Marta's magic helped get the Pride to Saturday's NWSL title game against the Washington Spirit

With technical prowess and considerable style, Marta danced around two sliding defenders, outwitted a goalkeeper and calmly scored as another player rushed forward in desperation to stop her.

It was more Marta Magic.

That goal last weekend helped propel the Orlando Pride into Saturday's National Women's Soccer League championship game against the Washington Spirit.

Barbra Banda also scored in the Pride's 3-2 semifinal victory over the Kansas City Current. While Banda has had an incredible first season with the Pride, captain Marta has been the talisman that has helped lead the team in its remarkable turnaround this year.

The last time the Pride were in the NWSL playoffs was in 2017 — Marta's first year with the club. But this season they nearly went undefeated, going 23 games without a loss to start the season before losing 2-0 to the Portland Thorns with just two regular-season games left.

“I think because of the way that we did it, during this season, from beginning to now, it’s something very special that I’ve never had before with any other club that I’ve played for," Marta said. "Plus year by year, we see in America, strong competition. This is the best league in the world. And you never know what’s going to happen, and it’s hard to keep winning the games, being in the first place almost like the whole season. That’s why it’s really different and so special.”

Marta’s goal was the latest gasp-inducing moment in a stellar career filled with them. Known by just her first name, the 38-year-old is a six-time FIFA world player of the year.

"Let's see if tomorrow I can do something similar — or even better," Marta said on Friday.

Her teammate Kylie Strom chimed in: “That was the greatest goal I've ever witnessed, hands down."

Appropriate. Earlier this year, FIFA announced that the best goal in women's soccer each year would earn the Marta Award. In a lighthearted moment the day before the title match, Marta was asked if she thought it was possible she might give the award to herself.

“You guys need to decide, because who votes for the best goal in the year? It’s you. It’s the people in the public. So it should be really interesting, like Marta’s Award goes to Marta!” she said with a laugh.

Marta has played in six World Cups for Brazil and played this summer in her sixth Olympics, winning a silver medal after falling in the final to the United States. She previously said this would be her final year with the national team.

But since then Brazil was named the host of the 2027 Women's World Cup.

"I had a conversation with my coach, the national team coach, and I was really clear about playing in 2027. I told him it’s not my goal anymore,” she said. “But I’m always available to help the national team. And if they think I still can do something during this preparation for the World Cup, yeah, I would be happy to help them."

Marta's club career started in Brazil when she was just 16. She has also played in Sweden and in the U.S. professional women's leagues that came before the NWSL.

With nine regular-season goals, Marta has had one of her best seasons since she joined the Pride.

“I can never pick a side, I never pick favorites — but I love to see this for Marta," U.S. coach Emma Hayes said. “Marta is someone we all like, admire and are grateful for. And that goal was just like prime Marta at her best. And so grateful for and thankful for her that she got the opportunity with another game with her team.”

The Pride went 18-2-6 this season, clinching the NWSL Shield for the first trophy in club history. Orlando also set a record with 60 regular-season points to finish atop the standings.

“We are sitting top of the table, but I think there still are a lot of doubters. I think there’s people out there who say, maybe this was a one-off season,” Strom said. “But we’re here to prove them all wrong. So I think we do carry a bit of that underdog mentality still with us.”

The second-seeded Spirit advanced to the title match at Kansas City's CPKC Stadium last weekend on a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw against defending champions Gotham FC.

The Spirit's roster includes Trinity Rodman, a standout forward who formed the so-called “Triple Espresso” trio with Mallory Swanson and Sophia Smith for the United States at the Olympics.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Orlando Pride forward Marta (10) controls the ball during an NWSL soccer match against the Chicago Red Stars, March 29, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

FILE - Orlando Pride forward Marta (10) during an NWSL soccer match against the Chicago Red Stars, March 29, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York on Friday repealed a seldom-used, more than century-old law that made it a crime to cheat on your spouse — a misdemeanor that once could have landed adulterers in jail for three months.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill repealing the statute, which dates back to 1907 and has long been considered antiquated as well as difficult to enforce.

“While I’ve been fortunate to share a loving married life with my husband for 40 years — making it somewhat ironic for me to sign a bill decriminalizing adultery — I know that people often have complex relationships," she said. "These matters should clearly be handled by these individuals and not our criminal justice system. Let’s take this silly, outdated statute off the books, once and for all.”

Adultery bans are actually law in several states and were enacted to make it harder to get a divorce at a time when proving a spouse cheated was the only way to get a legal separation. Charges have been rare and convictions even rarer. Some states have also moved to repeal their adultery laws in recent years.

New York defined adultery as when a person “engages in sexual intercourse with another person at a time when he has a living spouse, or the other person has a living spouse.” The state's law was first used a few weeks after it went into effect, according to a New York Times article, to arrest a married man and 25-year-old woman.

State Assemblymember Charles Lavine, sponsor of the bill, said about a dozen people have been charged under the law since the 1970s, and just five of those cases resulted in convictions.

“Laws are meant to protect our community and to serve as a deterrent to anti-social behavior. New York’s adultery law advanced neither purpose,” Lavine said in a statement Friday.

The state's law appears to have last been used in 2010, against a woman who was caught engaging in a sex act in a park, but the adultery charge was later dropped as part of a plea deal.

New York came close to repealing the law in the 1960s after a state commission tasked with evaluating the penal code said it was nearly impossible to enforce.

At the time, lawmakers were initially on board with removing the ban but eventually decided to keep it after a politician argued that repealing it would make it seem like the state was officially endorsing infidelity, according to a New York Times article from 1965.

FILE - A marriage official offers a couple their rings during their wedding at the Empire State Building in New York, Feb. 14, 2007. (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews, File)