A 60th-minute goal from American striker Stephanie Ochs proved the difference at Edensor Park after Sydney FC's Sam Kerr had cancelled out Caitlin Munoz's 14th-minute penalty.

The win took United's streak to five games and came after back-to-back losses to Adelaide United and Melbourne Victory after the Christmas break.

United will host the grand final if it beats fourth-placed Brisbane Roar in the first semi-final at McKellar on Saturday.

United also claimed the premiership when it won the club's maiden championship in 2011-12, a point not lost on captain Nicole Sykes.

''It means so much, we had high expectations going into the start of the league,'' Sykes said.

''We lost a few games in the middle of the year and we didn't think we could pull it back, but we've worked our butts off.

''I'm very proud of how we've turned it around.''

The other semi-final, between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory, will be played at Kogarah Oval on Sunday.

United coach Elisabeth Migchelsen has been delighted with the resurgence and especially the performance of the younger players.

She singled out Georgia Yeoman-Dale and Grace Field for praise after they replaced central defender Ellie Brush and right-back Sally Rojahn, who were left out to avoid the risk of picking up a fourth yellow card for the season and an automatic one-game ban.

''I'm very pleased with the result,'' Migchelsen said. ''We made a couple of changes and everyone did their job.''

The Roar's 1-0 win against Victory earlier on Sunday meant United couldn't finish any worse than second.

Canberra United was never behind in a game it needed to win to clinch the league championship and the box seat to hosting the grand final.

Munoz calmly converted from the spot after the referee ruled Sydney FC had infringed from a United corner.

Sydney FC hit back through Kerr, who headed a perfect cross from dual international Ellyse Perry into the back of the net.

The score remained at 1-1 until half an hour from time when Ochs finished off a sensational break on the counter-attack.

The Sky Blues pressed late for an equaliser, but United held strong to inflict the second defeat on Sydney FC this season, both by Canberra.

Star midfielder Sally Shipard was left out of the side as a precaution on the hard synthetic surface.

Shipard played her first game of the season after a serious knee injury in last weekend's 5-0 thumping of the Newcastle Jets.

CANBERRA UNITED 2 (Caitlin Munoz 14' pen, Stephanie Ochs 60') bt SYDNEY FC 1 (Sam Kerr 24') at Edensor Park on Sunday.