The match finished drawn 1–1 after 90 minutes, with the rules specifying that the teams would not play extra time but would instead proceed to a penalty shootout.
Portland struck first, with Christine Sinclair winning the ball near midfield and then scoring from just outside Gotham's penalty box in the 8th minute.
In the first five rounds, each team had a shot rebound back off the crossbar—one by Jennifer Cudjoe for Gotham and one by Meghan Klingenberg for the Thorns.
Morgan Weaver of the Thorns scored on her seventh-round attempt, winning the game and the 2021 Challenge Cup for Portland.
[2] JP Dellacamera and Aly Wagner served as play-by-play announcer and analyst respectively on CBS, while Josh Eastern and Kaylyn Kyle did the same on Twitch.