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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 15

Things get worse for the Royals

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

The RSL family had one... well two small points of light in an otherwise dismal weekend. The obvious one was Real Salt Lake getting a point in Dallas, and the second was Christen Press’ fantastic goal in the 12th minute vs North Carolina. However those were overshadowed by the Royals eventual loss, Monarch’s loss (also in Texas), and the whole situation with coach Mike Petke. This is one week we will all wish to forget.

I do rankings for both NWSL and MLS a little differently; typically in soccer leagues within the USA, the home team wins more than 50% of the time. Thus I rank any team deviates from the ‘normal’ higher - basically an away team winning will move higher than a home team winning. The same applies for ties - a home team drawing will likely cause them to drop because it’s not what was expected of them.

So without further mindless banter, here’s the power rankings for week 15. (#) indicates last week’s ranking.

  1. North Carolina Courage (2) - The Courage finally avenged their home loss vs the Royals from last year!
  2. Portland Thorns (1) - Trounced the Dash at home by 5 goals. Drop only because the Courage won on the road.
  3. Chicago Red Stars (4) - Overran the Reign, backed up and did it 3 more times.
  4. Washington Spirit (7) - Narrow win on the road vs Sky Blue. They move up only due to 3 other teams crashing.
  5. Reign FC (3) - Got thoroughly destroyed at home vs the Red Stars.
  6. Utah Royals (5) - Defensive lapses lead to 2-1 defeat at home. Not looking like a playoff team just when they need to be.
  7. Houston Dash (6) - It’s tough to play in Portland’s rough neighborhood, but giving up 5 goals is a sign of players just packing it in.
  8. Orlando Pride (8) - Bye week.
  9. Sky Blue FC (9) - Narrow loss at home... again.

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