Tournaments are typically intense affairs. The careful navigation of group stages lead to knockout rounds where away goals make a mockery of math, all culminating in a winner-take-all final. At most points in a tournament, particularly the longer a team is in one, mistakes are amplified, and a well-timed spark of cleverness or ill-timed thud of calamity can be the difference between crashing out or spraying champagne. In other words, they’re typically no place for first-year players to go messing about.
However, the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup Tournament is different. Due to the Orlando Pride having to pull out days before the first kickoff over presumed positive COVID-19 tests, every remaining team advances to the knockout rounds.