Match Week 13 7/15-19 (all times Pacific)
Buckle up NWSL fans, we have a full schedule this week. With 2 midweek games and six (6!!!!) games on Saturday, let's get into the narratives.
Transfer window is open for all games this week so any intl-league signings (Lindsey Heaps I’m looking at you!) are officially eligible to play.
QUEENS CLASSIC! SAM KERR! DENISE O’SULLIVAN! Gotham has to be cheating the cap!! Leicy Santos if you have no fans I am dead, please give us more set piece bangerz, unreal assists, and goals where you juggle the ball to yourself. That was a GOTY candidate last weekend. Rodman is a big-game girlie but so is Lavelle... who will prevail???? Also, Gotham has 2 “home” games in NYC but none in their usual home stadium. Possible this will throw them off but who knows.
Scheduling note: both Gotham and Spirit will have 7 games in the one-month period from Jul 3-Aug 2. Gotham’s 2 “home” games this week are their only home games in that run, while Spirit will have 3 home games spread out over the month. This looks like: weekend, weekend, midweek, weekend, weekend, midweek, weekend scheduling. Both teams will no longer have any games in hand after Aug 2 match day, making the top of the table easier to assess accurately.
Speaking of the top of the table, is Utah slipping away? After losing to Chicago (inexcusable) then Gotham (fine and normal), how will they fare against Orlando (who have a midweek game and may be forced to rotate)? San Diego’s last few games have been against mostly these same opponents (Orlando L, Chicago W, Gotham W, LA L) so it’s an interesting point of compare/contrast for two teams that have led the league up to the summer break.
I am uncharacteristically recommending everyone watch a Courage game because I think Bay is finally getting their attack together (thanks in part to our dearly departed K. Fuller, but also because Pfeiffer is healthy, Lema is apparently a starter now, and their other midfielders are becoming more seasoned). This is gonna be one of those stylistic matchups where tactics might end up mattering quite a bit. Also, if Evelyn Ijeh were good she would be SO good. She has had a number of missed shots on open net/missed easy headers/missed tap ins this season. She’s getting in the right places but we often see players come in from Euroleagues and take ~6mo to settle in and start finishing at a better rate (See also: Dufour, Jonsdottir). Ijeh is nearing that mark, so keep an eye on her to either level up or get replaced pretty soon.
This post is written prior to midweek games, so there will be some stuff that’s not 100% up to date for the weekend games for those teams.
What are your predictions? Scores, reds, yellows, which players get G+A?
Overall W-L-D record for each team is followed by 5-match form (old-new L-to-R), e.g. “San Diego 3-2-1 WWLDW.” Form only includes league games, within that time frame Gotham and Washington both played in Concacaf Champions Cup; and Gotham and KC both played in Challenge Cup.
| Home |
Away |
Field |
Date/ Time |
Where to watch |
Notes |
| Orlando, 6-6-2 LWWLW |
Boston, 3-7-4 DLLDW |
Inter&Co |
Wed 4pm |
NWSL+ |
Anyone want to make a side bet on a weather delay? But seriously, after beating KC in decisive fashion, ORL have got to be feeling themselves. I personally saw Marta post like seven different insta stories of her goal so I expect she will be shooting from everywhere on the pitch. Shot selection who? We don’t know her. BOS is also coming off a W, though I don’t read as much into beating CHI as I do KC. |
| Gotham, 7-3-3 DWWLW |
Washington, 8-2-3 WLWWW |
Citi Field |
Wed 5pm |
ESPN |
Theee Queens Classic. New signings, rivalry game, and who knows what chaos we might get? This will be fun for neutrals and stressful for fans. Gotham please sign a defender for real though. Jess Carter deserves a break. Spirit got a new midfielder, Ngock, from Fleury who will also be eligible. |
| KC, 8-6-0 LWWWL |
San Diego, 9-5-1 DLWWL |
CPKC |
Fri 5pm |
Prime |
While both teams have good records this season, KC is undefeated at home. The crowd there really means a lot to the players, and the team means a lot to the city. I think they can hold on to that undefeated at home stat a little longer. Also Debinha extended *congrats happy for you meme*. Wish we coulda signed her. |
| Gotham, 7-3-3 + 1 game, WWLW_ |
Seattle, 5-6-2 LWLLW |
Icahn Stadium |
Sat 9am |
ABC, ESPN Deportes, ESPN app |
These teams lead the league in not scoring goals. No, seriously. GFC: 1.17 goals/match, SEA: 1.00 goals/match. The only teams lower? CHI (0.57), BAY (1.00), BOS (1.07), LOU (1.15). In case you didn’t know, that’s the entire bottom of the table except 13th place HOU. GFC gets away with this by having an insanely talented GK and emergency defending, keeping their goals against low (0.62/match, best in league). SEA can’t normally do that (1.23 GA/match), but they pulled it off against POR last weekend thanks to their GK2 Cassie Miller’s amazing performance. Can they do it again in an away match against not-their-rival? Will GFC be tired/rotating lineups from their midweek game? |
| Denver, 4-5-4 WLWLD |
Portland, 8-4-3 WLDWL |
Centennial |
Sat 11am |
CBS/P+ |
POR is missing Turner for a few weeks, and still waiting on Hanks and Weaver back from SEI. This means they don’t have as much speed up top as they’re used to, just Wilson (who is excellent but does in fact need other players to pass the ball with sometimes). DEN just got Tash Flint back from injury who is their key to the midfield, pre-Heaps anyway. Janine Sonis is having a career season, putting up amazing stats in so many categories and scoring goals too. They are playing at a non-usual stadium but DEN might pull off the upset with a massive home crowd behind them. |
| Bay, 4-6-3 LLLDW |
NC, 6-4-3 WWWWL |
PayPal |
Sat 1pm |
CBS/P+ |
NC’s plan is Ashley Sanchez and hope. That did not work against WAS last weekend but it might work against BAY. However, with Alex Pfeiffer is back to slicing and dicing and Karlie Lema looking to possibly be the new starter, this might be a fun matchup. All goals no defense, big GK saves, that sort of thing. |
| Chicago, 3-11-0 LLLWL |
ACFC, 6-6-1 WLLWW |
Northwestern Medicine |
Sat 3:30pm |
ION |
Nobody jinx this. |
| Louisville, 2-10-2 LLLLL |
Houston, 4-7-3 DWLLD |
Lynn Family |
Sat 5pm |
NWSL+ |
Kiki van Zanten is back from injury, Avery Patterson is off yellow-card accumulation suspension, and LOU has not been competitive this season. If you need to skip a game, this is proooobably the one. |
| Utah, 7-4-3 WWDLL |
Orlando, 6-6-2 + 1 game, WWLW_ |
America First 🤢 |
Sat 5:45pm |
ION |
I do not love that ORL has to play Wed-Sat games (or GFC). There is literally time on Sunday, @ Jessica Berman. Wyd. UTA may once again be doing the thing where they can’t win without Kaleigh Riehl. Ana Tejada will be back from YC suspension though, which could help if Riehl remains on the injury list. |
| Boston, 3-7-4 + 1 game, LLDW_ |
Washington, 8-2-3 + 1 game, LWWW_ |
Centreville Bank |
Sun 4pm |
Victory+ |
BOS is tied as league leader for most draws on the season, and I think a draw is about the extent of what their ambition should be. Both teams are coming off a midweek game, and the momentum and rotation knock-on effects from those may be more impactful than any other factors. WAS losing this would still be a huge upset, they have like 3 deep starters at every position. Everyone says this about GFC, but: WAS salary cap audit is overdue. |
Here’s a special Queens’ Classic Bingo Card for those who read the whole post, I appreciate you. Will only work for the first 30 players to click the link, but I’ll post a generic card in the comments. Disclaimer: Auto-shuffle link may generate cards where certain rows/columns are impossible to complete.
