The NWSL playoff fun begins November 6. In addition to the excitement that comes with the single elimination tournament, there’s a new feature in 2021. To match the league’s growth, the usual four spots are replaced with six. So far, the only other thing we know about the playoffs is the home of the championship, Portland’s Providence Park, at the much maligned 9 a.m. PST kickoff time. Now there’s just one question remaining, who’s going to make it?
As the NWSL regular season races towards its October 31 finish line, Beyond Women’s Sports will bring you weekly updates on where teams are in the NWSL playoff hunt.
Let’s see where the standings sit now, coming out of the international break.
The Top
The Portland Thorns sit six points clear, at number one, with a game in hand of second place OL Reign. Both Cascadia sides came away with a gifted three points, following the forfeits from the Washington Spirit due to positive COVID19 cases and failing to follow NWSL medical protocols.
Because of that, OL Reign haven’t played since September 4, but are on an impressive run of five matches unbeaten; four being victories. The big match to watch is October 2 when the Reign travel to Portland.
An added benefit with the increase from four to six teams is that the first two teams receive a bye into the semi-finals. Portland leads the league in goals scored (28), and have given up 11 in 18 matches, so it feels like they’re a foregone conclusion to make one of the two spots. It’s the other spot that offers some intrigue.
OL Reign holds the second spot with 32 points in 19 matches, and the third-place North Carolina Courage sit back just three points with one less match played. The two sides don’t play each other again for the rest of the regular season, so they’ll be watching each other’s results closely.
The Pack
Third and eighth place are only separated by seven points, making for an interesting six weeks of matches.
Currently, the Orlando Pride, Chicago Red Stars and Washington Spirit occupy the final three playoff spots, but positions, and making the playoffs at all, are far from clinched. The Houston Dash and Gotham FC, sitting just outside of NWSL playoff contention, each have an argument for why they can advance past the regular season.
Gotham FC has only played 17 matches and have a potential 21 points still on the table. Compare that to every other NWSL team playing at least 18, at this point. Unfortunately, injuries and poor play put them in the middle of a rough spell. Gotham hasn’t won since July 25, when they beat a 10-player Chicago Red Stars team. Since then, they’ve lost four and drew three.
If Gotham can find the defensive form that put them near the top of the early season table, that extra match in hand will go a long way. Also, the Carli Lloyd retirement tour could bring a motivational boost to the team; getting Lloyd back into the NWSL playoffs for the first time since 2013, with the now defunct Western New York Flash.
Houston will be interesting. In their final six league matches, they face the bottom two teams: Racing Louisville FC and NWSL Kansas City. What makes that interesting is Houston also faces Portland twice and the Courage once.
Sunday evening, the Dash beat Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 5-1, without six starters like English goal scorer Rachel Daly. If that’s a sign of where the Dash are at, Houston may be up to the task. Defender, and US International, Abby Dahlkemper’s addition to the backline should help a group that has just three clean sheets all season.
The Long Shots
While no playoff spots are clinched, there also aren’t any eliminated teams from contention. Mathematically, Racing and Kansas City still have a chance to make one of the top six spots. Kansas City sits in last place and have just two wins all season. With that said, their two wins were in their last five matches. They’ve made deal after deal throughout the season, and their roster has morphed because of it. If those wins continue, things could get even more interesting.
Racing Louisville is six points out of the final spot, so competing on paper isn’t out of the realm of possibility. However, their chances were dealt a blow in recent weeks. At manager, head coach Christy Holly was fired “for cause” on August 31. Then, star midfielder Nadia Nadim tore her ACL in a 3-1 loss to the Orlando Pride, on September 11.
Watch Beyond Women’s Sports for an NWSL playoff report each week leading up to the end of the regular season. Also, follow BWS for more around the world of women’s sports, like the WNBA playoffs that tip off this Thursday. Follow Thomas Costello on Twitter too @1ThomasCostello.
