In 2025, we're changing up the format of these weekly recaps a tad. Instead of focusing on three games in depth, we'll be giving some attention to the whole league in the form of a Zach Lowe-inspired weekly "ten things" column. No longer will I be able to ignore Racing Louisville week to week. You WILL be hearing a lot about players like Haley McCutcheon, Delanie Sheehan, Riley Jackson, and Kate Del Fava. You will NOT be hearing me say nice things about Rob Gale. You WILL get weekly screenshots of our sweet returning prince Sam Laity. You WILL see me make fun of data nerds while simultaneously delving deep into the depths of FBref dot com to make my points. You get it.
Before we hop into Week 1, let me present my Official NWSL shield Predictions for 2025. Due to, well, many reasons, I sadly did not have the time to round out my final two preseason tiers columns before the season started, and for that I apologize. Anyhow, these predictions are 100% guaranteed to be correct. Check back at the end of the season.
Washington Spirit
Orlando Pride
Kansas City Current
North Carolina Courage
Gotham
Utah Royals
Bay FC
Houston Dash
Angel City
Portland Thorns
San Diego Wave
Seattle Reign
Racing Louisville
Chicago Stars
Now, let's begin:
The new and improved Houston Dash are here and they're (mostly) beautiful
Let's start with with the obvious caveat: The Dash did actually lose their opening match of the season 2-1 at home against a rather depleted Spirit side missing their entire front line. Aside from the result, however, Week 1 could hardly have gone much better for first year Dash manager Fabrice Gautrat. Aided by a much needed talent infusion led by former Gothamites Yazmeen Ryan and Delanie Sheehan, Houston rolled out what looked mostly like a free-flowing 4-3-3 structured almost entirely around Sheehan, who was freed up by the presence of a sturdy double pivot formed by veterans Dani Colaprico and Sophie Schmidt. The UCLA product played higher than she did at Gotham, floating around and picking up the ball in pockets of space underneath striker Messiah Bright.
In possession, Houston really played more of a box 4-5-1, wingers Ryan and Barbra Olivieri both spending most of their time tucked in to allow space for the impressive Avery Patterson to bomb forward from right back. Patterson --who led the league in interceptions in Week 1-- was hyper-aggressive throughout, taking note of Washington's lack of wing pace without Trinity Rodman, Rose Kouassi, and Ouleymata Sarr, frequently stepping in front of Washington out-balls down the left.
Houston still have holes to fill: Natural CB Katie Naughton looked mostly uncomfortable playing LB and the Dash lack defensive talent after Tarciane's offseason departure, Schmidt's lack of athleticism has become an increasingly large issue over the years, and the Dash desperately need one of Diana Ordonez or Bright to grab the nine spot by the horns. With all that said, in the short term, this was an undeniably impressive opener --particularly in the midfield-- against one of the best teams in the league. Houston fans, be encouraged.
Angelina's versatility gives Orlando options
Week 1's most impressive display came from the defending champs, who threw down the gauntlet for the rest of the league. While the Pride did play an admittedly dreadful Chicago team (more on them shortly), Orlando picked up where they left off in 2024, thrashing the Stars 6-0 at home and never looking even remotely challenged in the process.
Orlando manager Seb Hines actually switched up his lineup in some interesting ways. Orlando kept the same 4-2-3-1 structure that served them so well in their double-winning 2024 campaign, but Hines brought in Morgan Gautrat to partner Haley McCutcheon in his double pivot. This meant that Angelina, one of the league's best central midfielders in 2024, was pushed into the inverted left winger position typically occupied by either Summer Yates or the now-departed Adriana a season ago. Hines is so good at knowing what buttons to push that the change immediately made sense: LB Kerry Abello storms forward so much that it allows Angelina to step in almost as a second 10 next to Marta when Orlando has possession and make darting runs in behind. Look where Angelina (15) picks the ball up in the clip below and where Abello receives it. Orlando loves to overload the midfield whenever possible and poor Chicago --and their midfield-deficient 4-4-2-- had no chance at dealing with it.
Hines tends to like to play with a more inverted winger on that left side anyhow, but it will be interesting to see how he treats the left side going forward. With the addition of Prisca Chifulya to a winger corps already including Ally Watt, Hines will have the option week to week of going raw speed on both sides with Watt and Chilfulya (perhaps against teams which Orlando will look to counter against) or continuing the trend of playing either Yates or Angelina wide (against the Chicagos of the world).
What exactly is Chicago's endgame?
Listen, I get it. Mallory Swanson is presently unavailable, as is Chicago's second most dangerous attacker in Ludmila. Chicago also had about the most challenging Week 1 fixture, traveling to face the defending champs in Orlando. Perhaps 6-0 was a TAD harsh. But still.
I have some real big picture questions about Chicago's direction. Aside from a truly quite awful rebrand that changed one of the better logos and color schemes in the NWSL to one of the worst, Chicago's new management has really struggled to give 2nd year manager Lorne Donaldson a roster capable of competing at the highest level, or indeed, the most medium of levels. Donaldson's 2024 Red Stars spat in the face of cumulative xG probability in 2024, somehow nabbing a playoff spot despite finishing with a -15 expected goal differential. Yes, NEGATIVE 15. Donaldson's 4-4-2 has tried its best to be sturdy, but it really hasn't been: Chicago finished third from last in expected goals against and their season long over-performance covered up a defense that really wasn't even as stingy as it seemed. And it didn't even seem all that stingy!
Some of this can be attributed to the injury suffered by defender Sam Staab (who made an astoundingly quick recovery from an achilles tear to come off the bench Friday night), but much of it is simply down to a talent deficiency, particularly in midfield. Chicago is generally set up in a low-block 4-4-2, which means they typically only play with two central midfielders and look to hit on the counter. That works occasionally when you have Mal Swanson on the field, but when you don't? Yeah, things get ugly fast.
Chicago's FO has (kind of) attempted to fix the midfield, adding Canadian international Julia Grosso and Japanese U-20 captain Manaka Hayashi over the last two windows. Grosso, however, simply has not been as good a pro as her reputation as a youngster at the University of Texas would have indicated, and Manaka, while certainly a highly rated player, is in her first year in the league and is still just 20 years of age. Chicago still lacks any type of true physicality in midfield, and also lacks any dynamism up front outside of Jameese Joseph and Ally Schlegel, who both had some nice moments in 2024, but are hardly anyone's idea of game changing talents.
At some point, Donaldson is going to have to get some help. I'm just not sure if Chicago's front office knows what's going on.
San Diego's wingers making the rebuild fun
The NWSL's 2025 "they're gonna have some moments" team is the San Diego Wave. They don't really have a striker, they definitely don't have a midfield, they're young as hell, and they lost the best defender in the world in the offseason. What they do have? Boatloads of fun-ass wingers.
Here's Delphine Cascarino (who would be getting much more attention as one of the coolest players in the league if she played for a better team) cruising by the pretty-dang-fast-herself MA Vignola to cross for Gia Corley for SD's opener in LA:
Here's Maria Sanchez whipping in a gorgeous free-kick that probably should have led to another:
....and here's teenager -- and candidate for "quickest feet in the league"-- Melanie Barcenas embarrassing Angel City's entire right side from a stand still:
Speaking of, Jonas: Let's get Barcenas on the field more! I think I've already seen enough of 2025 Savannah McKaskill.
The Emma Sears effect
Which side of the pitch do you think Emma Sears played on?
Lolll (via @nwslStat on Bluesky) Rob Gale is a failure
As your resident Thorns fan, watching Rob Gale's Draco Malfoy-lookin ass sit on the sideline and ruin my favorite team, it's hard for me to write these analysis sections without the white hot rage seeping in despite the becoming-increasingly-less-charming Britishisms he spews after every loss. But I'll give it a shot.
The Thorns are unquestionably a team with some natural roster holes. They lost their best defender (Marie Müller) to an ACL injury just before the season, their best winger (Morgan Weaver) aggravated a previous knee injury and was also placed on the SEI list, and talismanic striker Sophia Wilson --wisely, and massive congratulations to her-- decided 2025 was the right time to have a child. Combined with the loss of veteran CBs Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelli Hubly, 2025 was always likely to be a tough season for the the youngest side in the league.
When you have the youngest roster in the league, you need your manager to elevate with tactical structure, and Gale appears utterly incapable of doing so. Against Kansas City on Saturday morning, he started central midfielder Jessie Fleming on the wing, stating postgame that:
"If you start with two out and out wingers, you can get caught a little bit high... So the protection of Jessie on that right hand side was to stop the overloads and their fullbacks getting the ball."
While I disagree wholeheartedly, the argument sounds somewhat reasonable, at least in theory: I discussed Angelina playing that role for Seb Hines in Orlando above, likely for a similar reason. The problem is that this only works if you have compensatory speed elsewhere. The Pride have Barbra Banda and Ally Watt to stretch the field, with Abello overlapping on the left. The Thorns, on the other hand, are utilizing Deyna Castellanos as a false 9 with Alexa Spaanstra on the left. Without Müller, they don't have an overlapping fullback to fill the space Fleming cannot. The result is what you see in the pass map below: A complete and utter lack of vertical threat. Gale has repeatedly shown himself to have a total misunderstanding of what the strengths and weaknesses are, and is incapable of designing a structured system that with clear tactical direction that sets his players up for success....and the Thorns are suffering for it. Hell, the man played a high line against Temwa Chawinga!
This (https://bsky.app/profile/phuocerman.bsky.social/post/3lkgx2bj2xs2i) thread of Olivia Moultrie quotes sums up Gale's whole issue pretty well: Portland's manager seems to see himself as this architect of free flowing position-less soccer like a Hogwarts edition Pep Guardiola, but the only reason those systems work under specific managers is because they're actually incredibly over-structured and intensely well- drilled, whereas Gale just thinks he can skip the structure part and go off vibes. No! It does matter where on the field players are playing even if you do want rotation! You still have to put a balanced roster on the field! You still have to have identified roles for your players! Especially when you have the youngest team in the league!
The Thorns have some fun young players --rookies Caiya Hanks, Pietra Tordin, and Jayden Perry all played against KC-- and will likely have a few moments this season They are not, however, going anywhere fast with Gale in charge, and with both Sam Coffey and Wilson's upcoming contract decisions, new GM Jeff Agoos has a ton of work to do.
Angel City's weird midfield decisions
Interim coach Sam Laity (looking pretty in pink!) made the strange decision to leave former Manchester United captain, England international, and 2024 marquee signing Katie Zelem on the bench for Australian CB/DM Alana Kennedy. Angel City started 2025 in a 4-2-3-1, Kennedy and rookie Macey Hodge sitting underneath teen Kennedy Fuller in a double pivot.
Welcome back King Angel City was mostly outplayed against a pretty weak San Diego midfield that included Maria Sanchez playing as hybrid 8/10. Kennedy's lack of athleticism combined with Hodge --who didn't have a bad game necessarily-- and her lack of experience made for a tough combo. Zelem's calmness and experience as a deep-lying playmaker behind the kids seemed like a no-brainer, but, as Lianne Sanderson mentioned on the broadcast, new GM Mark Parsons made it clear that he views Kennedy as a holding midfielder for Angel City. When you take into account Parsons' extensive coaching background and the fact that Laity is a hand-picked interim, it's possible that the former Thorns and Spirit manager maaay be interfering just a tad. This isn't a pretty field tilt or pass map if you were wearing salmon on Sunday afternoon!
Yikes! (via @nwslstat on Bluesky) Ultimately, Kennedy over Zelem might just be a random first game lineup choice, or maybe Zelem was carrying a knock, but it is certainly something on my radar for Angel City's Week 2 lineup against Portland. For now, in my best Tony Romo voice: Ahuueuauhaghhhugh I don't know about that choice Jim!
Sarah Schupansky gets her chance
Gotham's new-look attack struggled to generate much against a typically rugged Reign side on a rainy Seattle Saturday evening. Gotham's strong tactical structure under Amoros can mitigate some of the pace issues Gotham is likely to experience until Midge Purce returns from injury without the now departed Yazmeen Ryan/Lynn Biyendolo duo, but Gotham still needs that vertical threat to put some stress on backlines that will inevitably sit in and let Gotham play in front of them. For a team many think of as primarily possession-oriented around their talented core of silky attackers, Gotham was much more vertical in 2024 than in years past. They led the league in long passes (30 yards or more) and finished behind only the Current in total crosses into the box.
Amoros' initial response with Jessica Silva sidelined with a retina(?!) injury was to try rookie Sarah Schupansky at left wing, and while Gotham's attack was mostly pretty timid on the night, Schupansky had her moments. The former Pitt forward has some Ella Stevens to her game: She's a tricky on-ball option with a hell of a long range strike. I imagine we'll see Amoros flip through his roster options as the season progresses, but it was interesting to see Schupansky get the first crack at replacing Gotham's fleet of departed or injured wingers.
Utah's adventures in building from the back
Utah has built a roster designed to play with the ball. On Saturday, manager Jimmy Conraets started Ana Tejada --who thrived in a double pivot in 2024-- at central defense next to Kate Del Fava with Dana Foederer taking Tejada's place in midfield. Fellow Spaniards Nuria Rábano and Claudia Zornoza also started, with Bianca St. Georges and Kiwi Macey Fraser either side of Japanese international Mina Tanaka along the front line. Balance between verticality and structure has been a theme of Week 1 so far, and Conraets did a nice job at getting the wing balance right in Week 1 despite the draw. Rabano's ball playing ability worked nicely with St. Georges' pace in behind, whereas RB Paige Monaghan provided the width on the right while Fraser mostly tucked into midfield.
Utah's transfer activity as of late has given a pretty clear indicator of how Conraets wants to build. Almost every addition over the last three transfer windows -- Spaniards Tejada, Zornoza, and Rabano; Tanaka, and talented teen RB Ana Maria Guzman-- are structured towards building from the back. Keeper Mandy McGlynn has clearly been directed to try to play out whenever possible, leading all goalkeepers in total passes attempted. Tejada's shift from the midfield into a more ball-playing CB role gives Utah some on-ball confidence during their build, while Rabano and the player she replaced, the zoomy Madison Pogarch could not be more different in overall playstyle.
Anyhow, this worked to varying degrees on Saturday. I have about 30 clips saved, but I'll keep it to three, all within the first 20 minutes. Here's McGlynn taking a long touch outside her own penalty area before giving the ball away, leading to a Bay FK:
...and here's McGlynn lacing an absolute DOT like a quarterback throwing a perfect seam ball to St. Georges for Utah's opener:
.....and lastly, here's some nice build up plus McGlynn driving a press-breaker to Fraser :
There's some cool stuff happening in Utah!
North Carolina's midfield structure
North Carolina's opening day setup was easily my most anticipated Week 1 storyline. Would new signing Jaedyn Shaw play on the right, as a ten, or as a false 9? Would we see the versatile newbie Shinomi Koyama from the start, or would Nahas ease her into NWSL play?
Well, we got pretty much what I thought we'd get: Shaw and Manaka rotating in and out of North Carolina's false 9, with Ashley Sanchez playing as an inverted right winger cum central midfielder. The big surprise was the presence of teenager Riley Jackson, who took the place of the now-departed Narumi Miura next to veteran Denise O'Sullivan at the base of the Courage's midfield trio. I did highlight Jackson as one to watch (mostly because of how highly Courage manager Sean Nahas thinks of her), but I didn't expect her to start Week 1, let alone score the Courage's lone goal. From my Courage season preview:
One more bonus hit: Keep an eye on Courage midfielder and USWNT U-20 international Riley Jackson. The 18-year old Jackson understandably didn't play a ton in her rookie season, accumulating just 318 minutes over her 18 matches played, but Nahas has raved about her. It is most likely a season too early for Jackson to break into the first team with any consistency, but she's yet another talented attacking midfielder waiting in the wings if Nahas needs her.
I imagine there's a good chance Jackson's presence in the first 11 of the season is no more than Nahas wanting to ease Shinomi into the 11, but the Courage manager easily could have gone with the more experienced Briana Pinto instead of Jackson and chose the youngster instead. Another lineup choice to monitor going into Week 2.
Goal of the Week: This absolute howitzer from Kiki Pickett for Bay