Hello and welcome back to NWSL Crunchtime, The Cutback’s newsletter for the business end of the National Women’s Soccer League season.
If you missed last week’s NWSL Crunchtime, then get caught up right here.
Only two regular-season games remain and it is all to play for.
Gotham FC, the San Diego Wave, and the Washington Spirit make up the top three and are guaranteed a playoff spot. Forty-eight points is still the magic number to clinch a post-season berth, and the KC Current and Angel City are inching closer after wins this weekend.
If you love chaos and tracking the week-by-week turbulent nature of the end of the season, then definitely follow Alison Gale on BlueSky (chart below).
Seattle leapfrog into 8th
It was no surprise that the Seattle Reign travelled to the bottom side in the NWSL this weekend and came away with three points. The Chicago Stars are having one of the worst seasons in league history, and a 3-1 win for the Reign was par for the course. It was Seattle’s first away win since 1 August.
Regardless of the opposition, this was a massive moment for Seattle. Before Sunday, Laura Harvey’s team had lost three of their previous four matches. After looking safe in the playoff spots through the summer, the Autumn has humbled them. Now making the playoffs is back in their hands.
This season’s unsung hero for the Reign, Maddie Mercado, was at it again. She scored a brace to bring her total for the season up to 10. For a player bombed out on loan to Carolina Ascent in the USL Super League last season, that’s quite an impressive turnaround.
Surging San Diego
The San Diego Wave made it five wins on the spin after beating the NC Courage 2-1 away on Saturday. The last three wins in that streak have all come away from home. Jonas Eidevall’s team is now the most in-form team in the NWSL and has taken 25 points from a possible 33 since the start of August, with an incredible 21 points from 24 over their last eight games. That one defeat was a narrow 1-0 loss to Seattle.
As they so often do, the Wave took an early lead, via Melanie Barcenas after four minutes, and then tried to control proceedings. Trinity Byars then made it 2-0 after half-time. At this point in the game, the Wave had 58% possession and almost twice the xG. Despite giving up a late goal to former Manchester United midfielder Vilde Bøe Risa, San Diego saw out the game, soaked up pressure, and showed off their resilience and calm.
The win puts San Diego just one point off the top of the table with a home playoff match and a top-four finish now guaranteed. They are the team to beat in the NWSL and will have fans in New Jersey and New York very, very nervous indeed.
That’s the Spirit
After several weeks of existential crises about whether the Washington Spirit would ever turn their home stadium of Audi Field back into a fortress, the team responded with an enormous 1-0 win over league leaders and East Coast rivals Gotham FC. Prior to this weekend, the Spirit had lost five of their previous six at home. Abigail Segal has more on the biggest game of the regular season here.
The result has revitalised the race for the playoffs and the NWSL Shield trophy. Gotham once had a nine-point lead on the Spirit but that has now been cut to three. San Diego has benefited massively, too. All three teams have very similar goal differences, adding some extra spice to the recipe.
Buckle up, because this is the best NWSL Shield race in many, many years. Gotham and the Spirit have never won the regular season title before, while the Wave lifted it once in 2023 under former manager Casey Stoney.
Thorn to run
As expected, Sophia Wilson was handed a two-game suspension for a hair pull before the international break. And so, the Portland Thorns began their stretch without their biggest star by drawing 2-2 away to Bay FC.
The topsy-turvy affair saw the Thorns take the lead first, before Bay scored twice to flip the scoreline. Caiya Hanks then saved Portland’s blushes with an 87th-minute equaliser.
With just one win in their last seven games, Portland have slipped all the way down to seventh in the table. Although missing Wilson will hurt, Morgan Weaver and Hanks showed there is quality among the attacking replacements. After all, it is the Thorns’ defence that people will point fingers at.
Portland rank last among the top-half teams for goals conceded (41) and have just one clean sheet in their last 14 matches. Robert Vilahamn’s team haven’t kept a clean sheet away from home since 3 May against Chicago.
What to watch out for
The game of the week once again falls on the Washington Spirit (3rd), who will travel to Kansas City to face the Current (4th) on Sunday [25 October, 5.00 pm ET / 1.00pm UK].
What’s at stake? So, so much.
The Spirit will be doing everything to keep their Shield hopes alive while also wanting to seal hosting a playoff match come November. Meanwhile, the Current are one point away from clinching a playoff place and will also be eager to secure home advantage in the post-season.
Home bragging rights mean something more in Missouri. KC boasts the best home record in the NWSL (W10 - D4 - L0) and have only lost one regular-season game at CPKC Stadium in their history (2-1 to the Orlando Pride in July 2024).
The club is also looking to get a record 18,000 people on to the stadium premises this weekend by selling $10 “ground passes”. Roughly 6,000 of those will not be in the stands due to capacity limits, and will instead watch the game on a 12.1-metre screen.
There’s also the small matter of the Croix Bethune derby. Bethune was a standout star for the Spirit for two seasons before a $1.1 million move to KC. The Current were thrashed 4-0 in her first reunion with her former side. Now, in front of her new home fans, there will be added emphasis on showing her old employer what they’re missing.
Recently, Bethune has struggled for fitness, but she did come off the bench for the Current in their 2-0 win away to the Utah Royals. If she gets one more assist, it will bring her total for the season up to 11, setting a new NWSL record.