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
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 Final standings Opponent Result Knockout round Opponent Result Utah Royals FC 0–0 Quarter-finals OL Reign 0–0 Portland Thorns FC 1–0 Semi-finals Sky Blue FC 3–2
Match Details
GK 1 Jane CampbellRB 9 Haley Hanson CB 11 Megan OysterCB 25 Katie NaughtonLB 2 Allysha ChapmanCM 6 Shea GroomCM 13 Sophie SchmidtCM 19 Kristie Mewis RW 8 Nichelle Prince CF 3 Rachel Daly (c)LW 14 Brianna Visalli Substitutes:GK 20 Lindsey HarrisGK 99 Amanda DennisDF 17 Erin Simon DF 23 Ally PrisockMF 5 CeCe Kizer MF 10 Christine NairnMF 28 Cami PrivettFW 4 Maegan KellyFW 7 Katie StengelFW 12 Veronica Latsko FW 16 Kayla McCoyFW 24 Jamia FieldsFW 26 Bridgette AndrzejewskiManager: James Clarkson GK 1 Alyssa NaeherRB 28 Kayla Sharples CB 11 Sarah GordenCB 8 Julie Ertz (c)LB 29 Bianca St. Georges CM 24 Danielle ColapricoCM 10 Vanessa DiBernardoCM 9 Savannah McCaskill RW 2 Kealia WattCF 5 Rachel HillLW 33 Katie Johnson Substitutes:GK 21 Emily BoydGK 38 Cassie MillerDF 14 Zoe Morse DF 23 Julia Bingham DF 30 Hannah DavisonDF 32 Zoey Goralski MF 25 Cassie RohanFW 7 Michele VasconcelosFW 15 Makenzy Doniak FW 19 Sarah LuebbertFW 22 Zoe RedeiManager: Rory Dames
Woman of the Match: Shea Groom, HOU
Assistant referees: Jennifer Garner Tiffini Turpin Fourth official: Tori PensoMatch rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores level. Maximum of five substitutions.
Broadcasting The match aired on CBS and CBS All Access in the United States and Canada, and on Twitch internationally. 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.
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.
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