Pride lineup At age 38, Marta has had her best season in several years. She was named to the NWSL’s Best XI for just the second time. She’s joined on the Best XI by Barbra Banda, who has managed to replicate her torrid goal-scoring pace on the international scene with Zambia in her first season in the NWSL. Two Pride players made the Second XI – defender Kerry Abello and English goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse. GK: Moorhouse D: Abello, Kylie Strom, Emily Sams, Cori Dyke M: Adriana, Haley McCutcheon, Angelina, Ally Watt F: Banda, Marta Spirit lineup Goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has long has a devoted band of supporters making the case for her inclusion in the national team, and her semifinal heroics certainly won’t silence them. Get used to seeing Hal Hirshfelt in the mix for a spot in the USA’s central midfield. The rookie from Clemson has been a steady force in the spot for the Spirit. She was named to the NWSL Second XI, as was defender Tara McKeown. Cote d’Ivoire forward Rosemonde Kouassi isn’t on the same level of prominence as some of the other top African players who have made such an impact on the league, but she is a fierce presence up front. The Spirit placed three players on the NWSL Best XI, but Croix Bethune missed the last several weeks of the season and is out for the playoffs after one of the most unusual injuries in soccer history, tearing her meniscus while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game. The other two, defender Casey Krueger and forward Trinity Rodman, missed time with injuries in the last few weeks but have successfully returned. GK: Kingsbury D: Krueger, Esme Morgan, McKeown, Paige Metayer DM: Hirshfelt, Makenna Morris AM: Kouassi, Leicy Santos, Rodman F: Ashley Hatch Preamble One of the game’s greatest ever, showing dazzling form despite her advanced age. A gaggle of emerging talents. That would be Marta, the Brazilian great and longtime cornerstone of the Orlando Pride, and the Washington Spirit, which selected shrewdly in what turned out to be the final NWSL draft. They’ll face off in the final of what has been a breakthrough season for the NWSL, which started a little more than a decade ago with tentative, thrifty steps but now spends freely to bring in many of the world’s top players. Orlando should be favored over injury-plagued Washington, but the Spirit have used a deep roster and steady resolve to make it to this point. This has the makings of a classic. Enjoy. Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Megan Swanick’s lookahead to Saturday’s final.