A look at one of Megan Rapinoe's most iconic moments ahead of NWSL Championship, retirement: 'I deserve this'
CBSN
The dual meaning behind Rapione's boozy declaration at the parade after winning the 2019 Women's World Cup
When the final whistle blows on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium, either the OL Reign or Gotham FC will have won their first-ever NWSL Championship. Eleven seasons ago, Megan Rapinoe joined a struggling Seattle Reign team and helped her teammates buy into head coach Laura Harvey's vision.
"Results-wise, we were in a bad place," Harvey told CBS Sports in September. "[Rapinoe] walked through the door and just gave everybody a lift because we knew we weren't far away. And she gave us the light to go, 'We're really close now.' And it was literally overnight. We drew the next game, we won the one after that, and then we went on a little roll, and ... she was the catalyst of that."
To say that a win for the now OL Reign alongside Harvey – and her fellow original Reign teammates Lauren "Lu" Barnes and Jess Fishlock – on Saturday would be the perfect storybook ending feels like an understatement. Many Reign players have admitted this has added extra motivation to their playoff run.
