This week on The IX Sports Podcast Soccer Edition, host Kathleen Gier breaks down some big injury news in the National Women’s Soccer League as well as some important wins for the Denver Summit and the Portland Thorns.
Injury updates
Portland confirmed that Olivia Moultrie sustained an ACL injury in training last week and will miss the remainder of the NWSL season.
“This also puts her on a tight schedule to return for the U.S. Women’s National Team as it prepares for the 2027 Women’s World Cup,” Gier said, adding that the injury is “a huge loss for Portland,” since Moultrie has put up five goals and five assists through 16 games.
However, in more positive injury news Sam Coffey suited up for Manchester City in a preseason match this week, back from a minor ACL injury for which she had surgery in the spring.
“So hopefully some good vibes there, a little turn in the right direction for knees in particular, maybe,” Gier said.
Wins for Portland, Denver
Portland’s Pietra Tordin put up her first career hat trick in a win against the Boston Legacy Sunday — in just 37 minutes. The win was significant, Gier said.
“They did it, picked up three big points on the road, and maybe more importantly, shook off that five-one loss to the Utah Royals last week, which I think was a surprise,” Gier said.
Gier said that Denver’s 2-1 win over Utah this week also impressed her.
“This one was important for a few reasons. Both teams were scoreless in the first half. Denver led for most of the second after Yasmeen Ryan scored in the 51st minute. Then Tatum Malazzo scored an equalizer in the 89th, and so another game tied going into stoppage time. Janine Sonice was able to score in stoppage time, give Denver a much needed three points, and just pull off another big win for this expansion franchise,” Gier explained.
With a compressed schedule of just 30 games this year, Gier said, interesting results are likely to keep coming.
“I think we’re going to see some probably unexpected results here over the next couple of weeks, just as teams kind of deal with some of those outside factors. But it’s really kind of crunch time for these teams,” Gier said.
Tune in to hear all this, as well as NWSL standings updates and a quick NCAA soccer preview.
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