah Davison
DF32 Flag of the United States.svg Zoey Goralski Sub on.svg 68'
MF25 Flag of the United States.svg Cassie Rohan
FW7 Flag of the United States.svg Michele Vasconcelos
FW15 Flag of the United States.svg Makenzy Doniak Sub on.svg 78'
FW19 Flag of the United States.svg Sarah Luebbert
FW22 Flag of the United States.svg Zoe Redei
Manager:
Flag of the United States.svg Rory Dames

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

Match rules

Broadcasting

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

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

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References

  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. 1 2 Costa, Brandon (May 7, 2021). "NWSL Challenge Cup Final Brings Full Production Resources Back Onsite". Sports Video Group News. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
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