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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 22

Shocking results produce some shakeups.

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

There were 5 games during week 22; a handful of shocking results produce some movement.

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. North Carolina Courage (1) - Beat the Dash midweek, then overwhelmed the Royals, and locked up the league title for the 3rd year.
  2. Chicago Red Stars (2) - Beat the Spirit at home. Only one game remaining to try and lock up 2nd place.
  3. Portland Thorns (5) - Edged the Dash at home. Make a big jump up due to two teams ahead losing. Playoffs are ensured, but 2nd or 3rd place is TBD.
  4. Reign FC (4) - Dropped a home game to an improved Sky Blue. Would have dropped, but the Royals did worse.
  5. Utah Royals (3) - Had a complete collapse in a must-win game vs the Courage. Getting points from each of the last 3 games is critical to keep the final playoff spot.
  6. Washington Spirit (7) - Away loss vs the Red Stars is probably expected this year.
  7. Houston Dash (6) - Dropped two away games by the same scoreline.
  8. Sky Blue FC (9) - Won their 5th match of the year, and 2nd on the road! Count Sky Blue as the most improved team from 2018!
  9. Orlando Pride (8) - Bye week. Drop one due to Sky Blue’s win.

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