San Jose will be the center of the professional women’s soccer universe on Saturday with the National Women’s Soccer League Championship at PayPal Park.
The match at 5 p.m. is between Gotham FC and the Washington Spirit to determine the champion of the 14-team league. The championship is being hosted at the San Jose home stadium of Bay Football Club, the team better known as Bay FC that joined the league as an expansion team last year.
PayPal Park, also home to the San Jose Earthquakes men’s Major League Soccer team, will host tailgate festivities that start at 2:30 p.m. and will include food trucks and other activities.
Before that, soccer fans in the South Bay on Saturday can go to the league’s fifth-annual NWSL Fan Fest taking place at The Lot at Creekside at 140 S. Montgomery St., where there will be interactive games, music and other activities. The event is free and begins at noon, and complimentary shuttles will run between the stadium and the fan fest event before and after the match.
On Friday evening, San Jose State University is hosting the third-annual NWSL Skills Challenge at the Spartan Soccer Complex, where some of the league’s stars will participate in skills challenges starting at 5 p.m. Tickets to the event are $10.