'I want it more than anything' - USWNT legend Megan Rapinoe wants to end storied career with a bang as OL Reign take on Gotham FC in NWSL final

• Rapinoe's final game will be NWSL final
• USWNT legend says winning would be 'everything'
• OL Reign take on Gotham FC for championship

WHAT HAPPENED? Rapinoe is one of three Reign players, alongside Lu Barnes and Jess Fishlock, who has spent her entire NWSL career with the side. Head Coach Laura Harvey, who returned to Seattle two years ago after stints with the Utah Royals and the USWNT U-20 team, was also the club’s original manager, having spent eight total seasons with Reign prior.

Now, in a full-circle moment, 11-year-tenured Rapinoe will return to the NWSL final with a coach who believed in her from the start.

WHAT THEY SAID: Winning the league’s biggest prize with Barnes, Fishlock and Harvey would mean “everything,” said Rapinoe.

“That would [be] a life moment. Something that we would obviously never forget, with all that we've shared and how close we are, and everything we've been through. I want it more than anything. But yeah, our relationship is unique. Being in the club for so long, I think Laura [Harvey]... being so young when she came here as well, we're peers in a way, while obviously still having her be our boss. It's just really unique. You don't really see a lot of players - this many players - stay in the same club [for so long].”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Reign forward Veronica Latsko, who scored in both of the team’s playoff matches leading up to the final, summed up Rapinoe’s influence on the squad Thursday too, saying: “She is the team. When we're doing it for the team, we're doing it for Pinoe'. She gives 110%, that's the beauty of this team, everybody matches it. That's what she brings out here.”

IN TWO PHOTOS:

Getty Images

Getty Images

WHAT NEXT FOR RAPINOE? Rapinoe and OL Reign will take on Gotham FC in the 2023 NWSL Championship, which will take place Saturday at the Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California.