The 2024 NWSL Challenge Cup, known as the 2024 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the fifth edition of the NWSL Challenge Cup, a women's soccer competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The match was the first Challenge Cup to be played in the super cup format as a one-off game, contested by the winners of the previous season's NWSL Championship and NWSL Shield. It featured NJ/NY Gotham FC, champions of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League, and San Diego Wave FC, winners of the 2023 NWSL Shield. The match was played on March 15, 2024, and was hosted by Gotham FC at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. The match was acted as a curtain raiser to the 2024 season, and was broadcast on Amazon Prime Video, marking the start of the platform's coverage of the NWSL.
The San Diego Wave defeated Gotham 1–0, with an Alex Morgan goal in the 88th minute.
Background The NWSL Challenge Cup was created as a league cup tournament in 2020 as a return to competition after the 2020 NWSL regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The competition was successful enough to be brought back in 2021, though played prior to the start of the NWSL's regular season. This format continued in 2022, but was changed in 2023 to take place during the league's regular season. However, with more regular season matches taking place due to the league being expanded from 12 to 14 teams in 2024, the NWSL decided to scrap the league cup format. Instead, the competition was reformatted to be a one-off super cup match, to be contested by the winners of the NWSL Championship and NWSL Shield from the previous season. Should the same team win the NWSL Shield and Championship, the fixture will be a rematch of the previous NWSL Championship. The game will act as an opener to the league season, played the day prior to the first regular season matches.
The competition will continue to be sponsored by UKG. The company will award $3,500 in prize money to each player of the winning team, while each player of the losing team will receive $2,200. The most valuable player will be awarded an additional $2,000.
Teams Team Qualification Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) NJ/NY Gotham FC 2023 NWSL champions 1 (2021) San Diego Wave FC 2023 NWSL Shield winners None
Match
Details
GK 38 Cassie Miller RB 5 Kelley O'Hara (c) CB 15 Tierna Davidson CB 77 Maitane López LB 3 Bruninha DM 14 Nealy Martin RM 18 Yazmeen Ryan LM 17 Delanie Sheehan LW 9 Esther González RW 23 Midge Purce ST 28 Katie Stengel Substitutes:GK 1 Michelle BetosDF25 Maycee Bell DF19 Crystal Dunn DF22 Mandy Freeman DF21 Sam Hiatt MF2 Jenna Nighswonger MF6 Emily Sonnett FW 13 Ella Stevens FW 8 Taryn TorresManager: Juan Carlos Amorós GK 1 Kailen SheridanRB 6 Hanna Lundkvist CB 4 Naomi GirmaCB 2 Abby Dahlkemper (c)LB 20 Christen Westphal DM 5 Emily van EgmondDM 15 Makenzy Doniak AM 21 Savannah McCaskillRM 23 Elyse Bennett LM 11 Jaedyn Shaw ST 33 Kyra Carusa Substitutes:GK 22 Hillary BeallGK 35 Morgan MessnerDF 8 Sierra Enge DF 16 Kaitlyn Torpey MF 24 Danielle Colaprico MF 10 Sofia Jakobsson FW 13 Alex Morgan FW 25 Melanie Barcenas FW 7 Amirah Ali Manager: Casey Stoney
Most Valuable Player: Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave) Assistant referees: Tom Felice Art Arustamyan Fourth official: Alyssa Nichols Video assistant referee: Kevin Broadley Assistant video assistant referee: Kaili TerryMatch rules 90 minutes. Penalty shoot-out if scores level. Nine named substitutes, of which up to five may be used.
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