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
Event	2020 NWSL Challenge Cup
Houston Dash Chicago Red Stars 2 0
Date	July 26, 2020 (2020-07-26)
Venue	Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
Woman of the Match	Shea Groom, HOU
Referee	Katja Koroleva
Attendance	0 (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

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 v t e 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 v t e 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

Details

July 26, 2020 (2020-07-26)

12:30 ET

Houston Dash	2–0	Chicago Red Stars
Schmidt 5' (pen.) Groom 90+1'	Report

Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah

Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)

Referee: Katja Koroleva

Houston Dash

Chicago Red Stars

GK 1 Jane Campbell RB 9 Haley Hanson  82' CB 11 Megan Oyster CB 25 Katie Naughton LB 2 Allysha Chapman CM 6 Shea Groom CM 13 Sophie Schmidt CM 19 Kristie Mewis  29' RW 8 Nichelle Prince  87' CF 3 Rachel Daly (c) LW 14 Brianna Visalli  78' Substitutes: GK 20 Lindsey Harris GK 99 Amanda Dennis DF 17 Erin Simon  89'  87' DF 23 Ally Prisock MF 5 CeCe Kizer  29' MF 10 Christine Nairn MF 28 Cami Privett FW 4 Maegan Kelly FW 7 Katie Stengel FW 12 Veronica Latsko  78' FW 16 Kayla McCoy FW 24 Jamia Fields FW 26 Bridgette Andrzejewski Manager: James Clarkson

GK 1 Alyssa Naeher RB 28 Kayla Sharples  4'  68' CB 11 Sarah Gorden CB 8 Julie Ertz (c) LB 29 Bianca St. Georges  89' CM 24 Danielle Colaprico CM 10 Vanessa DiBernardo CM 9 Savannah McCaskill  78' RW 2 Kealia Watt CF 5 Rachel Hill LW 33 Katie Johnson  79' Substitutes: GK 21 Emily Boyd GK 38 Cassie Miller DF 14 Zoe Morse  79' DF 23 Julia Bingham  89' DF 30 Hannah Davison DF 32 Zoey Goralski  68' MF 25 Cassie Rohan FW 7 Michele Vasconcelos FW 15 Makenzy Doniak  78' FW 19 Sarah Luebbert FW 22 Zoe Redei Manager: Rory Dames

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

Match rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores level. Maximum of five substitutions. [note 1]

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.

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. 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

• Official website