NWSL Power Rankings: Marta’s Orlando Pride in nine-game rut
It’s Monday, and another NWSL action series is in books, which means it is time for the ESPN power classification.
Who goes up the table? Who is in free fall? Our screenwriters studied the action of all day 21 to find the order of this week of the 14 League teams. Let’s dive.
Previous classification: 1
Next match: Friday September 26 against the stars of Chicago, 8 p.m.
It’s Kansas City’s season, and we live there. After beating Seattle 2-0 on Saturday, the current is the fastest team to collect the NWSL shield according to the number of games to play. Rightly so, Temwa Chawinga celebrated his birthday by scoring his 13th goal of the season in victory, bringing his level with Esther González at the top of the score charts. The Vlatko Andonovski team now has 17 wins, two draws and two defeats against 21 games played and show no slowdown before the playoffs.
Previous classification: 2
Next match: Sunday, September 28 against Houston Dash, 1 p.m.
Playing by a rare Thursday evening without the midfielder Hal Hershfelt (which served a suspension of the red card), the spirit exchanged goals with Angel City and left with a 2-2 draw in California. Trinity Rodman crossed the first, following his own penalty blocked for his third goal in three games. Croix Bethune followed in the second half to win a point after the mind was late, the two players succeeded in hot traction before the playoffs after being returned injuries earlier in the year. The mind is now undefeated in nine NWSL games, although six of these games have been zero matches.
Previous classification: 3
Next match: Friday September 26 against Portland Thorns, 8 p.m.
After scoring her first goal of the season two weeks ago, Rose Lavelle returned to the match sheet during the 1-1 draw in Gotham in California on Sunday evening. It was two goals in 11 games played for the American midfielder who was sidelined with an injury earlier in the year. After three consecutive games on the road (including the Concacaf W Champions Cup in the middle of the week) Gotham returns home to face Portland then, while they are preparing to finish their season against a series of suitors in the playoffs.
Previous classification: 4
Next match: Friday September 26 against Orlando Pride, 10:30 p.m. He
They exceeded the hosts, especially at the start of the game, but failed to get more than one in Portland while Mackenzie Arnold’s six stops limited their attack. After undergoing three defeats in four games, a 1-1 draw against Portland in Oregon is not the worst result for San Diego. But they have not won a match since August 16, and each point counts that only five points separate them from the teams outside the positions of the playoffs. The wave also plays the Orlando Pride, the Orlando next weekend, which has known nine games since their last victory.
Previous classification: 7
Next match: Friday September 26 against Gotham FC, 8 p.m. he
Reyna Reyes scored his third goal of the year in the 86th minute to steal a point at home against San Diego. They had a hard time making shots early, with the free kick of Olivia Moultrie in the 33rd minute of their first chronomicate shot, although they obtained three on the target at the end of the match. At the other end, the goalkeeper of Matildas Arnold made six stops and was essential to keep San Diego to a goal before the late equalizer of Reyes. After the 1-1 draw on Saturday, the fourth place ended the weekend even on the points and rest just above San Diego in the table.
Previous classification: 8
Next match: Sunday September 28 against Washington Spirit, 1 p.m. He
The fourth goal of the season of Yazmeen Ryan, the leader of the season, occurred in the 28th minute against Chicago and was sufficient to seal a 1-0 victory in Texas. A week after losing against the Royals of Utah, they are back in the column of victories and sitting just below the positions of the playoffs, but they have a difficult test next weekend against the Washington Spirit.
Previous classification: 5
Next match: Friday September 26 against Wave San Diego, 10:30 p.m. He
Orlando Pride extended his orchestra without a victory for nine consecutive games in a row after losing 1-0 against the courage of Caroline du Nord Friday. The defeat arrived in the 89th minute, while courage jumped on a rebound in front of the goal. Pride is still in the positions of the playoffs, but desperately seek a victory as they sink into seventh place after holding second earlier in the season.
Previous classification: 6
Next match: Saturday September 27 against Angel City FC, 7:30 p.m.
With five games to play, Louisville’s shape struck an lull. After losing against Seattle in their match reprogrammed last weekend, they lost 3-2 against Utah this weekend, marking their third defeat in three games in the middle of a race without four games victory. Over time by decreasing, they seem remarkably on the right track for a fifth place in ninth place, potentially advancing a curse to finish each season just short of the playoffs. Their post-season hopes are far from over, but they have pivotal tests before them, with Angel City while waiting for next weekend.
Previous classification: 10
Next match: Sunday September 28 against Seattle Reign, 8 p.m.
North Carolina has had difficult times this season. They recently carried out a six -game victory race, licensed their coach and lost Jaedyn Shaw against Gotham. But they beat the champions reigned 1-0 Friday with a 20-year-old Japanese midfielder goal, Shinomi Koyama (his first for the team) to score two victories in two games, finishing the weekend just inside the playoffs.
Previous classification: 9
Next match: Sunday September 28 against NC courage, 8 p.m.
Earlier in the week, Seattle beat the race in Louisville 1-0 in his reprogrammed match thanks to a goal from the 90th minute of Jess Fishlock. But they fell 2-0 in Kansas City on the weekend (despite a six sape performance from Claudia Dickey). Losing against Kansas City is understandable – the shield winners have only lost twice this season and won the shield in record time with the victory on Saturday against the reign. Seattle is always a respectable sixth place while they are preparing for eighth place in North Carolina next weekend.
Previous classification: 11
Next match: Saturday September 27 against Louisville, 7:30 p.m. he
After having lagged behind at the start of the Rodman rebound, Angel City retaliated to briefly lead 2-1, before setting up for a 2-2 draw in California. Gisele Thompson created Evelyn Shores for the first, marking his fifth assist of the season at the top of the team. Thompson’s six goal contributions are second after his sister, who recently signed for Chelsea, and the Riley Tiernan team. The ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, was also immense in the draw, making eight stops to attack the spiritual advance. They finished the weekend in 11th place and will have to fight to unravel the playoffs (there is a gap of four points between them and the eighth place in North Carolina), but the possibility of after-season remains intact.
Previous classification: 12
Next match: Saturday September 27 against Bay FC, 10 p.m.
After spending most of the season at the bottom of the table, Utah beat the Louisville 3-2 race to finish the weekend before the Chicago stars in 13th place. Their momentum is more impressive than their ranking: with the victory, the Royals are six undefeated games with three victories and three draws, including three victories of their last four games.
Previous classification: 13
Next match: Saturday September 27 against Utah Royals, 10 p.m.
They still haven’t won a match since June 7 (four draws, six defeats in this round). But the 1-1 draw on Sunday with Gotham was a respectable result, because the fourth goal of Racheal Kundananji of the season and second in as many games brought them back from behind in California.
Previous classification: 14
Next match: Friday September 26 against KC Current, 8 p.m. he
Alyssa Naeher can trust her to deploy heroic of memorable penalty, and she did exactly this against Houston when she denied the Dash Ryan striker on site as part of a five -event performance in Texas. Unfortunately, Naeher’s stable hands were not enough to collect points in a 1-0 defeat against the dashboard.
