Who are the contenders? A big week for Denver. | NWSL Power Rankings.

The NWSL has reached critical mass of parity following this week’s Wednesday night slate of matches. The presumed favorites have all stumbled through the first three games, leaving a top of the table clash between… Angel City FC and the Houston Dash. That match isn’t the focus of today’s newsletter, but it will be a fun night in LA as Angel City look to hold on to their surprisingly comfortable start to the season. 

As always, these rankings are how I view where teams are right now and not where I think they’ll finish. The early season chaos has clubs yo-yoing all around through the early weeks. Will this weekend provide clarity?

1. Angel City (Last Ranking 2)

I covered last week’s 3-1 win over Bay earlier this week, but the match with Houston will be their first outing against a squad that will aim to pressure ACFC’s backline. 

I suspect they’ll pass with flying colors. 

2. Gotham FC (Last Ranking 1)

I’m surprisingly more optimistic on Gotham than I am on Kansas City’s early struggles, but my patience is wearing thin. Gotham suffered from self-inflicted wounds vs Denver, and have continued to struggle to find the back of the net. Gotham have not scored since the opener, and a 1-2 goal differential through 3 matches is as worrying as it is dull. 

Denver crammed the middle of the pitch, leaving Gotham’s 3 player midfield overrun despite the perceived talent mismatch, and when Gotham did find the pockets – such as the sequence leading to Denver’s first goal – they weren’t tidy enough with the ball to hit the switch quickly enough. 

Need to clean that up, at what point does the scoring drought become a genuine concern? At least Jordynn Dudley is causing havoc. 

3. San Diego Wave (Last Ranking 6)

Welcome to the tier of contenders San Diego. 

The Wave were great in their midweek bout vs Portland after looking somewhat shaky vs Utah on the road. This result comes after outplaying Houston on opening day despite the loss to Jane Campbell’s Dash. 

The mode of attack has become very clear in San Diego, and officially adding Cat Macario to the mix will only pump up their chances at a run this season. The backline still needs reinforcements on the left side, but if Kenza Dali isn’t Midfielder of the Year then something has gone terribly wrong.

Now, with the way the season is going, San Diego will find a way to give the game away vs Chicago, but they’re playing well, moving the ball well, and finding great structure along the way. However, what does it look like vs the other contenders? The setup vs Portland was an early look and they aced the test. 

4. Washington Spirit (Last Ranking 4)

The Spirit have 2 points through 3 matches but in all 3 matches they have played better than their opponents. The opener vs Portland was their biggest struggle, but since then, they’ve drawn 2-2 against Racing where the xG was 0.54 to 2.1 and drew Utah 1-1 despite 3.18 expected goals. This is a good team that is suffering from poor goalkeeping and poor finishing, one of those will fix itself naturally, and the other has to be a rising priority on Haley Carter’s todo list. 

Against Utah, the Spirit were purposeful in their pressing moments, but when they won the ball, either pressuring the ball carrier or blocking entries into the attacking third, they bounded forward with 4-6 attackers. The attack had numbers thanks to all 4 attacking players pushing forward with both FBs overlapping wide. 

Now it’s just finishing off those chances, which should not be a long term issue with this group. 

5. Portland Thorns (Last Ranking 3)

Is Reyna Reyes a load bearing Full Back? The Thorns were disorganized by the Wave’s frantic one touch build-up, losing some of the solidity that fueled their wins through the first 2 matches of the year. 

The Wave successfully baited the Thorns into chasing them forward, and while they did win one of those battles:

The Wave also disorganized their structure and transitioned too quickly into the attacking third.

Perhaps the bigger story of this match came from just 4 shots on target from 16 attempts, San Diego were simply more clinical.

And they just had to clear this:

Portland will have to manage another game without Reyes who had her suspension extended following the hair pulling incident vs Seattle last weekend. Thorns will need a lot more out of Marie Müller when the Thorns host a KC Current squad out for revenge following two poor results.

6. North Carolina Courage (Last Ranking 7)

The Courage host Bay this weekend after drawing Gotham last week. It’s the best shot they’ve had to open up the attack, especially with Manaka returning to the squad.  

7. Orlando Pride (Last Ranking 8)

This was more like it, Orlando ran over Chicago on the lake 3-0 thanks to Banda, Ovalle, and Hannah Anderson. This is the type of performance Orlando has to take forward into the rest of the first half of the season. This team should be a contender, and with Barbra Banda already contributing 2.15 g+ across 3 matches they have their MVP back. 

Banda’s start to the season already has her tied for the lead in the Golden Boot race, but the bigger stat, 0.75 g+ per match is otherworldly, 0.34 over her own 2024 g+ per match. That’s probably not sustainable once they play Gotham, ACFC, Spirit, etc, but if any player can just be this good, it’s Barbra Banda. 

8. Racing Louisville (Last Ranking 9)

Louisville move up by virtue of not playing midweek. They could use a win on the board, 0-1-1 despite great moments through the first two matchdays, and now they’ll be rested heading to Spokane. 

9. Seattle Reign  (Last Ranking 10)

The Reign needed this bounce back after coming up well short in Cascadia last week. The Reign rebounded from short rest and ran over the defending Shield winners. The Reign came out flying through the first 45 minutes, beating the Current in tackles and duels while creating 4 big chances while blanking the Current. 

The Reign were given the ball, but instead of being exposed on the counter, Sophia Huerta’s right foot delivered two assists and created another dangerous opportunity, while the Current couldn’t take the ball off them. 

Laura Harvey’s side took advantage of a club in crisis, but considering the Reign were a club in crisis 5 days ago, it was a needed result. 

The critique of how the inverted FBs performed in Portland was answered by wide FBs in Spokane. The adjustment was a success for the wide triangle of Adames, James, and Huerta, while the backline easily connected the dots through the Current’s press.

The Reign were also more aggressive in their mid and low blocks while winning majority of their 1v1 battles, it was a complete victory while resting Dahlien (who may have picked up a knock anyways) and Nérilia Mondésir.

Hosting Louisville this weekend, it will be a similar battle. Racing will want to cede possession and try to hit on the counter, except the Emma Sears will be tougher to contain and won’t have played midweek. Slightly optimistic following this one but I still don’t know who the real Reign are through 3 matches.

10. KC Current (Last Ranking 5)

Another match, another set piece goal conceded from a corner. 

The Current were heavily rotated to play the Reign midweek, and it did not go well. 

Katie Scott and newly signed Kelsey Branson started in the midfield with Ally Sentnor, Kayla Sharples, and Izzy Rodriguez as the only first choice starters in front of Lorena. A midweek match with a rotated squad, it could be brushed off, however; the problem was more in the structure itself than the play on the pitch.

The press was aimless, the defensive structure was far too loose, and maybe worst of all, the Reign bullied them to loose balls throughout the first half.

The Current went 40 minutes without a shot on target, 37 minutes between Hocking’s attempt in the 3rd and Sentnor’s shot on goal in the 40th, dreadful.

Armas set up his side to play against the ball, but the Reign easily bypassed the first defender, then in rest defense, the Reign found the holes over the top. The problems with the Current to this point have been much less about personnel s and more about their lack of movement on both sides of the ball. 

Don’t get me wrong, the rotation having to rely on starting a player on a short term contract isn’t ideal, but Bailey Feist’s injury shouldn’t be a death knell for this group.

Let’s take a look at the defensive structure:

More than anything, there wasn’t really a pushback from 30 minutes of LaBonta, Cooper, Bethune, and Debinha. Just 3 points from 3 matches for the defending Shield winners, the alarm bells are ringing.

The Current hadn’t allowed 6 goals against until May 11th last season; they’ve hit that mark in game 3. 

There’s still time to get this right, but this looks like a team learning an entirely new system, not one building on the past two seasons. It’ll be better than this, but against Portland, there has to be a response.

Chris Armas has promised a big reaction.

11. Denver Summit (Last Ranking 12)

The Summit haven’t been perfect but this was an incredible win for the expansion side. Tash Flint – as much as I have been skeptical – was a difference maker outside of stealing the ball off AKB’s foot. 

The biggest question is still: Can they do this consistently? The acquisition of Yazmeen Ryan was a big statement of intention, the Summit want to be competitive. It helps when Melissa Kössler is scoring like a NWSL leading striker – but what happens when the service dries up? The good news: Sonis, Ryan, and Kurtz have given the group some real veteran savvy.

They’ll host the Spirit in front of 60k fans in Downtown Denver on Saturday, that’ll go a long way. 

That’s 4 points in 2 matches from the last 2 NWSL Champions though, that’s as good as any expansion side can as for in their first 3 matches. 

12. Bay FC (Last Ranking 11)

Bay slide down a spot thanks to Denver’s win over Gotham, but signing Claire Hutton through 2030 is huge news. 

13. Houston Dash (Last Ranking 13)

Houston are gearing up for their top of the table clash in Los Angeles. I don’t know if Fabrice Gautrat’s side has the juice to be THAT competitive this season, but the league has been particularly unhinged through 2.5 weeks.

If they can upset ACFC then I’ll be forced to start believing. 

14. Utah Royals (Last Ranking 15)

Utah bounced back to earn a draw in DC, but it still doesn’t seem sustainable. Tanaka’s goal points to better play when her and Moriya are in the starting XI, but for now, the ceiling is too low. 

Again I ask, is that Jimmy Coentraet’s managing? Or is that Utah’s depth? 

I would like to see the Royals double down on Mina Tanaka, and against Boston, they should have an opportunity to dictate the match. 

15. Chicago Stars (Last Ranking 15)

Yep, this was more like the Chicago Stars. 

There were not very many silver linings in the 0-3 loss to Orlando 

16. Boston Legacy (Last week 16)

Boston are still at the bottom after the loss to Houston last week. They need a big response in the home opener vs Utah. 

Conclusion:

Alright folks. That’s it from the Wednesday slate, with how this season is going, I’m excited for this to be irrelevant in a few hours when Houston runs over Angel City or something.

Subscribe if you haven’t already, and consider supporting my content.