The Kansas City Current aren't perfect and more from a chaotic week in the NWSL
The NWSL went back to its roots last weekend as chaos unfolded on pitches across the league, meanwhile the supporters are making noise in the stands.
The world’s most chaotic soccer league is back! The Kansas City Current lost for the first time, there are no more unbeatens, Chicago fired Lorne Donaldson for some reason, Gotham bullied DC, and there was chaos in Portland.
What a week!
Before diving into the matches, fans may have noticed some banners across the league last week.
Soccer, and women’s soccer in particular, has always been an open and welcoming space. However, with instances of Trans discrimination emanating from stadiums across the league, and all over the world, the league’s supporters groups are using their platforms to fight back.
“Those who are currently using women’s sports as a reason to exclude Trans athletes are disingenuous,” said Lindsay Pankok, a board member with Gotham FC supporters group Cloud 9. “Supporters who have been dedicated to women’s sports for years know that the game is better when it is inclusive of Trans athletes.”
This is an important moment, especially in light of the English FA banning Transgender women from competing in an announcement this week.
This isn’t about supporting women’s sports, if it were the sport would be better funded and organizations would actually be held responsible for failing to fund their squads or follow up on abuse complaints. Instead, their policies will particularly affect women that have no desire to become professional athletes, further ostracizing a marginalized group of people because the idea that someone outside of their narrow worldview could enjoy their life makes them uncomfortable.
Alright, let’s talk soccer.
Houston Dash
Houston weathered the storm from Utah to grab control of the match over the final 30 minutes, and were rewarded for forcing Utah into just 1 good-great xG opportunity.
Jane Campbell was up to the task and her 5 saves on the night then allowed for Delanie Sheehan to unleash a golazo of her own.
It’s still a concern that Houston weren’t able to create much against the Royals’s defensive structure, and they’ve generated less than 1.0 xG in 3 of the last 4 matches. It’s still an improvement for a club that scored just 20 goals last season, but the signs are concerning.
Utah Royals
Utah are in a very similar boat to the Dash when it comes to generating scoring chances but the Royals will be rueing their inability to take advantage of their momentum on either side of halftime in Houston.
The good news for Utah is that the Kate Del Fava-Ana Tejada CB pairing has really started to click. The pair combined for 2 chances created along with 6 interceptions and 16 recoveries, keeping the Dash to just one good scoring opportunity.
Again, Jimmy Coentraets will have to figure out how to generate chances outside of individual Ally Sentnor moments, that’s the defining trait that has completely derailed their first 6 matches.
Utah hosts North Carolina on Saturday and it’s a crucial game for both clubs.
Orlando Pride
Things were looking dire for the Pride over the first 50+ minutes at home vs Angel City. It was a growing concern following the 0-1 loss to the Spirit the week prior but the outcome, a 3-2 win, should leave no doubt.
Anna Moorhouse rebounded from a mistake-filled first half to keep the Pride within striking distance and Orlando’s depth pieces – namely, Carson Pickett – outdueled ACFC. Orlando outshot ACFC 5-1 over the entire second half, offering Sam Laity’s squad absolutely nothing in the process.
The final 20 minutes tell the story of a club that has woken up from their first rough true stretch in two seasons.
Marta on the board. Banda on the board. No worries.
Now, how the Pride will take the show to Portland this weekend will reveal if this truly was the wake up that Seb Hines and company have needed.
Angel City FC
A mixed bag of a performance from ACFC in this one.
All of the good that Laity’s squad brought into the first half following their 0-4 loss to Gotham the week prior quickly unraveled as they showed their youth over the final 20 minutes.
Riley Tiernan, Kennedy Fuller, and Alyssa Thompson proved that ACFC has the youth and the talent to take a major step this season. However, Laity’s mismanagement of the final stretch also proved that the club won’t take that step until Alexander Straus arrives sometime next month. This match cried out for a 2 time World Cup winner to take the pitch and calm things down, but Laity seemed to have forgotten that Christen Press was on the bench.
"What we really lacked in those last 20 minutes was a little bit of calmness, a little bit of leadership.” Laity said. “And, I think on reflection, Christen would have brought that."
Good news for ACFC supporters: Laity admitted it was his decision to not bring on Press.
Bad news for ACFC supporters: Laity admitted it was his decision to not bring on Press.
Washington Spirit
The Spirit won’t want to hear it but the underlying play of this 0-3 home loss was not concerning. However, a big home loss to your closest rival will never sit well, and despite the return of Croix Bethune – there wasn’t much to takeaway from any individual stat lines.
The injuries seemed to catch up with no strikers able to finish the 2.21 xG the squad generated. In fact, the Spirit’s chances as they dominated the final 30 minutes should have generated at least 2 goals to make the game more manageable. However, without Rodman, Hatch, or Sarr the Spirit lacked finishing power… but they will need to learn how to make do with those absences.
The finishing display was not good enough with Spirit attackers attempting 12 shots inside Gotham’s penalty area – resulting in just 3 shots on target.
Gotham FC
Gotham walked into Audi Field and took the Spirit’s lunch money in their 0-3 win. It’s another gigantic road win for Juan Carlos Amoros’s squad and one that highlights Esther’s incredible run of form this season.
Esther has now scored 7 goals in her last 4 games, 9 in 6 including international matches and has been at her best as a finisher.
Esther is second (4.2 xG) to Temwa Chawinga (4.3 xG) on the xG chart but has surpassed that total, leading the Golden Boot race 7 goals to Barbra Banda and Ashley Hatch’s 4 goals.
Esther isn’t the sole reason Gotham is winning. AKB is still providing great goalkeeping, Sarah Schupansky and Lilly Reale have proven to be crucial collegiate signings Jaelin Howell has gone under the radar as a very important return for Lynn Williams this offseason.
Gotham will host the Stars this weekend…
NC Courage
Sean Nahas finally has his proof of concept win with Ashley Sanchez and Jaedyn Shaw playing the double 10 creative role, and it came at the expense of the NWSL Shield leading Kansas City Current.
The Current had only allowed 1 goal against all season and were coming off back to back to back to back clean sheets, and yet, the Courage put 3 goals past Lorena including 2 in stoppage time. Tough.
It was the Courage’s first win of the season but NCC have played good soccer over that stretch only to crucially fail in the final 3rd.
This performance is most important for an Ashley Sanchez that was subbed out of this fixture in the playoffs last season. It’s not just that the Courage won with this approach but they deserved to win against a club that most saw running over the league this season.
The NWSL doesn’t make sense sometimes—so this could lead to a loss in Utah this weekend—but one thing is for sure, the Courage have been one of just 3 clubs to beat the Current since the start of last season, and they’ve done it twice at Wake Med Park.
KC Current
The Current let their foot up off the gas pedal last weekend in North Carolina, and while they’ve been able to get away with it unscathed through most 2nd halves this season, they paid for it in stoppage time. It’s worth noting that neither Haley Hopkins nor Debinha could win the midfield control battle over the 2nd half and it allowed the Courage to take their time in possession, before ultimately undoing the Current as they checked out defensively on the final scoring opportunity.
Valtko Andonovski has noticed the trend, but – until now – they’ve built up enough of a cushion in the first half, that their defensive structure could simply suffocate opportunities as the 2nd halves devolved into low event soccer.
"You literally cannot relax even for a second," Andonovski said.
The Current will be better for this loss at this point in the season, fans should feel better about their postseason after learning such a tough lesson following a period of attacking dominance.
Lorena is still providing top 4 NWSL goalkeeping, Temwa Chawinga isn’t out long term, and the injuries caused some wonky rotation from Andonovski throughout the 2nd half.
Chicago Stars
The Stars lost again last weekend which led to the firing of manager Lorne Donaldson on Wednesday. Donaldson’s firing comes following low morale in the squad, and it’s a consequence of a manager being set up to fail coupled with no desire to change the approach.
I don’t think Donaldson has been perfect, but this decision sheds more light on Sporting Director Richard Feuz’s delusional expectations around the squad that he has built – especially in light of Sam Staab’s injury recovery continuing into preseason and Mal Swanson’s continued absence. Feuz expected Donaldson’s squad to play with “more control” but anyone with eyes can see that the roster is just not set up to play with possession.
To be a stronger team with the ball they would have needed to actually invest in their backline but dating back to last summer, they’ve: signed Hannah Anderson and Justina Gaynor as collegiate free agents, waived Sami Feller, and declined options on Milazzo and Rall.
What is the actual expectation here?
Feuz can talk all he wants about desire and say, “We are in Chicago. We can't have any 'transition' year," but one look at how the Wave rebuilt their roster this offseason will show you that you can be somewhat successful – even if it’s in the short term – by signing proven Euro players to surround talented youngsters.
Unfortunately, that would require spending money on talent instead of detrimental rebrands and the Stars don’t seem to have the desire to field a competitive roster. It’s unfair to the talented players on that roster, it’s unfair to Donaldson, and it’s unfair to the legendary goalkeeper that has committed her final seasons to the club.
Alyssa Naeher deserves better.
San Diego Wave
The Wave, on the other hand, has exceeded expectations.
The teenagers – Kimmie Ascanio, Mel Barcenas, and Trinity Armstrong – thrived with the time and space Chicago allowed on the ball. Kanza Dali also continued to make an outsized impact sitting deeper in Jonas Eidevall’s midfield.
San Diego still needed Kailen Sheriden to step up in some big moments, and scored three goals despite just a single great xG opportunity.
A few things are true here.
The Wave are outperforming their underlying numbers, but are still playing with a certain confidence away from home that San Diego fans wouldn’t have expected given the club’s complete disarray last season.
So far, Eidevall’s side continues to win against struggling sides while failing in tougher tests – i.e. the KC and Orlando losses.
Bay FC
Bay FC’s 1-0 win was boosted by the genius individual play of Racheal Kundananji.
Kundananji’s goal stole the headlines but it was her hold up play that continues to be the biggest asset for Bay. The goal capped off a great sequence but it’s possible because Kundananji was active in continuing plays offensively and stopping plays defensively. An interception, 2 fouls against, 2 fouls committed, 2/2 tackles, 7/13 duels including 4/4 on aerial duels, and 7 recoveries tell the story of a player that needed to be active against what Seattle were trying to build.
The partnership with Alyssa Malonson and Caroline Conti could also prove important if Bay are to continue showing progress.
Seattle Reign
In the same vein, Seattle may have finally found their solution at striker by playing both Jordyn Huitema and Lynn Biyendolo together at the top of Laura Harvey’s 3-5-2.
Harvey is no stranger to tinkering – especially against different play styles – but this should be a look the manager tries again. The dual striker setup also brought out the best of Sam Meza as the Reign found good spacing in their midfield.
Meza created 3 chances while progressing into the final third, both through passes into space and by stepping up with the ballon her foot.
The Reign still aren’t creating enough – just 0.99 xG in this one – but this wasn’t a bad performance by any means.
Portland Thorns
The Thorns showed heart over the closing moments of Sunday’s 3-3 draw. A down performance for a Portland side that ran Gotham out of town earlier in the week, but they managed the fixture congestion fairly enough, and were able to hold their composure in the face of frustration and a crucial stoppage time penalty kick.
Rookie CB Jayden Perry’s PK was ice cold as Louisville crowded the area and attempted to obfuscate the opportunity. Perry’s play adds to the Thorn growing cohort of young, promising players taking a step forward this season.
While, the Thorns have played much, much better matches, playoff clubs grab points when they aren’t deserved, and that may turn out to be an important point on home turf.
Racing Louisville
Louisville should have held on for a win, but they were undone by preventable mistakes and there is just no excuse for Ary Borges completely losing the plot and shoving an official.
It was chaotic, it was unexpected, but Bev Yanez at least has a performance to point to for why her team should be in better shape at this point in the season. Racing’s 5 big chances were crucial to proving that they can be a strong, confident attacking group, but they were ultimately undone by a lack of saves and a lack of composure.
Equally as important for Yanez at this point is to figure out the goalkeeping situation. Katie Lund has not been a consistent goalkeeper over the past two seasons and her current post-shot expected goals saved stat (-4.0) would have ranked last in the NWSL over the entirety of last season.
Louisville heads to Houston this weekend which they need to come away with a win at this point. They’ve wasted too many good performances from Taylor Flint, Sav DeMello, Kayla Fischer and Emma Sears and they’re staring at a very winnable fixture.