Tag: NWSL Playoffs

Portland Thorns, Kansas City Current promise a classic clash of styles at NWSL Championship

Audi Field is the site of what looks like a potential NWSL classic

The Portland Thorns will take on the Kansas City Current in the NWSL Championship Sunday, with kickoff set for 8:00pm at Audi Field in Washington, DC.

It’s an unprecedented occasion for the league, with a primetime broadcast on over-the-air CBS (with streaming on Paramount+ in the US, and Twitch for international viewers). It also pits two very different teams together.

Portland is the traditional power, but they’re going through difficult times off the field in the aftermath of the Yates investigation. Kansas City, meanwhile, only moved back to the Midwest two years ago, and finished at the bottom of the table in 2021. However, massive off-field investment has changed the club, who are now striving to join the Thorns as carrying a certain top-class cache going forward.

There’s also the tactics at play: Portland loves to dominate possession, controlling games and making their opponents chase shadows. KC, meanwhile, has been extremely effective at making games more frenetic and chaotic, an environment they tend to thrive in.

Read further for an in-depth preview of each team, including quotes, analysis, and projected lineups.

The four biggest NWSL playoff crowds ever all happened within a week

All four playoff games have surpassed the previous record, set in the 2018 championship game

The NWSL playoff attendance record was set in the 2018 championship game, when 21,144 fans packed Providence Park to see the NC Courage beat the Portland Thorns.

That record has been surpassed in all four NWSL playoff games so far in 2022.

The Houston Dash broke the record last weekend when 21,284 fans saw their playoff defeat to the Kansas City Current at PNC Stadium. The Dash’s record lasted for a matter of hours, as the San Diego Wave hosted 26,215 fans at Snapdragon Stadium later that night for their win over Chicago.

On Sunday, Providence Park saw 22,035 fans attend the Thorns’ win over San Diego while later that evening, 21,491 fans showed up at Lumen Field to see OL Reign fall to the Current.

The attendance at Providence Park was especially notable given the simmering fan discontent in Portland in the wake of the Yates report.

Several Thorns players, including MVP candidate Sophia Smith, urged fans to show up for the game despite their anger toward the organization and its owner Merritt Paulson.

Fans in Portland took that to heart, helping to boost their team to a dramatic win over the Wave while also holding up a host of “for sale” signs urging Paulson to sell the team.

The Thorns advanced to Saturday’s NWSL title game, where they will take on the Current. With the match set for 20,0000-capacity Audi Field, a large but not record-setting crowd is expected in Washington, D.C.

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Ambitious Kansas City Current take the next step with upset NWSL playoff win at OL Reign

Franch was a wall, and the Current are heading to the NWSL championship game

The Kansas City Current have nearly completed their attempt to pull off a rare worst-to-first climb in the NWSL.

21,491 fans crowded into Lumen Field, continuing an excellent postseason for NWSL on the attendance front. However, much to their chagrin, they witnessed a star performance from AD Franch, whose seven saves — along with goals from Alexis Loera and Kristen Hamilton — helped carry the Current to a 2-0 semifinal triumph over OL Reign.

A trip to the final in a year where their most prominent offseason acquisitions (USWNT stars Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams) combined for three Challenge Cup appearances and 171 total minutes means Kansas City’s push to deliver on lofty expectations is ahead of schedule.

For Current coach Matt Potter, though, the team’s success is also the product of aiming high on and off the field.

“When I came into the club, I understood what it was that ownership set in terms of the expectation, the ambition that they showed,” Potter said in his post-game remarks. “To be perfectly honest, that was very much aligned with my own thinking and the way we wanted to play… This project was something that I think everybody would love to be a part of.”

Just as was the case in the early game, the lower-seeded visitors struck first, and it was a moment the hosts would rue. The Reign had numerous chances to clear or shepherd play out of danger, but a series of mistakes allowed the Current to keep the attack alive. Alexis Loera eventually steered the ball towards goal, where Phallon Tullis-Joyce got both hands to the ball only for it to slither over the line anyway.

The recipe was perfect for Kansas City, who have made a habit of battling to narrow wins all year. It also helped to have AD Franch in god mode, as the veteran goalkeeper stood on her head from there.

In particular, Franch was locked in for a one-on-one duel with Jess Fishlock, repeatedly denying the Welsh midfielder with top-drawer saves. Franch made arguably her best stop in the 56th minute, somehow getting down in time to parry Fishlock’s low shot from eight yards.

Those saves proved critical as the Current expanded their lead against the run of play. Franch got involved there too, as her punt was flicked on by Elyse Bennett. Sam Hiatt didn’t get good contact on an attempt to cut the pass out, allowing Kristen Hamilton to sprint through a seam before fizzing a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

The Reign onslaught continued, and the home side was sure they’d broken through the Franch wall in the 74th minute. Jordyn Huitema managed to beat Franch to a corner kick, and though the resulting header wasn’t powerful, it seemed like a sure bet to get over the line. Loera just barely managed to hack it away in a moment that Franch, speaking to reporters afterwards, chose over any of her own saves as the best of the match. The Reign argued that the ball crossed the line, but referee Alexandra Billeter — after a glance to her assistant referee — was unmoved.

Sometimes, it’s just not your day, but for the Reign, it had to be particularly painful. Much like last year’s semifinal defeat against the Washington Spirit, they created far more chances in front of a home crowd, only to come up against a goalkeeper having a wonderful day, and an opponent that could produce some sharp finishing at crucial moments.

The result gives the Current a chance to emulate their forerunners at FC Kansas City, who won two NWSL titles in 2014 and 2015 under U.S. women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski before moving to Utah only to return as the Current in 2021.

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Crystal Dunn delivers catharsis for Portland Thorns in NWSL playoff win over San Diego Wave

Dunn played the hero as Portland finally broke San Diego’s defensive resistance

The Portland Thorns have been looking for a cathartic moment all year, and Crystal Dunn delivered at an absolutely perfect time.

Dunn scored deep into stoppage time to secure a comeback 2-1 win as Portland overcame the San Diego Wave to advance to the NWSL championship game for the fourth time in their history. Dunn and Raquel Rodríguez scored similar goals to bring Portland back after Taylor Kornieck had given the Wave an early lead.

The story in Portland coming into the match was barely about the game itself. Fan pressure on owner Merritt Paulson to sell the team has been present for some time now, but has gone to another level after the Yates report. While Paulson has seemingly reduced his role with the club, the pressure continued with pre-game protests inside and outside of Providence Park.

Still, fans made the choice to answer calls from the players to come support them, even as they demanded change at the top of the org chart. Thorns supporters packed Providence Park, with attendance reported at 22,305, and chose to do a pre-game display featuring hundreds of “For Sale” signs.

Portland may have gotten the vociferous support they had hoped for, but they got off to a tough start, with some sloppy collective defending saw them fall behind in the 8th minute. Alex Morgan seized on some hesitancy after a throw-in to cross from the right, setting up a wide-open Kornieck to head home from seven yards.

The Thorns were were struggling, but Rodríguez had the remedy. Portland won a corner, and the Wave could only clear the ball as far as the Costa Rican international at the top of the box. Rodríguez took a touch, and then thundered a half-volley over the crowd and past Kailen Sheridan for a spectacular equalizer.

The wonder goal amped the game up, with both Kornieck and Sophia Smith getting point-blank chances that were just inches from adding to the scoring. In the final moments of the half, Bella Bixby produced an incredible save to deny Kornieck a second as Portland’s defending inside the area continued to be an issue.

Portland had struggled in the first half, but sharpened up defensively, and really took control coming out of the break. However, it seemed like San Diego — mostly due to incredible play from center back Naomi Girma — was going to hang on and force extra time.

However, when the Thorns needed something special to break through, they turned to a player who knows how do do special things. Dunn, still building her fitness up after giving birth just five months ago, followed the example set by Rodríguez in the first half. The Wave again couldn’t fully clear a corner kick, and three minutes into stoppage time, Dunn stepped up to crush a bouncing loose ball through the crowd.

Dunn sprinted to the bench, and Providence Park went into delirium. For a moment at least, the supporters and players had a pure moment. This wasn’t a situation that required deep thought, or one where protest and support had to be in balance. For a few seconds, at least, the clouds over Portland’s season cleared.

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The NWSL semifinals promise nothing less than exquisitely high-tension soccer

Last week was nuts, and the semifinals should offer the same level of drama

The NWSL playoffs got underway last week with high drama in both games, and there’s no reason to expect anything less in the semifinals.

OL Reign and the Portland Thorns got a bye to this stage, and while they rested up, we saw one match settled with extra time and another settled with a game-winner that arrived further into second-half stoppage time than any decisive goal in league history. The margins? They’re thin!

The semifinals will start with Portland hosting the San Diego Wave, with two teams that have already faced off four times this year clashing again in Oregon. Then, about 175 miles up the Pacific coast, the Reign will welcome the Kansas City Current to Lumen Field, where a huge crowd is expected.

Follow along with Pro Soccer Wire as we preview both semifinal matches, including analysis, broadcast information, and predictions.

San Diego Wave outlast Chicago Red Stars in NWSL playoff marathon

San Diego set another NWSL record, and got a playoff win over a gritty Red Stars side

For all the glamour and attacking talent the San Diego Wave have, the story of their debut season may just be their toughness and determination.

San Diego wore down a stubborn Chicago Red Stars side to take a 2-1 extra time win, sending a 26,215 crowd — breaking an NWSL record the Houston Dash had set just hours earlier — at Snapdragon Stadium home happy. Alex Morgan bagged a 110th minute winner after Yuki Nagasato and Emily van Egmond had scored for each side in regulation.

A stunning mistake gave Chicago an unexpected lead. Kailen Sheridan, who is contending for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year, is known for being sure-footed in possession. However, collecting the ball just outside the San Diego box in the 10th minute, she seemed to be caught between two choices in distribution, eventually badly under-hitting a pass attempt that rolled right towards Yuki Nagasato.

Accepting the gift, the veteran did what veterans do, calmly scooping the ball over Sheridan and into an empty net from 24 yards.

It’s bad to fall behind early in a playoff game, but it’s even worse to fall behind against this Red Stars team. In the 2022 regular season, Chicago had never lost a match in which they took a lead.

A major reason they managed that record was that Chicago is a team full of veteran technicians that know how to control a game. The Red Stars showed plenty of guile in possession, patiently making San Diego chase for long spells in what was one of their best halves of the entire year.

Adjustments were needed, and late in the half San Diego finally started connecting in their attempts to go direct and figuring out how to set up shop to complicate things for the visitors. Wave coach Casey Stoney could be seen using stoppages in play to talk her side through those alterations, and they started to take hold.

“We were getting outnumbered in certain areas,” Stoney told reporters post-game. “I think once we went to a 4-4-2, we looked a little more structured. We could get pressure higher up, and that really helped us.”

Chicago agreed that the shift from San Diego had a huge impact. “I think they changed formations a little bit, or at least tactics a little bit, and put four on the front line,” said Red Stars goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. “They looked to use (Taylor) Kornieck, and then their speed up front to overload and create some different chances.”

The changes from San Diego expanded to include Sofia Jakobsson, who entered at halftime, and she played a major role in the Wave’s equalizer. Engineering some isolation on the flank against Zoe Morse, Jakobsson played a dangerous cross that Chicago couldn’t fully clear, with Emily van Egmond volleying home amid the resulting chaos.

The Red Stars were hardly parking the bus, but the intensity required to play San Diego began to clearly take its toll. The Wave were seizing more control as full time approached, with Chicago simply not having enough in the tank to push back with consistency.

Extra time was more of a curse than a blessing for Chicago as a result, and while they did have a couple of chances, it felt like there could only be one winner.

The path there — an angled low shot designed to create a rebound that bounced just barely below Alyssa Naeher’s dive, slipping into the bottom corner — wasn’t expected, but Alex Morgan being the goalscorer? In 2022, that’s absolutely in the script.

San Diego’s reward for chipping away at Chicago’s resolve until they finally found their way through? A daunting trip to Portland, where they’ll face the Thorns next Sunday, October 23, at 5:00pm Eastern.

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Four thoughts on the Kansas City Current’s stunning late win over the Houston Dash

The NWSL playoffs opened with a relentless thriller

The NWSL playoffs started off with a bang, as a high-tension affair in front of a huge crowd saw the Kansas City Current stun the Houston Dash to sneak out with a 2-1 victory.

An early penalty kick from Lo’eau LaBonta silenced a huge Houston crowd, but Sophie Schmidt’s expertly-taken volley got the home side level in the 21st minute. Both teams then had numerous outstanding chances go narrowly awry, setting up a dramatic finish. In the tenth minute of stoppage time, Current wingback Kate Del Fava, with virtually the last kick of the game, guided a cross that sneaked past Ally Prisock over the line.

For Houston, it’s a truly hard-luck result. For one thing, it’s the latest stoppage-time game-winner in NWSL history. They also out-shot KC 20-6, and though the Dash had to dodge some bullets in what was an end-to-end game, they’ll also wonder how the heck they didn’t win this one.

“It is football, it was cruel with us today,” said Dash interim head coach Juan Carlos Amorós, and you could hardly argue with him. However, KC will want it put on the record that having AD Franch in the form of her life, and a standout display from veteran Kristen Edmonds, was also a big factor.

Here are four takeaways from this one, plus the highlights:

Dash’s day, regardless of the result

A team that has historically struggled to get any attention in Houston finally got the big stage. Yes, this team got some love for winning the 2020 Challenge Cup, but do you remember 2020? Covid safety measures meant fans were pulling up in their cars to applaud from a huge distance, and then everyone went back to toughing out a miserable year. That team celebrated hard, but they also celebrated in isolation.

Today, after years of near-misses, big misses, and frankly some neglect from their former owners, the Dash got their party. A crowd of 21,284 turned up for the first Houston playoff game ever, setting an NWSL record as well as a club record.

 

The important thing here is that the Dash, for the first time in their existence, seem to have a way forward. There’s a path for this team to not just have this one playoff appearance before fading into mediocrity, but to be a year-after-year playoff team. Juan Carlos Amorós has found a system that works (and entertains), and numerous players have taken clear steps forward as individuals.

There is, in other words, reason for a casual fan to buy tickets, and that’s how you truly break through. The people that showed up to PNC Stadium for the first time got drama, tension, and end-to-end play. The tactical stalemate that infects so many knockout games in leagues everywhere was simply not part of the equation.

It’s a brutal loss, but for the Dash, it’s also the start of something.

NWSL Celebration of the Year watch

Lo’eau LaBonta appears to be dead set on making sure KC celebrates every goal, and Pro Soccer Wire is hopeful that this drive spreads league-wide.

This week, it’s a Rockettes tribute, as the Current’s celebrations are expanding into full-team productions rather than one person putting on a display.

Lavogez’s injury is a challenge

It wasn’t all good for Kansas City, who watched Claire Lavogez carried off with a worrisome-looking injury.

“Claire’s too early to tell,” KC coach Matt Potter told media after the match. Potter indicated that Lavogez did manage to come to the bench on crutches later in the second half, but it’s still a potentially difficult injury to navigate for the Current. As they’re currently built, Lavogez is the one player who sometimes slows the game down, adding a bit of pause to a team that can otherwise skew towards being go-go-go.

KC also struggled with the more human concern of seeing Lavogez in such obvious pain. Multiple Current players checked in on her, and it took the entire team about 15 minutes to regain their tempo and focus levels. Houston very nearly put themselves in front during this spell, and while the Current deserve massive credit for sorting themselves out, it also makes one wonder how they’ll cope if the French veteran is out next weekend when they take on OL Reign.

Salmon sub raises eyebrows

On one hand, Amorós made a bold substitution that nearly worked like a charm. In the 75th minute, he pulled Ebony Salmon — the Dash’s leading scorer — for veteran winger Elizabeth Eddy, moving Michelle Alozie into the vacated No. 9 role.

Alozie caused the KC back three fits, and in stoppage time found herself in alone on Franch. It’s exactly the situation you want for your striker, but Franch was in heroic form all night, and produced arguably her biggest save of the year to block Alozie’s angled shot. The Current would go on to score the winner six minutes or so later.

However, that’s the kind of chance Salmon has been burying since being traded from Racing Louisville, and like he said, sometimes the game is cruel. With Salmon having just returned from international duty with England, it’s fair to wonder whether 75 minutes was all she had to give on the day.

“I think we needed a bit more on that forward line. I think Liz was coming with fresh legs,” explained Amorós when asked directly about the choice. “Nothing more than a tactical, technical decision.”

Enjoy the highlights from a wild one

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The NWSL playoffs are here, and the path to Audi Field feels wide open

The NWSL is hoping that these playoffs show what this league is capable of

Fittingly for a league with more depth in talent than any other, it feels like every team in the NWSL playoffs has a shot at winning it all.

The Portland Thorns showed their strength all season long, while OL Reign went supernova down the stretch, and both await in the semifinals. They’ll get this weekend off after earning first-round byes, meaning the action will take place in southern California and the Gulf coast.

While the focus on the NWSL has for good reason been on the Yates investigation and its revelations of abuse and mismanagement, the fact is that these playoff games are a golden opportunity for people to see the league’s strengths. No league in the world has as many truly good teams in it as this one, and this postseason could be the first steps NWSL takes towards becoming the thing it could be if the long-overdue changes coming in take hold.

Follow along with Pro Soccer Wire as we preview both quarterfinal matches, including analysis, broadcast information, and predictions.