NWSL Review | Matchweek 5
Washington Spirit end the unbeaten run of the current NWSL champions Orlando Pride, but Kansas City Current keep their 100% run intact after week five in the National Women's Soccer League.
Just one team remains with a perfect regular season record for the 2025 season. Kansas City Current are now the only unbeaten side left in the NWSL for this campaign and it is establishing this fantastic team as the ones to beat now the further we go into the season.
Elsewhere, there is a lot of interesting things to get into with defeats for Orlando Pride and Angel City. Plus, Gotham’s rise up in these last two games and where things are going wrong for the only winless team left in the North Carolina Courage.
Here on our newsletter, we will provide you with a recap of the weekend’s action every week from the National Women’s Soccer League, reviewing some of the match details and talking points that happened.
Utah Royals 1-0 Chicago Stars
A first win of the season for Utah Royals against fellow strugglers Chicago Stars came very late on in the 100th minute through an Ally Sentnor penalty. Both teams have started the season poorly and it was clear that they wanted to make a statement win and move away from the foot of the table.
In terms of chances, both sides had plentiful chances throughout the 90 minutes and the game was very evenly tested. During the first half, both sides had spells when they looked more dominant but no real threatening chances. It was much of the same in the second half neither side had their clinical shooting boots on.
In the 97th minute, Dana Foederer was fouled by Cari Roccaro and after a three-minute VAR check, the penalty was given to which Sentnor stepped up and scored for her first goal of the season. The win moves the Royals off the bottom of the table and up to 11th place. For Chicago, it brings more concerns on their season as they have lost four of their opening five games to begin the campaign.
Seattle Reign 1-0 Portland Thorns
The two rivals collided and a goal in the opening four minutes from rookie Maddie Dahlien was enough to give Seattle all three points in this one. It was also with the first bit of action in the game when Lynn Biyendolo’s ball found Dahlien, whose right-footed shot went across goal past Bella Bixby.
After that, the Thorns found their footing in the game with Olivia Moultrie and Payton Linnehan having chances, with the latter’s shot being saved. For Seattle, it was Biyendolo and Dahlien who looked the most dangerous to score again as the first half went on.
During the second half, Portland did all they could to try and get back into the game with spells of dominance but none of them amounted to anything. It wasn’t until second half stoppage time where they went closest with two chances but Claudia Dickey was able to keep the ball out of her net and hold onto the three points for Seattle, gibing them the victory in the first Cascadia derby of the season.
Angel City 0-4 Gotham FC
Angel City’s unbeaten run has come to an end following a heavy defeat at home to Gotham FC, who have now managed back-to-back wins in the NWSL and it was a top performance by Juan Carlos Amoros’s side.
It was once again the Esther González show with the Spaniard getting herself a brace, including opening the scoring in this one after getting on the end of a cross by Gabi Portilho. Early on in this one, it was clear to see that Gotham meant business with lots of chances in the opening fifteen minutes of the game but the first half ended with just the one goal to show for it and Angel City had fought hard to get into the game.
González went close to a second as a ball almost found its way to her from Lily Reale, however it went in off the head of Miyabi Moriya for an own goal. But eight minutes later, González did have her second as she headed in off a Sarah Schupansky corner. The fourth goal of the game was scored by one of Gotham’s new signings, Geyse who fired home after receiving the ball from Midge Purce.
A tough game for Angel City and a very tough scoreline to take, plus they have dropped to fifth in the standings now after their first loss this season and now face an opposition next week in Orlando Pride, who are in the same position as them in terms of trying to get back to winning ways following their first loss.
ACFC announced that they will have current Bayern head coach Alexander Straus in charge of them as their new permanent coach from June 1st. A very interesting appointment for them that they will be hoping works out, given he has built a good reputation being a multi-time league winner with Bayern Munich.
Racing Louisville 1-4 San Diego Wave
San Diego got their second win of the season in stunning fashion as they put four past a struggling Racing Louisville side and it was Delphine Cascarino starring once again for the Wave, plus Kenza Dali and Melanie Barcenas got up and running for them with goals as well.
It was early domination from the Wave in this one and they deservedly took the lead when Dali fired in from a free-kick. Not a bad way to get your first NWSL goal for the club. Things did look hopeful though for Louisville when Ary Borges stepped to take a penalty and subsequently scored it to make it 1-1 at half-time.
It took five minutes into the second half for Jonas Eidevall’s side to regain the lead with Melanie Barcenas scoring, and the Wave established themselves further by making it three moments later with the first of Cascarino’s brace. Her second wasn’t as fortunate as her first as she cut in and then placed the ball brilliantly into the net to make it a great day for San Diego Wave.
They are now sixth in the league and have momentum on their side now, while as their opponents Racing Louisville have had a tough beginning to the campaign and they might have hoped for a bit more.
Orlando Pride 0-1 Washington Spirit
In the rematch of the Challenge Cup final not too long ago, it was the Washington Spirit who got one over Orlando Pride once again, and it was just the one goal that they needed to win and it came in the 63rd minute via one of their new signings Gift Monday.
Sometimes you get a slice of fortune in football and you have take the opportunities handed to you and that’s what happened with this goal as it was a bit of a blunder from Orlando Pride keeper Anna Moorhouse which allowed Monday to intercept the ball off the English keeper and put Washington ahead in that second half.
It’s a big win for Washington who are missing a lot of players through injury still as we know, and Trinity Rodman is one of them. However, they have shown that they can perform still with the squad at their disposal and they’re getting some vital wins that will help them at least challenge for the Shield.
This would have been a concerning loss for Orlando as they did actually have the brunt of the chances and went so close on many occasions to scoring. The notable chances from Barbra Banda, who hit the crossbar with one effort, and Ally Watt who hit one the wrong side of the post, were the closest they came to scoring out of their 20 shots in the whole game. Just six of those were on target.
North Carolina Courage 0-1 Bay FC
Another one-goal game this weekend saw Bay FC win away from home against the North Carolina Courage to further put pressure on Sean Naha’s side following this poor start to the season.
Things could have started badly for the winners though, when North Carolina went close in the opening five minutes, although Taylor Huff had a chance blocked five minutes later in an end-to-end opening to this game. Kiki Pickett’s goal from long-range in the 33rd minute within the first half proved enough for Bay FC and what a goal it was.
Her second goal this season was after receiving a throw-in from Joelle Anderson. She was at the top of the penalty area and went for it on the half-volley and the brilliant strike hit off the right post and went in and it also meant that the midfielder has bettered her goal tally from last season.
Defensively, Bay FC stood up well to any pressure and earned their second clean sheet this season while also staying in the top eight with a two-point gap ahead of Portland Thorns. North Carolina Courage on the other hand have problems. They are not firing at the moment and what’s failing to impress at the moment is their attack.
Kansas City Current 2-0 Houston Dash
KCC are on top after a 2-0 win over Houston Dash and right now they are looking like the best team in the league and have won nine consecutive regular season games as well, which is also an NWSL record for them as a club.
Things all started well and in the 21st minute, it was Lo’eau LaBonta from the penalty spot who opened the scoring. Back-to-back weeks where she has scored a penalty. Kansas City were on the front foot, testing that Houston Dash backline, putting pressure on them and ultimately getting what they deserved for a positive start.
It got better in the second half when the lead was doubled by Kayla Sharples heading in her first goal for the club with a 62nd minute header from a corner swung into the box. It was more than enough for the Current, who just had the better of Houston Dash in this one and you could see the quality difference between the two teams.
They like making records at the moment this KC Current team, Vlatko Andonovski’s side are only the second team in NWSL history to start the season with a perfect 5-0-0 record. Four clean sheets in a row as well to their name, it really does feel like they are firing this season. Another thing to note as well was the return of an important player for them with Bia Zaneratto returning for the first time since October.
A word on Houston though to end, and they tried to be defensive in this game where they were surviving well enough until they gave the Current the opportunity to take the lead. It feels like they are finding their feet, but they have shown some good signs at least.
