Ask anyone about NWSL and they’ll probably tell you it’s the world’s most competitive league.
This past weekend’s results are exactly what they’d have in mind. Racing Louisville came in winless, yet came up with a dominant 3-0 win. The Houston Dash and North Carolina Courage beat title contenders, the San Diego Wave broke out of a mini-slump with a back-to-basics win, and the Washington Spirit overcame a three-game week to pick up three points on the west coast. Even the lone draw in the set saw the Orlando Pride, a team that entered the weekend in 11th place, go on the road and outplay a Gotham FC team that sits in third place.
Sometimes the truisms are actually true. As we’ll get into immediately after this paragraph, this week showed that to win in NWSL you need world-class mental and physical toughness to go with outstanding skill (we see you, Ebony Salmon and Abby Smith).
Let’s jump into the crucible.