clock menu more-arrow no yes

Filed under:

NWSL Power Rankings - Week 17

Chicago Red Stars return to the top.

By Kreg Asay
/ new
NWSL Power Rankings

It’s topsy turvy week! Teams that were expected to win lost, and underdogs earned points. Portland Thorns even managed to win without scoring a single goal! Now with the naming of the USWNT General manager, we all wait in anticipation of the decision for head coach - will it be one of the NWSL’s own, or will they hire from outside?

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 this week. (#) indicates last week’s ranking.

  1. Chicago Red Stars (2) - Overran the Spirit while on the road.
  2. Portland Thorns (3) - Beat the Courage without one of their players scoring a single goal. Points for the win, but not the credit.
  3. North Carolina Courage (1) - Traveled to Oregon to face the Thorns, and scored on themselves.
  4. Utah Royals (6) - Routed Sky Blue at home by 3 goals, then went on the road and notched another 3 goals to beat the Reign.
  5. Reign FC (4) - Beat the Thorns at home by one goal, then faced the Royals at home and conceded 3.
  6. Washington Spirit (5) - Were outmatched by the Red Stars.
  7. Houston Dash (9) - It took two red cards and a late PK to beat the Pride on the road.
  8. Sky Blue FC (8) - No shame losing a midweek game to the Royals when others haven’t done well there either.
  9. Orlando Pride (7) - Went down a player in the first half, but held the line... until a second player was sent off and a PK sealed the loss.

More From RSL Soapbox