[46] Within days the Cosmos B signed Danny Szetela,[47] Chris Wingert, Bljedi Bardic,[48] Jonathan Borrajo, Alexis Velela and Wojciech Wojcik.
[49] Virginia Beach City FC and D.C. United of Major League Soccer (MLS) announced a partnership aimed at creating opportunities for young players in the Tidewater region to develop into professionals.
[105][106] In the third-place match, the Express conceded a goal in second-half stoppage time and fell to the 2017 National Amateur Cup champions Lansdowne Bhoys FC of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, 2–1.
[107] In the Keystone Conference, FC Motown started the season with nine straight wins before dropping a 2–1 decision at home to West Chester United SC in their final match.
After starting the season 2–3–2, defending NPSL champion Elm City Express won its final three matches, culminating with a 6–4 road win over the Rhode Island Reds F.C.
[135] AFC Ann Arbor won the Great Lakes Conference title and claimed the second seed in the Midwest Region playoffs with a 9–1–2 record, losing only on the road to second-place Grand Rapids FC.
[142] With the East Conference title on the line, the Erie Commodores FC hosted Cleveland SC in the final match of the regular season for both clubs, who each had identical 7–1–3 records.
[146][147][148] With Ann Arbor likely to win as they finished up their regular season at home against pointless Indiana, the Commodores and Cleveland were nearly assured at game time that they would be playing each other in the West Region Quarterfinals, and the East Conference champions would host.
FC Golden State hosted ASC San Diego in a showdown for the Southwest Conference title in the final match of the regular season for both clubs.
[150][151] After Golden State built a 2–0 lead, ASC San Diego struck in the 71st, 76th and 79th minutes to win the match, 3–2, and claimed the Southwest Conference championship.
[152] Two days later, Orange County, at 7–1–3, had a chance to claim second place in the Southwest Conference and avoid the play-in game, if they could earn a road win against Riverside Coras USA.
El Farolito got a first-half goal from Arnhold Rivas to take the lead over the Sonoma County Sol but had to play with 10 men after Ademar Rodríguez drew a red card in the 62nd minute.
[165] The Northwest Conference champions Spokane SC Shadow got a goal from Micheal Ramos in the 7th minute of their West Region Quarterfinal to take an early lead.
[166][167] FC Golden State got goals from Gabriel Henrique Silva, Allisson, Gustavo Villalobos and Jose Perez-Flores and cruised to a 4–2 West Region Quarterfinal victory over CD Aguiluchos USA.
[169][170] Asheville City SC got goals from Siavash Jamehdar, Elma Nfor and Tyson Hichman to win the other Southwest Conference Quarterfinal over Inter Nashville FC.
[172][173] In the other Keystone Conference Semifinal, Junior Lone Star FC fell behind West Chester United SC, 2–1, when they conceded an own goal in the 41st minute.
[174] The New York Cosmos B and defending NPSL champion Elm City Express each held one-goal leads in the first half of their North Atlantic Conference Semifinal match.
James Thristino's hat trick led the Brooklyn Italians to a 3–0 victory over Hartford City FC in the other North Atlantic Conference Semifinal.
In the 118th minute, Duluth substituted Alberto Ciroi for NPSL Golden Glove winner Jan Hoffelner in preparation for a penalty kick shootout.
The loss by Baltimore meant they needed both New York Cosmos B and FC Motown to win their conference titles in order to reach the Northeast Region Semifinals as the wildcard.
Down, 4–3, in the shootout and needing a goal on their fifth kick, United goalkeeper Charlie Sales failed to score and gave Motown the Keystone Conference championship and a trip to the region semifinals.
After Kevin Tenjo saved Thomas Suchecki's effort on the Italians' fourth kick, Jonathan Borrajo scored to give the Cosmos B a 5–3 win in the shootout and the North Atlantic Conference title.
Soren Yuhaschek swept away a 78th minute shot, which had been deflected by D'Amico but trickled past him, just before the ball reached the goal line, to ensure the Southeast Conference Final would be decided by penalty kicks.
[213] Arthur Rogers scored two first-half goals, the second on a penalty kick, to put the Houston Dutch Lions FC in front of the Laredo Heat in the Lone Star Conference Final.
Adrien Perez scored in the 84th minute to cut Golden State's deficit to 3–2, but Kevin Jeon's 90th-minute goal sealed the victory for Orange County.
[225][226] Serge Gamwanya scored a goal in the 55th minute, and AFC Ann Arbor made it hold up in a 1–0 Midwest Region Quarterfinal victory over Cleveland SC.
Seconds before the referee blew the final whistle, Abdoukarim Danso dove to his left to get a hand on Darwin Espinal's free kick, and the rebound attempt by Joey Sanchez went wide with the flag up for offside anyway.
Just as they had in their region quarterfinal match,[195] Duluth substituted Alberto Ciroi for NPSL Golden Glove winner Jan Hoffelner in the 118th minute in preparation for a penalty kick shootout.
David Nigro, who had just entered the match as a substitute in anticipation of a penalty-kick shootout, headed in the game winner on a cross from Lucas Terci in the first minute of extra-time stoppage time to send Motown to the NPSL Final.
The semifinals and final are held at one venue voted upon by Midwest Region club owners; designation of home teams is determined by the highest seed in each match.