NWSL Review | Matchweek 8
Kansas City Current impress, Washington Spirit get back to winning ways late on and Taylor Flint's long-range goal was enough for Racing Louisville to beat Gotham.
Week Eight came through with a few eventful moments and a few teams getting themselves back on track and needing a boost in fortunes following recent results that had happened.
KC Current were one of those teams as they got back to winning ways, also Washington Spirit managed to do similar even if they were pegged back twice against Chicago Stars.
It wasn’t a good Week Eight for everyone though as Orlando Pride and Gotham failed to win for the second game in a row and there were losses for Bay FC and Utah Royals as last season’s two expansion teams find themselves struggling to get going properly.
Every matchweek, we will provide you with a recap of the weekend’s action from the National Women’s Soccer League, reviewing some of the match details and talking points that happened.
Racing Louisville 1-0 Gotham FC
Gotham have truly identified themselves as the most inconsistent team in the league right now as they were beaten in Louisville the other night with the only goal in the game scored by Taylor Flint, and what a goal that was by the way.
Throughout, it seemed like Racing Louisville were the more aggressive team and it affected Gotham due to how Louisville’s press worked against them and stifled them in that first half, which led to them giving the ball away quite a lot. The home side looked the more likely to score out of the two sides, although it never happened for them and there was a sense that a moment of quality was going to be needed to score past this Gotham defence and last season’s NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Ann-Katrin Berger.
So in the second half, Savannah DeMelo looks up and finds Taylor Flint in a lot of space and then the midfielder decides to have a go from distance, to which she finds the back of the net for her first goal of 2025 and not even Berger could get a hand on this strike. A fantastic goal by Taylor Flint which ultimately ended up being enough for Louisville to get a second straight win.
It also means there is a feeling of order being restored in a way as Racing Louisville are up to their favourite position in the table - ninth place. They face the team above them in the table next week Seattle Reign. As for Gotham, due to other results they dropped from 4th to 7th in the standings. No goals in two games is a slight worry and with them facing tough opposition in San Diego Wave next week, is there a cause for concern that they will fail to get points again?
Angel City FC 2-0 Utah Royals
It was a 2-0 win for Angel City over Utah Royals and while it was a good victory for Angel City where they had dominated with large spells of possession in the game, the main talking point in the aftermath was understandably around their defender Savy King, who collapsed in the 74th minute of the game and was seen to by medical personnel who appeared to be administering CPR to the 20-year-old on the field, with the player then stretchered off still with an oxygen mask on her face.
Obviously it was massively concerning at the time and players were clearly distressed even with the match continuing on, which has provoked a bit of reaction as well as to whether it was appropriate to or not. We did get a powerful image of both teams coming together at full-time in a circle and offering a prayer that everything would be okay with King and it was her former Bay FC teammate Alex Loera who led that. Loera herself had a big moment in this game as she returned from suffering an ACL injury over a year ago while at Bay FC.
You can only imagine how tough that would have been for those players at the time on the pitch and with the decision to carry on, which does bring up protocols and rules that are in place with situations like this and how these things are decided which is a long process to get into, but the game was completed and thankfully in the most recent update as of time of writing regarding Savy King, it does seem positive as the NWSL’s statement on social media had said that she remains in a stable condition. Our best wishes go out to her.
On the actual game itself, Angel City as mentioned had been dominating with more possession and had more chances than Utah Royals who had been defending well up until Christen Press broke the deadlock in the 66th minute. Press had only been on the pitch for a minute after being subbed on, where she received the ball and then ran down the wing before cutting inside and curling in a left-footed shot.
Because of King’s collapse as well, it meant there was a lot of added time and Angel City’s second was scored in the 98th minute to make it 2-0. Alyssa Thompson’s shot hit the inside of the post to continue her good campaign. ACFC go up to 5th in the table, while Utah stay in 13th.
Chicago Stars 2-3 Washington Spirit
A late goal from Gift Monday gave Washington Spirit their first three points since week five and they were made to work for it against Chicago Stars, but the victory is the Spirits’ fourth straight away victory.
Washington started well and could have had the lead in the first minute of the game before things levelled out, although the Spirit gained the lead when Rosemonde Kouassi had a cross ricochet into the goal off Ally Schlegel to make it 1-0. Five minutes later however, things were level again when Julia Grosso found the net after cutting inside. Kouassi was involved in another goal for Washington, this time scoring to make it 2-1 after going airborne to finish it, and in the process becoming the 500th different goal scorer in the history of the NWSL.
Chicago had the better start to the second half as they tried to respond to going behind and they got their equaliser through former Washington player Sam Staab, who got on the end of a loose ball. Both teams traded chances as the second 45 went on, but as we said, Gift Monday produced the winner of the game in the 83rd minute and ended the Spirit’s two-game losing run.
The win has left them in third place at the end of this weekend and with a game against Utah Royals next up, they do have a chance to keep putting pressure on the two above them. While Chicago Stars are still at the bottom of the standings, yet they have shown some positive signs in their last two games under the interim coaching of Masaki Hemmi.
North Carolina Courage 1-1 Orlando Pride
Had it not been for a late winner by Prisca Chilufya, who scored her first NWSL goal in the process, Orlando Pride would have experienced another defeat in this campaign, but they drew this one in North Carolina for their first draw of the season.
The Pride had started very well and made things tough for North Carolina Courage and generated a couple of chances which were either missed or saved by Casey Murphy in the Courage net. It was in the 27th minute when against the run of play, North Carolina Courage took the lead as Felicitas Rauch found Manaka Matsukubo, who had her chance saved by Anna Moorhouse, but the shot rebounded to Rauch who was able to finish it.
Seb Hines’ side needed a response and they went close on a few occasions with Barbra Banda having an effort go over the bar, plus she almost got on the end of a ball across the box by Carson Pickett. With time running out for them, they do get that late goal to take at least a point away with them back to Orlando via Prisca Chilufya, but there was a hint of disappointment that they only had got one point from this game.
Orlando stay in 2nd and North Carolina drop to 11th. While the Courage will have been frustrated that they didn’t hold on for another win over a top two side, they are unbeaten in three games now and are sure to have an eye on extending that run against Chicago next week.
San Diego Wave 1-1 Portland Thorns
More late drama occurred in this game at Snapdragon Stadium as San Diego Wave failed to hold out against Portland Thorns, where for the second time this season, Jayden Perry stepped up to the penalty spot in added time and secured a draw for team.
In the sixth minute, the Wave got off to a great start with Kimmi Ascanio scoring from one of the five attempts that San Diego Wave had all game. Perle Morroni crossed the ball over to the far post for 17-year-old Ascanio to scoop a header in off the crossbar and get her second goal of the season. The young players are shining at San Diego this season.
Portland Thorns though did threaten as the first half went on and the game would switch in their favour as Olivia Moultrie was brought down by Kennedy Wesley and the San Diego defender was given a straight red, due to being the last player and denying a goal-scoring opportunity as there were no other players around her. Jonas Eidevall wasn’t on the bench for this one due to illness, so assistant coach Becki Tweed made the change to bring on Kristen McNabb for forward María Sánchez and it seemed like they would attempt to see the game out defensively from then on.
Portland Thorns were on the front foot for the second half because of this and just when it looked like San Diego had done enough to get another three points, Sam Coffey is brought down in the penalty area after dribbling into the box. Kristen McNabb was judged to have fouled her and the penalty gets given, with Jayden Perry scoring it in the last moment of the game before the whistle blew straight after.
It was a big missed chance for San Diego Wave to rise up the table after Orlando drew and because of Washington’s win, they drop to 4th. The red card changed the game and ultimately the decision to try and see the game out defensively didn’t get the reward they would have wanted. As for Portland, they are unbeaten in their last four now with two wins and two draws.
Kansas City Current 4-1 Bay FC
KC Current got themselves back to their stunning best in a big win over struggling Bay FC at the CPKC Stadium and their top players showed out with some good performances to end what could have been a poor run of defeats, but this win sees them retain top spot as they battle for the NWSL Shield.
The sell-out crowd was treated on Mother’s Day with Debinha getting a brace in a five-minute period (33rd and 38th minute) within the first half, one of which was a fabulous free-kick in the 38th minute of the game. She didn’t score the opener of this one though as that went to Bia Zaneratto and it saw the first of two assists in the game from defender Hailie Mace. A 3-0 lead at half-time was impressive from the league leaders as they played their first game at home since beating the Houston Dash on April 20th.
Penelope Hocking pulled one back for the visitors in the 53rd minute to try and inspire a comeback, however a first goal for Temwa Chawinga since week three this season made it 4-1 as she raced through a couple of Bay FC defenders beating them for pace and calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper for the last goal of the game. She’d been assisted by Hailie Mace as well before going on the run.
This felt much more like the Kansas City Current we know. Forward players were a lot more clinical with their chances and the team overall despite finishing with less possession, made the most of their time on the ball. They stay unbeaten at home as well for this season and restore themselves back to winning ways ahead of a big game with Orlando Pride next week.
Bay FC on the other hand are struggling to win games now with no victory in their last three attempts. They tried to take it to the league leaders and be a bit more attacking and give them something to think about, but they got punished whenever they lost the ball and their defending let them down at times. They’ll hope to turn things around next week in a California match-up vs Angel City.
Seattle Reign 0-1 Houston Dash
The final game of week eight saw Houston Dash shut out Seattle Reign and earn what is their third clean sheet this season as they ended Seattle’s three-game unbeaten run. Only KC Current and Gotham have earned more clean sheets than Houston this season so far.
Eyes were on debuting 31-year-old goalkeeper Abby Smith for Houston making her first NWSL appearance for them and she did very well in this game coming in for Jane Campbell. Eyes were also on Houston’s talented rookie Maggie Graham, who has scored winning goals on two occasions before and did the same here in the second half. She almost assisted Messiah Bright in the first half with a good chance but the forward hit it wide of the near post.
Her goal though came in the 57th minute as the move started off with Yazmeen Ryan winning the ball for them, then manging to play into the path of Ryan Gareis who found Graham at the back post. The rookie is the team’s top scorer and Gareis recorded her third assist this season, has her tied for the most in the league currently.
Houston did well to get the win and it takes them up to 10th and three points off of the top eight with a home game next against Portland Thorns to prepare for. It was disappointment this time for Seattle Reign who before being unbeaten had been inconsistent as well and this result just puts those concerns back on them. They could make sure they return to winning ways if they beat Racing Louisville.
