SEATTLE – In the end, it only seemed fitting that Salmon Bay FC needed a penalty shootout to win the national championship.
Morgan Manalili broke open the tense USL W League National Final in the 78th minute, scoring from outside the penalty area and sending a record Interbay Stadium crowd into a frenzied celebration. After everything Salmon Bay had survived over the previous several weeks, the club’s first national championship was finally within reach.
Then Vermont Green FC equalized in the 4th minute of stoppage time.
A corner kick bounced free inside the penalty area, Vermont forced the ball home, and a match that seemed won suddenly required another 30 minutes and, eventually, another penalty shootout.
For most teams, that might have felt like a disaster.
For Salmon Bay, it was familiar territory.
The Coho defeated Vermont 5–4 on penalties after the match finished 1–1, winning the USL W League championship in only the second season of the club’s existence (matching the men's side). Eighteen-year-old Kaya Singh roofed the winning penalty, setting off a celebration that lasted well into the late evening.
It was Salmon Bay’s third shootout victory of the postseason.
Before these playoffs, neither Salmon Bay nor sibling club Ballard FC had ever participated in a penalty shootout. Over the past few weeks, the two clubs have been in and won four. Ballard survived their first test. Salmon Bay won all three of theirs.
By the time Singh stepped to the spot with a national championship hanging in the balance, the moment hardly seemed unfamiliar anymore.
“You couldn’t write a script more perfect than this,” club President Sam Zisette said. “These are the moments that show the potential of sports to bring the community, the fans, and the players together. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.”
The championship completed a playoff run that seemed determined to test Salmon Bay’s composure at every opportunity.
Salmon Bay’s postseason run began with a winner-take-all regular-season finale against Snohomish United. After falling behind early in the second half, the Coho rallied for a 2-1 victory, with Ginny Lackey’s late winner securing the Northwest Division title and the first playoff berth in club history.
Their first postseason match required 120 scoreless minutes before Salmon Bay defeated Colorado Storm on penalties. The Coho then produced their most comfortable result of the playoffs, a 3-0 victory over previously unbeaten Capo FC in the Western Conference Final.
Minnesota Aurora FC provided another unbeaten opponent in the national semifinal. Salmon Bay trailed late before U’i Kaaihue converted a penalty to send the match to extra time. Neither side scored during the additional 30 minutes, and Salmon Bay again advanced on penalties.
That brought Vermont to Seattle for a meeting between two clubs that have quickly established themselves among the strongest organizations in the league.
Vermont’s women were competing in their first USL W League season and arrived at Interbay unbeaten. The Green needed three consecutive wins to close the regular season and secure the Northeast Division’s lone playoff berth, then continued their run through the Eastern Conference and national semifinal without conceding a postseason goal.
The matchup also carried a connection to the previous summer. Vermont Green’s men defeated Ballard FC 2-1 in the 2025 USL League Two National Final. One year later, the women’s championship brought another Seattle-Vermont meeting, this time at Interbay Stadium.
The clubs had never played each other, but the similarities were difficult to miss. Both emerged as ambitious community-centered organizations. Both reached a national final early in their histories. Both spent the closing weeks of the season playing matches in which almost any mistake could end a championship run.
Saturday’s crowd reflected the significance of the occasion.
The announced crowd of 2,096 established a new Interbay Stadium attendance record. Supporters filled the expanded seating, standing-room areas, and additional viewing space outside the west fence. Salmon Bay’s first national championship match became the largest event in the stadium.
For much of the evening, the crowd waited for a breakthrough as both sides struggled to get into goal-dangerous situations.
The match remained scoreless through the first half and well into the second. Salmon Bay had gone more than two hours against Colorado without finding a goal and needed a late penalty to survive Minnesota. Another tense, low-scoring playoff match felt entirely appropriate.
This time, Morgan Manalili delivered.
In the 78th minute, she found space outside the penalty area, looked up, and saw a path to goal. Her shot beat the Vermont goalkeeper and gave Salmon Bay the lead with a little more than 10 minutes remaining.
“I looked up and saw that I had a shot open, and I think the goalkeeper saw it late,” Manalili said. “I was just happy that I could get the lead for the team.”
The goal appeared ready to stand as the championship winner.
Vermont suffered a major setback shortly after Manalili’s goal when captain and goalkeeper Olivia Shippee was forced out with an injury in the 82nd minute. Sydney Slusser replaced her and remained in goal through extra time and the penalty shootout.
Vermont, however, had not lost all season and refused to let its inaugural campaign end quietly. Deep into stoppage time, the Green earned a corner and sent players forward for one final opportunity. The ball bounced loose in the crowded penalty area before Vermont converted the equalizer in the 94th minute.
The goal momentarily silenced Interbay and sent Salmon Bay into extra time for the third time in four playoff matches.
Neither team scored during the additional half hour. The championship would come down to penalties just as its victories over Colorado and Minnesota had.
Salmon Bay Goalkeeper Elena Milam came up with a huge save, and Vermont's Annie Gnidula sent the 6th spot kick over the bar, setting the table for the potential winner.
Kaya Singh stepped forward and drove her penalty into the roof of the net.
When the shootout ended 5-4, Salmon Bay’s players raced forward to celebrate the teenager whose kick had completed one of the most dramatic postseason runs in league history.
The celebration belonged to Singh for a moment, but Salmon Bay’s playoff run was defined by how many different players had delivered when the season was in danger.
Manalili converted the decisive penalty against Colorado and scored the goal that nearly won the final in regulation. Kaaihue rescued the national semifinal from the penalty spot. Goalkeeper Elena Milam repeatedly delivered in shootouts. Against Vermont, Singh provided the final touch.
Every time Salmon Bay’s season demanded something else, someone answered.
“I feel incredibly proud of our club, the players, and the staff,” Salmon Bay Vice President Tiffany Mallick said. “Every single person bought in and made this possible. We’re gaining belief, we’re gaining trust, gaining more fans, more energy, and momentum.”
Salmon Bay was created to provide another high-level women’s soccer opportunity in Seattle, and played its first season only a year ago. Now, in just the second year, the club has won the Northwest Division, survived four rounds of the national playoffs, and lifted a championship trophy at home.
For Vermont, the shootout defeat brought a painful end to an otherwise unbeaten first season. The Green arrived in Seattle having built one of the country’s most successful new women’s programs and left as national runners-up without losing a match in regulation or extra time.
The Coho were pushed to the edge repeatedly. They survived Colorado, Capo, and Minnesota. They survived Vermont’s 94th-minute equalizer. They survived one more shootout.
