NWSL Week 17 Recap- Angel City finally get one, a Courage-Stars doozy, and Berman-gate

1. Angel City's strong second half yields Alex Straus' first win

   For one half, it looked like Alex Straus' winless stretch in charge of Angel City was set to continue. Perhaps in response to Jun Endo's injury, Straus switched from his 4-3-3 to more of a double pivot 4-2-3-1, starting both Madison Hammond and Macey Hodge, with Kennedy Fuller restored to her more natural ten role. Throughout the first half, Angel City tried and failed to draw Orlando out of their classic 4-4-2 defensive shape. In Angel City's steady state build, Straus dropped Madison Hammond in between his two centerbacks, pushing those two CBs wide and FBs Evelyn Shores and Miyabi Moriya high up the field. The likely intent was to spread the Pride out and find gaps in the mid-block, but there is no better-drilled team in the NWSL in terms of shape discipline, and Orlando simply dropped back and refused to bite. Angel City and their manager grew increasingly frustrated with their inability to play through Orlando's block, often resorting to balls up the line to a well-marshaled Alyssa Thompson.

   
   
   
   
   
   

   In part due to some confusing choices from Orlando to start the second half, Angel City showed improvement out of the gates in the first half. Straus' side have the personnel to become an excellent pressing group -- Thompson, Riley Tiernan, Fuller, and Sveindis Jonsdottir are all good pressers, and Hodge and Hammond should be good at cleaning up errors-- but this was the first time we really saw any kind of disciplined effort. With the exception of Ally Watt toasting Evelyn Shores repeatedly (though less frequently in the second half), Orlando had a tough time playing through Angel City, and created very little after the break.

   
   

   It wasn't perfect from Angel City- Even in a second half in which they took 19 shots, they only accumulated 0.05 xG per shot. The game winner from Alyssa Thompson would almost certainly have been saved by Anna Moorhorse without the late deflection it took off Julie Doyle, and Angel City's build still feels far too laborious given the talent in their front three. Still, as evidenced by the kiss planted on Straus by GM Mark Parsons (was he on the bench??) directly after the final whistle, it was an important step in the right direction for the LA side.

   
   

   Before we move on, I want to highlight how much better Tiernan has gotten in buildup since the start of the season: She's developed this weirdly effective, choppy fake-shot cut move that she pulls out every once in a while that works so well because of how herky-jerky the motion is. Her floated ball for Miyabi is a bit too far here, but it's a really smart, heads up ball!

   
   
   
   

   She also was a key cog in the build up to the Angel City winner, easily moving Marta off the ball like a sack of potatoes. Any concerns I had about Tiernan evolving into a consistent all-around striker will be removed if she keeps on this trajectory.

   
   

2. Befuddling moves from Seb Hines doom Orlando

   I've written plenty about how Orlando --now winless in four matches coming out of the international break-- have been struggling to replicate their 2024 form, but the first half of Thursday's match looked very much like 2024 Orlando.....at least from a defensive shape perspective.

   
   

   Orlando's hallmark under Seb Hines in 2024 was its suffocating 4-4-2 defensive shape, which Hines frequently toggled between a more aggressive high pressing format and a lower mid-block. Even without Barbra Banda, Orlando looked much like they did in 2024 throughout the first half, ceding meaningless possession to Angel City in middle of the field, and then hitting on the counter through the always-dangerous Ally Watt. While the commentary crew on the day questioned whether Orlando were comfortable with ceding possession to Angel City due to their high possession numbers in 2025, it's been clear throughout 2025 that Orlando are actually much more comfortable without the ball. While Angel City did have most of the ball in the first half, it was only Watt's decision making and a few excellent kick-saves from Angel City keeper Hannah Seabert that kept the Pride out.

   
   

   For reasons mostly unknown --perhaps to try to juice the attack a little further-- Hines made a triple swap at the start of the second half, bringing on Prisca Chilufya, Summer Yates, and Cori Dyke for Simone Jackson, Ally Lemos, and Oihane Hernandez; switching to an out-and-out 4-2-3-1 in the process. It didn't work. The shape, so disciplined in the first half, grew ragged in the second. Chilufya went on the chase far too often when Angel City possessed in their own half, Yates failed to impact the game going forward, and Dyke struggled against Thompson after Orlando's right side had thoroughly shut the young winger down in the first half. Outside of a few Watt counter attacks, Orlando generated practically nothing in the second half, allowing Angel City to camp out on the Orlando side of the field. Moreover, we began to see increasing instances of defensive breakdowns: Angel City ran the same dummy corner kick routine (below) to the top of the Orlando box three separate times in the second half, Orlando failing to pick up on the routine each time. More than once, we saw Orlando's central midfielders fail to pick up Thompson as she dropped deeper in the second half to pick up the ball instead. It was just a very messy half all around.

   
   
   
   

   Orlando did, of course, have few very important off-field happenings before and after the match that might overshadow the game. First, they dropped a world record transfer fee on Mexican winger Lizbeth Ovalle. While the fee for Ovalle is steep (at $1.5M, Orlando will be paying Tigres three yearly $500K installments to comply with the NWSL's spending cap), she does, at least in theory, juice an attack that is struggling to create much of anything of late, generating over 1 xG just twice over its last six matches. Even more significantly, the news came out on Saturday that striker Barbra Banda would be out for the season, an absolutely devastating injury for a team already struggling to generate much and without a true backup. A sad day for the NWSL.

   
   

3. Stars fight through by finishing woes, f'd up NWSL schedule

   The ever-present chicken or the egg with bad teams is that you don't get that many chances and need to take advantage of the chances you do get, but the talent often isn't there to do so.

   
   

   Only half of that was true Friday night against the Courage. The Stars generated a TON of excellent chances, most via turnovers forced by the frantic 2-4 press interim Ella Masar has implemented, but --for the most part-- couldn't finish. Chicago were forced to play Monday-Friday this week because the NWSL said so, and Masar was forced to rotate in her attack as a result, leaving Ludmila and Julia Grosso out in favor of Leilani Nesbeth and Nadia Gomes. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, missed clear chances for Chicago. I don't need to clip through the game tape, because the chances were so good that they're virtually all included in the highlights video posted below. It was just a nasty combination of rushed shots, scuffs, and poor decision making in 1v1 areas.

   
   
   
   

   When you've just played a game on Monday and run the kind of hyena-like high presses Chicago has been running under Masar, those chances need to find the net. They didn't, Chicago tired in the second half, and North Carolina began to break through a neutered version of the press more consistently. From the time Casey Murphy saved a 1v1 from Ally Schlegel directly after Manaka's opener in the 49th minute, Chicago had nothing and went on to los----- ........... puts hand to earpiece

   
   

   And then Ludmila happened.

   
   

   A rapid fire 10 minute perfect hat trick from a player who I believe, if she played for almost any other team in the league and received the same type of service, would be mentioned at least in the same sentence as the Wilsons, Bandas, and Chawingas of the world brought Chicago all the way back yet again for a 3-3 draw. She had the Courage's CBs in hell. First a rocket from the top of the 18, then a 1v1 lasered into Casey Murphy's bottom corner, then a back post header from a corner after Maycee Bell somehow failed to get tight enough. An incredible performance, and one that brought yet another dramatic 3-3 draw to Chicago.

   
   

   Bonus hit: I'm really not sure how North Carolina's 3rd goal, sandwiched between Ludmila's second and third efforts was not called back. Whether or not Manaka's clip on the back of Stars defender Taylor Malham's leg impacted --which I think it very much did-- Malham's ability to get to the ball that tapped home by Jaedyn Shaw, it was a CLEAR foul. Really not sure how that one stood.

   
   

4. A North Carolina Collapse Overshadows the Positives

   
   

   Until the last 15 minutes, North Carolina played a very similar match to the previous week's against Portland, lining up in the same shape and with the same personnel with the exception of Shinomi Koyama entering the lineup in place of the injured Denise O'Sullivan. Ryan Williams stayed at RCB, with Aline Gomes continuing at RWB. Williams was a little less aggressive going forward compared to the week prior, where she overlapped the dropping Manaka frequently and really played more as a right back in attacking phases. For much of the first half, North Carolina struggled to break through Chicago's bank of 4, the Stars frequently winning the ball back deep in the Courage end. If not for some rushed finishes from Chicago's front line --Jameese Joseph in particular-- the Courage easily could have found themselves behind at the half.

   
   

   After a similar first five minutes of the second half to the end of the first, the Courage broke through courtesy of a delightful chip from Manaka after Ashley Sanchez did excellently to keep hold of the ball in midfield. The Stars, in a good hint of what was to come, broke through North Carolina's midfield two and back three immediately from kickoff and should have scored when Ally Schlegel failed to slot past Casey Murphy. For the next 25 minutes, it was all Courage: Malia Berkely's entrance into the match in place of Gomes in the 56th minute pushed Williams up to RWB, which is, well, where we all want to see Ryan Williams, and North Carolina immediately started breaking through, mostly through Williams and Manaka. The difference between Williams and Gomes --who I thought was quite poor on the day-- is stark, Williams having a much better sense of the wingback role and how to play it.

   
   

   After Tyler Lussi scored for the second straight week, it all fell apart for the Courage. First, Ludmila was allowed to receive the ball far too easily, turned Maycee Bell inside out and rocketed her effort into Murphy's top left corner. Then, Kaleigh Kurtz misjudged a bounce and allowed the Brazilian to go 1v1 vs. Berkely. And then, Ludmila peeled off the back off a verymuch NOT touch tight Bell to nod home her third. Just bad stuff.

   
   

   Setting aside the late game collapse, I like a lot of what the Courage are doing. I'd prefer if Williams played at wing back from the start because her attacking talents are mostly wasted at RCB and I'm tired of Gomes, but North Carolina does seem to be sharper and quicker in the attacking patterns out of the 3-4-2-1. Most of their best work comes from Manaka, who loves tuck in between the central midfielder and FB. From there, North Carolina have so many actions they can run because of how structured their shape is.... and because of how talented Manaka is in tight spaces. A lot of the Courage's best builds come from Riley Jackson dropping deep in the hole between the CBs to receive the ball and then making a quick decision from there.

   
   

   

   
   

   Here's the clip:

   
   

   ....or from Manaka dropping even deeper and choosing where to play.....

   
   

   

   
   

   ........even if her pass goes astray in this clip:

   
   
   
   

   Cool stuff from the Courage out of the back three.

   
   

5. Changed Spirit survive at Oracle

   I had hoped Washington would make the switch to a back four against Bay this week, and they did...well, kinda. The Spirit's structure was a back four with Rebecca Bernal moved into the midfield, but it still played quite a bit like the back three the Spirit have been rolling with for most of the season. Bernal joined Hal Hershfelt in midfield when the Spirit had the ball, pushing Leicy Santos into more elevated positions, with Croix Bethune playing a sort of floating 10 under Sofia Cantore and Trinity Rodman.

   
   

   While the Rose Kouassi-less versions of the Spirit's attack have been a little quieter than they should be given the talent on stage (Washington is averaging just 0.8 xG/match over the past three weeks) I'm not all that worried. The Spirit are second in the league in goals scored and third in xG, with a hopefully fully healthy Rodman available going forward, and Cantore still settling in. They'll be fine. The defensive side, however, remains concerning. Washington has conceded the 4th most xG against in the league, even if that mark is likely to go down to sixth or so after the Houston/Seattle game shows up on fbref. That said, their competitors at the top of the table --KC, Orlando, and San Diego-- are three out of the best four defenses in the league. It feels like Washington's structure out of the back three hasn't quite clicked (even with Bernal dropping into a stopper-like role out of possession on Saturday), and Tara Mckeown and Esme Morgan appear, at least to my eyes, to be a little too frequently out of sync. The Spirit have time to sort the relationships out over the last few months of the season, but it's something they'll almost certainly have to get right entering the playoffs.

   
   

6. Bay struggle to create once more

   There's not a whole lot to say about Bay, who despite a valiant fight back after going behind 3-0 in the first half, fell short at Oracle Park in front of an NWSL-record crowd.

   
   

   Albertin Montoya tinkered some more, this time shifting back to the 4-3-3 with Kiki Pickett at the base of the midfield trio. Montoya may have chosen to go pragmatic against a scary Spirit attack, but his midfield choices continue to confuse me. With no Tess Boade (anyone know why she wasn't in the 18?) Montoya refused to play Taylor Huff in an attacking midfield role, instead going with the impossibly dull trio of Pickett, Caroline Conti, and Jamie Shepherd; Conti and Shepherd essentially playing as duel eights. Bay doesn't exactly have a glut of creative talent in midfield anyhow, but you simply ain't gonna get much out of that group going forward.

   
   

   Bay's attack remains the Rachael Kundananji show despite her failures to do much in front of goal. The Zambian finally got back on the scoresheet with a fine header at the end of the first half, but Bay's strategy is far too often "kick it up and hope Rachael can run it down." Kundananji was clearly gassed in the last ten minutes of the match from all her running, giving the ball away multiple times with some of the most tired touches you'll ever see. Huff had a few nice moments, but the rest of Bay's attack was anemic outside of the two set pieces they scored from.

   
   

   While Montoya could start a little more aggressively from the beginning of matches, Bay have a bit of a high end talent problem that needs rectifying this summer. Perhaps a healthy Onyeka Gamero takes some of the creative load off of Huff, but Bay really need to offload Asisat Oshoala and get some help on the wings (or at striker, if Kundananji shifts wide once more) and in central midfield for this to be a team worthy of taking seriously in 2026.

   
   

7. Portland joins the 3-back party, loses anyway

   There's probably a longer piece to be written on the proliferation of back three setups around the NWSL in 2025 and what it means for where the league is headed, but Rob Gale and the Thorns joined --let me know if I missed any!-- KC, Washington, Seattle, North Carolina, Angel City, Houston, and Bay as sides that have started matches in a back three this year.

   
   

   I actually quite liked the structure defensively for Portland. Gale stuck Isa Obaze, Portland's best player on the night, on the right side of the back three and the Dane did mostly very well against Temwa Chawinga, whose goal came from a miscommunication between the other two CBs, Sam Hiatt and Jayden Perry. Outside of the defensive breakdown in minute 1 (almost surely a result of the change shape, with no one picking up Current FB Ellie Wheeler) and a few other Chawinga balls over the top, the Thorns were actually reasonably steady defensively compared to the past three games against the Current, where Portland had conceded a combined TWELVE times. It didn't matter, of course, but small victories.

   
   

   Offensively, however, Gale's personnel decisions doomed the Thorns from the start. Outside of starting Deyna Castellanos over Pietra Tordin which was such a bad choice I'm just going to pass right over it, the real issue was Gale's choice to start Olivia Moultrie at wingback over Mallie McKenzie. The temptation for a manager to jam his best players into the same eleven at the cost of the structure of the team they have set up is often too great to overcome, and such was --as it often is-- the case for Gale on Saturday. Portland's eleven was arguably the slowest it's ever been. When you play the 3-5-2 Gale set up, you need to get vertical threat from your wingbacks....something neither Moultrie or Reyna Reyes on the left offer much of. Portland's shape was completely unbalanced by the fact that Moultrie, Jessie Fleming, and Mimi Alidou --all natural central midfielders who played sectors of the game at wingback-- inverted all match, making it extremely easy for the Current's best-in-show defense to cover.

   
   

   

   via @nwstat

   That pass map is ugly, ugly stuff.

   
   

8. Claire Hutton and KC's structure shine

   The Current are runaway shield winners in large part due to their terrifying offensive arsenal (hell, they brought both Debinha and Michelle Cooper off the freaking bench on Saturday!), but it's their structure and grit that differentiates them from the 2024 version.

   
   

   Give a lot of credit to both Kayla Sharples who has experienced a late career renassaince at the heart of the Current defense, and to Vlatko Andonoski who has done a lot to tighten the screws in what was occasionally a team that could look a little open when pressured, but the engine remains their young central midfielder. Hutton terrorized Portland throughout Saturday night's match: The teenager was easily the player of the match, leading all players in both tackles and duels won. Hutton's energy and effort compared to both Olivia Moultrie and Deyna Castellanos was noticeable throughout, the KC six frequently reaching balls she was second favorite for and putting more than one of her trademark brutal challenges in.

   
   

   I've been saying it for months, but, if anything is right with the world, Hutton will be playing next to Sam Coffey at the base of Emma Hayes' midfield sooner rather than later.

   
   

9. Dash play best of game of the season, draw

   Not gonna lie- I'm a little bummed. I was gearing up to write the last section of this week's recap in all-out praise of the Dash, who played probably their best and most complete 90 minutes of the season but failed to defeat Seattle at home despite comprehensively outplaying the Reign.

   
   

   Fabrice Gautrat has gotten too much heat for where his team sit in the standings, but Houston remain well in the playoff chase despite playing virtually striker-less all season. Seattle are admittedly a relatively easy team to press, but the Dash did an excellent job of it all match. The double pivot of Maggie Graham and Dani Colaprico seem to be figuring each other out a bit, and the interchanges between Yaz Ryan and Avery Patterson on the Houston right have gotten increasingly smoother and more dynamic as the season has gone on. I tend to like the 4-3-3 version of the Dash more than the 3-back version and it worked well against Seattle. Pretty, pretty good!

   
   

   

   via @nwslstat

   
   

   I'll have my eye on Houston going forward- This is very much a team that could sneak up on some folks if they can start consistently generating the types of attacking sequences they did against Seattle on Sunday.

   
   

10. Jessica Berman immediately makes me regret assuming even the smallest of pure intentions from the NWSL

    
    

    Last week, I, quite embarrassingly, gave the benefit of the doubt to the NWSL. After the Current-Pride National TV debacle, my naive self wrote --in hope that Berman had the dignity to not do a full-on Lisa Baird-- that the issue was more with the league being unprepared to adjust to the situation on the fly than actually refusing to delay the game for financial reasons:

    
    

    The situation should have been handled better, but I think this is more about establishing better, more timely, and more efficient protocols when needed than an issue with the league prioritizing exposure and revenue over player safety.

    
    

    Well, as it turned out, I was very wrong and everyone that assumed the worst was very right. This was not at all the case. Per reporting on Thursday from Asli Petit, Tamerra Griffin, and Melanie Anzidei for The Athletic, Berman threatened to fine the Current for delaying the match outside its broadcast window, stating that missing the window would cost the league millions of dollars. Only the continued pressure from the staffers of both the Current and Pride --in the face of what was apparently strong pressure from the league's commissioner-- delayed the game nearly four hours from its original kickoff time. Given the reporting in the Athletic piece, I think there's enough justification to call for Berman to resign. Nasty, NASTY stuff.

    
    

    If you are going to take the risky approach of scheduling games in mid-day in August to get on national TV and pick up the associated revenue -- not just in Kansas City, but pretty much anywhere at this point-- I get it it a certain extent, but you have to be ready and willing to change the times of those matches and have protocols for doing so when needed. The league, crucially, does not seem to care enough about player safety to even think about doing so in advance....because, based on the quotes in the Athletic article from Berman, they clearly didn't care enough when they had the information in front of them in real time. One would hope that the oncoming wave of horrific PR would be enough to get the league to, at the very least, re-evaluate its protocols, but there is increasing evidence to say that will not be the case.

    
    

    I apologize for giving the NWSL even the slightest benefit of the doubt. Sadly, in some ways, it will never happen again.

    
    

    Also, Jessica: Having "Berman out" signs confiscated because you're too soft to take the warranted criticism ain't gonna help!

    
    

    Bonus bad PR of the week: Brooklyn FC of the USLSL linking (and thanking the blogger who wrote it!) a Barstool article, the sole purpose of which was to talk about how hot Brooklyn's new signing was. A heart "not great Geoff" to everyone involved.

    
    

    Goal of the Week: Yeah, that would be Ludmila's first of three in Chicago