Photo Copyright William Purnell for USA TODAY Sports
The National Women’s Soccer League standings are as close as they’ve ever been with a mere six points separating the top eight teams. Despite this neck-and-neck intensity in the regular season, most of the league will now go on a two-week break while the season-long Challenge Cup tournament finishes up its run with the semifinals on Wednesday and the final on Saturday.
The Challenge Cup is a bit of an odd tournament. It’s all the same NWSL teams as the regular season, the only difference is they’re broken up into three divisions of four teams who play each other intra-divisionally in a group stage to determine who makes the playoffs. In addition to the top team from each division, the team with the next highest points advances. This group stage period ran primarily through the Women’s World Cup and, ultimately, OL Reign advanced from the west, the Kansas City Current advanced from the central division, and the North Carolina Courage advanced from the east. Racing…
