After a monthlong summer break, the NWSL is back in action. In the first weekend of play, there were four braces, one huge upset, and a look at what a few teams look like without key players.
Chicago ends Utah’s unbeaten streak
The Chicago Stars, who entered the break in second-to-last place in the standings, beat the second-place Utah Royals in a 3-2 comeback, snapping Utah’s 10-game unbeaten streak. Jordyn Huitema knocked in two balls from close range with a striker’s instinct, and center back Sam Staab made a beautiful free kick that sailed past a helpless Mandy McGlynn.
Chicago has shown a few glimpses of potential this season, but they’ve always reverted to their dreadful ways, offering little hope that they’ll be able to build on this performance. Utah, on the other hand, had been building a surprising yet undeniable strong season. They will look to bounce back in their next game, against Gotham FC, despite having transferred Janni Thomsen to London City Lionesses on Friday.
Angel City win after tumultuous break; Orlando toothless without Banda
When Angel City plays Orlando Pride, you can usually expect drama. This go-around, however, Angel City seems to have filled up their drama quotient in the weeks before the match and delivered a clean 2-0 win to the visiting Pride on Friday.
During the break, Angel City transferred elite young midfielder Kennedy Fuller to Bay FC, acquired the inconsistent Ally Sentnor from Kansas City Current for an enormous fee, and fired head coach Alexander Straus. The chaos in the locker room didn’t seem to shake the team, with goals from Maiara Niehues and Sveindís Jónsdóttir securing the three points.
The Angel City backline had a lot less to deal with than in the reverse fixture in April, when Sarah Gorden put up a defensive masterclass to fend off Barbra Banda. Orlando’s star striker, who is leading the league’s Golden Boot race, was injured in the last game before the break and remained unavailable on Friday. Orlando’s offense looks toothless without her, even with Lizbeth Ovalle back to putting in significant minutes. Coach Seb Hines has a task ahead of him to make up Banda’s goalscoring — and defensive — output, and will likely need a big assist from general manager Caitlin Carducci in the form of a new signing. (Perhaps that new signing’s name should rhyme with Gemma Tiers…)
Things went downhill for fans after the match. A fireworks show at BMO Stadium went awry, with some fireworks shooting into the stands towards fans. A statement from the club said that attendees “were able to depart safely” but fan accounts posted to Reddit suggest otherwise.
No one envies Louisville
Last season’s playoff darlings have quickly become this year’s most pitiable side. In the offseason, Racing Louisville lost most of the players that secured a postseason berth last year under the tutelage of NWSL coach of the year Bev Yanez, and they haven’t been able to muster up the quality to replace them. The last-place squad boasts only a few outstanding players, with Emma Sears headlining that list. The uber-fast winger has muscled her way into being a USWNT regular, and scored more NWSL goals than any other American player last season. That made it a bit surprising when, in October, she signed a contract extension with the team through 2028; Louisville’s owners are not known for investing in their team, and one would think she’d want to spread her wings and join a more ambitious side soon.
That made ESPN’s Thursday report that Sears has requested a trade out of Louisville feel less than surprising. There are only so many seats on the USWNT’s plane to Brazil for next summer’s World Cup, and Sears wants to do everything she can to get on one. Being the big fish in a really, really, small pond is no way to do that. The problem: Racing is not open to selling her.
On Sunday, Louisville took a 4-0 thrashing from the Portland Thorns. Sears played 72 minutes but managed just one shot. As much as one would hate to see Louisville lose its most marketable player, especially as its current owner shops it around for a partial sale, seeing her stagnate would be far worse. There are plenty of clubs in the league that would find Sears’s services useful and could provide meaningful development in turn. Hopefully Racing will come around and see that selling her — for what would almost certainly be a hefty sum — would be the right, and smart, thing to do.
San Diego beat Challenge Cup winners Gotham in first game without Dudinha
The real loser in Brazil’s red card fest against the USWNT was Dudinha, who suffered an ACL tear accompanied with a meniscus injury during a collision with Emily Sonnett. The 20-year-old had been the table-topping San Diego Wave’s best player this season. The Wave’s first match back, against Sonnett’s Gotham FC, would prove to be more than a clash of titans. It would be the first indication of how the Wave will adapt to Dudinha’s absence.
Against last season’s champions and last week’s Challenge Cup winners, San Diego looked just fine. Despite a few inexcusable misses from Ludmila, they still managed a 2-0 win off a banger from 18-year-old Melanie Barcenas and a late Trinity Byars put-away that punished an Ann-Katrin Berger mistake at midfield. San Diego will miss Dudhina, but they look built to thrive in her absence nonetheless, especially when Cat Macario is able to lace up her boots.
Sanchez, Cooper, Rodman, Huitema record braces
It was a good weekend for North American attackers. Michelle Cooper, Trinity Rodman, and Ashley Sanchez — American wingers all — joined Huitema, a Canadian international, in scoring two goals to secure wins for their respective teams.
With her brace, Sanchez upped her season goal total to nine, taking second place in the league’s Golden Boot race only behind Banda’s 11. Sanchez’s North Carolina Courage were up against Seattle Reign in their first game since the news that Japanese phenom Manaka Matsukubo transferred to Chelsea. Worries about the Courage’s ability to replace Manaka’s playmaking ability remain, but if Sanchez keeps up her career best season and can grow her chemistry with Evelyn Ijeh, things are looking up.
Whether Emma Hayes decides to call up Sanchez to the USWNT is still an open question. It doesn’t help Sanchez’s case that Cooper and Rodman, mainstay national team wingers, are playing consistently well. (Sophia Wilson, for her part, scored for Portland in a play that included a beautiful backheel flick.) But it’s all Sanchez can do to keep up her performances, and she looks incapable of doing anything less. All eyes are on Hayes.
“Becoming Caitlin Clark” is out now!
Howard Megdal’s newest book is here! “Becoming Caitlin Clark: The Unknown Origin Story of a Modern Basketball Superstar” captures both the historic nature of Clark’s rise and the critical context over the previous century that helped make it possible, including interviews with Clark, Lisa Bluder (who also wrote the foreword), C. Vivian Stringer, Jan Jensen, Molly Kazmer and many others.
