NWSL Snap: 22 games later, how do things compare to 2023?
Get in loser; we're comparing data from last season with this season. And, some other fun stuff.
Note: Welcome to 'NWSL Snap' – A weekly brief whip-around of the weekend's action, talking points & nonsense from the U.S. league. Expect brief stories, quick updates, curious notes, and some standout statistics. It is included in the FREE Squad Depth subscription.
NWSL Matchday 22 Results:
ACFC 1-2 Wash. Spirit | Utah 1-0 Louisville
San Diego 2-0 Portland | Orlando 3-1 Houston | KCC 1-1 Gotham
Seattle 0-1 Bay | Chicago 1-3 NCC
Table (via FotMob):
The Snapshot
Expansion is expanding. Thus, the NWSL season has swelled from 22 matches to 26. And guess what? In 2026 it is going to swell even more, from 26 matches to 30.
Gone are the days when a season simply was a season. However, in 2024, as we hit the 22-match mark, we can make a neat comparison with how the 12 incumbent NWSL teams performed a year removed from the 2023 season.
It may not tell us everything, but it's a neat way to spot growth and regression. Or, in some cases (looking at you North Carolina and Louisville), near absolute consistency.
One of the most fascinating things about this graph is how much it visualizes the improvement of the teams in the middle of the table.
Gotham, Orlando, and Washington finished sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively in 2023. Only the New Jersey-based club made the playoffs (and eventually went on to win an NWSL Championship).
Only six of the 12 clubs from 2023 improved this season. And this middle trio combined for a whopping 47 points (Orlando 17, Washington 17, Gotham 13) of the league-wide increase.
While Houston stands somewhat alone as a club from the bottom half of the 2023 table that regressed in 2024, the top of the table is a very different picture.
The majority (4/6) of the 2023 playoff teams have picked up fewer points this time around, with the Courage commendably just edging out their 2023 total of 33 by two points.
Perhaps the most striking change of all is the gaps between the top and the bottom. Last year just 13 points separated San Diego in first and Chicago in 12th. Now there is a chasm of 37 points (37!) between Orlando and Houston.
There is also an eight-point gap between fourth (Current) and fifth (Courage). Last season, there was just one point between those same places.
There's something to be said for the lack of parity in 2024. Has it killed some of the drama at the end of the NWSL regular season? Maybe. But personally, I think a collection of truly brilliant teams will make the playoffs a much more enthralling watch.
As more elite teams rise, we will see if they can sustain their excellence when everything is on the line. Pressure is for tyres. To me this is cinema.
Stat of the week: 355 days
The weekend before last, Kerolin returned to the NWSL 11 months after tearing her ACL at the very end of last season.
And this past Sunday, she scored her first NWSL goal! 355 days since her previous strike for the NC Courage. We all wept. My oh my, it's good to have the 2023 NWSL MVP back.
It was more of a vintage Courage goal than a vintage Kerolin goal. All the calling cards of Nahas-ball. Patient short passing, Naomi Miura turning out of trouble to find a teammate, and a centreback charging up the middle to spring a low pass along the grass.
The slipped first-time finish from Kerolin is as much about the run, and all the intricate movement of the team, as it is the quality of the shot selection. But it was a fitting way for her to return. Injuries can be isolating. Players don't get anywhere without their team, especially after long spells on the sidelines. This was Kerolin lifted by those around her. Collaborating. Returning to what she does best.
Quote of the week:
“It’s tough. This is really something that we were trying to nail down all through our practices and really the last month of just our defensive shape. That's what kind of broke us in the last 10 minutes of the game.
"We let transition take over and we didn't do what we planned on doing defensively. We had the fight, we had the bite. It's just that final piece that we were missing again tonight.”
-- M.A. Vignola, Angel City FC
One of my favourite players in the NWSL at the moment, ACFC full-back Vignola is also great at talking about the game. Her frank, honest assessment of the LA club's disappointing end to their match against the Spirit caught my ear. It hit the mark.
ACFC got off to a dream start, and really locked out a Spirit team that was without superstar Trinity Rodman. But a turnover on the edge of their own box, by Megan Reid, let Ashley Hatch get an equalizer agains the run of play. An error.
Then, as Vignola alluded to, the end of the second half saw massive gaps open up. ACFC fell apart as a structure as they got more and more ambitious in attacking phases. The Spirit, and in particular second half substitute Makenna Morris, had the run of BMO Stadium. An inch was given, three points were taken.
NWSL Feels XI – Matchday 22
Sort of like a team of the week – mostly gut feels, and who brought the good vibes.
Comments ()