NWSL Week 7 Recap- Angel City Exorcise Demons, Seattle out-duel KC, and Portland's up and down season continues.

Katie Zelem, Angel City throw the Moral Victory Monkey off their backs
Angel City's first 25 minutes of their venture into Audi Field looked much like their first 25 in Exploria Stadium the week prior. Riley Tiernan was chasing the ball around the field like a bull seeing red. Katie Zelem, Alana Kennedy, and Kennedy Fuller were patrolling the midfield like an HOA member seeing a child having fun in the street. The Thompson sisters were flying up the wings....and assisting each other!

Unlike last weekend's match in Orlando, however, the collapse came much earlier. MA Vignola fell asleep on a recycled cross following a set piece leading to Esme Morgan's first NWSL goal, before keeper Angelina Anderson made a poor decision to challenge an onrushing Ashley Hatch, and just like that, Spirit striker Gift Monday had made it 2-2. Perhaps it was good that the concessions came early. Manager Sam Laity brought on the more horizontally-oriented Miyabi Moriya in place of the more vertical Vignola at half time, and Angel City calmed things down, dominating possession throughout the second period of play. Washington didn't have a shot for nearly the entire second half until Morgan poked in her second to tie the game (clear the damn ball Miyabi!), and Tiernan's late winner off a lovely near post flick from apparently forgotten about Christen Press gave Laity's side a fully deserved three points.

It has been the double pivot work of Kennedy and Zelem that has so clearly differentiated this year's Angel City side from those of the last few years. It was Kennedy's stunning driven diagonal that released Alyssa Thompson to cross for her sister's goal in the 22nd minute and Zelem who scored Angel City's third, but it was the security of the two in possession in the second half that really won Angel City the game. Zelem in particular was brilliant, playing what was certainly her best game since joining LA, and arguably one of the best central midfield performances I've seen in the league all season. Everything --and boy do I mean EVERYTHING-- ran through the English midfielder:
via @Nwslstat
Zelem put on an absolute clinic on how to play the position throughout the second half. She flitted in and out of holes in the Spirit midfield, cleaning up messes and frequently releasing Angel City's speedy wingers in behind. Watch how Zelem scans in the first clip before the ball even gets to her, has her head up knowing the Miyabi run is coming even before she plays the first pass into Thompson, and then plays a ball over the top that Miyabi should really do better with.

Here's a Zelem classic: A perfectly weighted through-ball right into the path of the onrushing Claire Emslie
And here's the goal, a quick give and go with Gisele into a ball-roll away from the static Narumi Miura, and a calm passed finish into the bottom left:
Washington overwhelmed in midfield again
For the Spirit, however, it was another night to forget. The 4-3 scoreline flattered a Washington side who appear to be feeling the effects of their injury list more and more every week. The added loss of Leicy Santos to what was already an extensively injured midfield in Week 7 meant that poor Narumi Miura was left with only Heather Stainbrook --who, respectfully, is no Hal Hershfelt or Andi Sullivan-- to partner her week by week. I'm slightly surprised Spirit manager Jonatan Giraldez has stuck with the 3-4-3 instead of reverting to a four back and sticking Rebecca Bernal higher up the field next to Narumi. There is no perfect solution for Washington, who are missing, well, anyone who has traditionally played a lick of left back with neither Paige Metayer or Casey Krueger fit, but the midfield struggles have become such an issue that the trade-off might be worthwhile.

With that said, I do want to caution against the dangers of using average position maps (like the one below) to make blanket points about team shape without context, because I'm seeing versions of this graphic all over my social media feed. The shape looks so narrow here because Spirit wingbacks Gabby Carle and McKenna Morris (numbers 8 and 14 below) switched sides at halftime, meaning that their average position over the course of the full 90 is going to be shown visually as somewhere in the middle....which in turn makes it appear like Washington was playing without any wide players. That wasn't the Spirit's issue. In fact, it was the opposite. Washington lacked numbers in central midfield, meaning that Angel City's trio overran the duo of Narumi and Stainbrook. What you CAN see from this graphic is that striker Ashley Hatch was dropping even deeper than she usually does to compensate for Santos' absence, attempting to help the Spirit gain a little more control.

via Chris Henderson on Bluesky
Washington had a few good moments towards the end of the first half and did well to put away all three of their shots on target, but had Angel City taken advantage of their chances (looking at you, Claire Emslie!), this could have been even uglier. Angel City nearly tripled both Washington's possession in the final third and shots on target while dominating the field tilt. Washington do, at least, have ample opportunity to right the ship while they get healthier, facing Chicago and Utah over the next few weeks.

A positive? Spirit striker (winger on the day) Gift Monday, who has taken to the NWSL like a fish to water and was responsible for almost of all of Washington's attacking threat.
Commentary Snafus
There were a couple of, well, let's call them interesting commentary moments on Friday night. The first came from Mike Watts --who we love and has been with the NWSL from the start-- who was utterly convinced that Rose Kouassi's 19th minute offside effort had found the net and had been overturned by the offside flag (which, to be fair to him, Kouassi really should have found the net, offside or not) and only found out 20 minutes later from color commentator Lori Lindsey that Kouassi had, in fact, missed the target entirely. Funny, but endearing!

Less endearing was the commentary on Louisville striker Kayla Fischer's lefty equalizer from deep, a monotone morass of nothingness that barely registered through my TV speakers. If we're being generous, the commentary duo HAD spent over three hours in a weather delay and were probably a tad tired, but still! C'mon guys! Do better!
Vlatko adds a wrinkle
The addition of Temwa Chawinga to a Kansas City front line injury list already including both Michelle Cooper and Nichelle Prince meant that the Current front line was, unusually, in severe need of some pace. In response, manager Vlatko Andnovski got a little creative. Vlatko's solution was to give Angolan forward Marta Lacho her first career NWSL start, but at left back.

In order to get Lacho further up the field, Kansas City alternated between a four back defensively, to a three back when building out of its base set. However, instead of pushing one fullback high and dropping the ball-side FB into the back three, KC pushed BOTH fullbacks high and dropped Lo Labonta in between Alana Cook and Kayla Sharples. Here's a comparison of the build vs. the defensive shape:

The idea made sense on paper, but KC really struggled to create anything through the midfield and the threat of Lacho's pace was simply not severe enough to force Seattle's wingbacks to respect. With Haley Hopkins playing opposite Debinha, and Bia Zaneratto up front, KC looked, as they all too often have when teams manage to stay in structure and get an early goal, like they were out of ideas. The Current only managed to generate 0.71 xG over the course of the match and Chawinga, who came in along with Izzy Rodriguez in the 60th minute, managed just 13 touches over the course of her 30+ minutes on the field

KC are still the most fearsome team in the league going forward at full strength, but issues remain when their early blitzes don't result in a goal, or worse, they concede one to their opponent as they did to Seattle on Friday. Something to monitor going forward in a 2025 NWSL season that seems slightly less stratified than the 2024 edition.
Laura Harvey's dream day at the office
The 2025 Laura Harvey renaissance continued in fine fashion against Kansas City. Two weeks after narrowly missing what would have been a fully deserved point at home against Orlando, Harvey concocted a filthy (complimentary) back five structure that completely nullified Kansas City.

Harvey's back five didn't just sit and kick, it controlled the game for large portions, especially in the first half where Ana Maria Crnogorcevic and Maddie Dahlien stayed high up the field, pinning Kansas City's FBs --who, as we just discussed, wanted to joini the attack-- further back. Seattle didn't generate much and focused on successfully mucking up Kansas City's attacking sequences when they got the chance, but they were sturdy when they did get the ball, rarely made mistakes in possession, and had a number of moments where Dahlien, Biyendolo, and AMC got in behind KC's elevated FBs. This was very much more of a 3-5-2 than a 5-3-2, and that difference allowed Seattle to relieve the pressure with the ball rather than playing the entire match in their own half.
via NWSLstat on Bluesky
Special mention goes to Seattle midfielder Sam Meza, who was like a yapping terrier nipping at the heels of Kansas City's skill players all match, and seems to have won a wide ranging battle for one of Harvey's midfield spots. It's easy to understand why Meza appeals to Harvey: She covers more ground than just about anyone, she snaps into tackles ferociously, and seems to never tire. No player had more ball recoveries or interceptions than Meza, who out Claire Hutton'd Claire Hutton on the night. An excellent performance from the UNC product.

KC vs. Seattle
A Note on Chicago's Front Office
Chicago, whose version of a new coach bump was a drab nil-nil against a depleted Gotham side on Sunday morning, shockingly did not magically turn into a juggernaut after the firing of 2nd year manager Lorne Donaldson in midweek. While Donaldson's firing was a classic scapegoating of a coach for the sins of his front office, it was the front office's comments after the firing that have the warning lights flashing increasingly intense shades of red in Bridgeview.

Chicago, by every metric available, outperformed its talent level last season. Their cumulative npxG was the second fewest in the league, and their expected goals against was third from bottom. In other words, they did a bad job at creating chances and they also did a bad job at stopping the other team from creating chances. They outperformed their npxG by 3.5 goals over the course of the 2024 season. No other team did better than 0.3 goals above expectation. Yes, ZERO POINT THREE. This is what Chicago's ball possession looked like relative to the rest of the league:

Lol
Chicago beat the teams they needed to beat, and no one else. Of their ten wins, nine came against the bottom five. They lost two key additions in Sam Staab and Maxi Rall to injury from a team already bereft of talent, but Donaldson kept his team together and willed his team into 8th place despite every statistical measurement saying they were a bottom three side. Their 2025 performance to date was entirely predictable, to anyone who was paying even the slightest bit of attention.

In my October 2024 post-mortem on Chicago, I wrote that the Stars would be the best bet to make a leap "providing their front office recognize the importance of augmenting the roster over the course of the next four months." They did not recognize that. Chicago's front office decided Donaldson had enough talent to play with, even with talismanic winger Mallory Swanson announcing she would not be playing to start the season way back before training camp started, and added very little. Very little. So little, it was practically nothing, with all due respect to Manaka Hayashi and former Gothamite Maitane Lopez. In addition to Swanson's very notable absence, Chicago lost Tatum Milazzo and Rall, and Natalia Kuikka has been out with a knee injury. The squad is inarguably even more barebones than it was in 2024.

And yet, GM Richard Feutz stated in his post-firing presser than he expected more growth out of the current crop of Stars players. That he believes this isn't a lost season, and that a new coach can get more out this side. That it isn's a roster issue, and that Chiacgo management are refusing to treat 2025 as a transition year. Feutz's comments are delusional at best, but the signal coming out of Chicago's management is even more concerning: They think this roster is good enough to compete. Whatever you think of Donaldson's performance, Chicago's roster, with or without its superstar, is simply not at the level of the other 13 teams when fully healthy. Who knows, Chicago might decide to go out and spend like Utah did last season post Amy Rodriguez, but for now, while I feel for Donaldson, I feel much more for Stars fans.
The Portland Roller Coaster Continues
Portland continued its role as the NWSL's resident wildcard, knocking off the Pride 1-0 at home a week after a horrendous home performance against Louisville, and two weeks after a resounding 4-1 win over Gotham.

On Saturday, manager Rob Gale made a few (gasp) good decisions. He took the terror twin fullback duo of Kaitlyn Torpey and Mallie McKenzie out of the lineup entirely with Isa Obaze reprising a FB role she's played at international level but not yet in Portland, shifted natural striker Reilyn Turner centrally, and moved Deyna Castellanos wide into an inverted winger role to let Olivia Moultrie take her preferred floating ten spot underneath Turner. As always with Gale's decisions, it's hard to tell whether their was real strategic thought behind these moves, or if it was the result of giving young winger Caiya Hanks the night off and having to shift the lineup around as a result.

Regardless, it worked a treat. The Thorns put together if not their best, certainly their most complete overall performance since the six game hot streak that got Gale the permanent job ended nearly a year ago. The Thorns comprehensively outplayed Orlando --who continue to turn in underwhelming incomplete performances nearly every week-- over 90 minutes, the only real threat coming when rookie CB Jayden Perry over-dribbled at midfield, leading to a kick save by the consistently excellent McKenzie Arnold on Orlando winger Ally Watt. Outside of that chance, Portland were rarely tested- An early goal by Portland left back Reyna Reyes meant that the Thorns could sit back in shape and defend, and Orlando, missing both Morgan Gautrat (turf) and a true left winger (natural left backs Carson Pickett and Kerry Abello formed Orlando's starting left side duo) struggled to create much of anything despite having most of the ball in the second half.

More importantly, the Thorns finally put together a full 90 for the first time all season. Turner was excellent in her hold up role up top, frequently acting as a release valve for when Orlando built up a sustained spell of pressure. Midfielder Hina Sugita was her typical self, moving balletically through and around Orlando's midfield and playing clever reverse balls into space. Sam Coffey was excellent, and even Deyna Castellanos, who most Thorns fans would prefer to see sat on the bench, had her moments of creation in the first half. Most importantly, Portland's back line almost completely nullified Pride striker Barbra Bands, the Thorns tag teaming the Zambian by sending one defender (usually Obaze) to stick touch tight on her back, while sitting a second (often Sam Hiatt or Jayden Perry) about ten yards off to solve for the first defender getting beat.

We'll see if Portland can put together multiple good performances in a row- They have a long stretch of road games including a Champion's Cup semi in Mexico, not retuning to the friendly confines of Providence Park until June 15th.
Ryan Williams, unleashed
Let me make a confession. I miss the days when players like Ryan Williams flew under the radar. When writers like me could do the "check out cool player x, I bet you don't know how good she is!" There's no better feeling as an NWSL sicko than watching a favorite go from unknown to hipster darling over the course of a few season. It is good, of course, that these days are mostly behind us. Good for the league. More eyeballs. Yada yada. But I, selfish know-it-all, miss them nonetheless.

Regardless, hipster darling Ryan Williams is not, and has not been for the better part of two seasons....including 2024 when she was named in the NWSL Best XI second team. What she is, however, is the best right back in the league, and arguably the key to North Carolina's two week renaissance in their new look 3-4-2-1. Williams is a fine pure defender, but she's with the ball at her feet and has been the greatest success story of Sean Nahas' possession-based system. We know what we're getting out of Williams: A technically skilled, high level passer, will get the ball forward one way or another.

So, Williams has always been a top-notch ball-progresser. The stats show it- Williams leads the league in both progressive carries and total touches. You can see it on TV whenever you watch the Courage. But, through seven matches in 2025, her progression numbers have maintained their rate from 2024, and, mostly, have improved.

Per 90 Metrics	2024	2025
Key Passes	0.88	1
Passes into final third	5.38	5.71
Passes into penalty area	1.12	1.14
Crosses into penalty area	0.48	0.71
Progressive Carries	6.06	6.29

It will be interesting to revisit some of these numbers as the season goes on. Williams' average position has, unsurprisingly, gotten higher up the field as a wingback compared to North Carolina's previous back four setup, but the numbers haven't really reflected that change in position to date. Here is a comparison --from left to right-- of the average position maps for the Courage's two games prior to the move to the 3-back, and the two games since:

For now, Williams has clearly ascended into the elite tier of NWSL players and fully deserves a USWNT call up. Give her a call, EMMAAA.

#BanZonalMarking
I've long been vocal about my hate of zonal marking schemes on corner kicks. I hated it when I played. I hate it when I coach. And I hate it when I watch any pro team do it. Zonal marking is about marking space rather than individuals, with the intent being mostly to eliminate the chance of individual marks getting screened off by clever set piece routines. If a defender is marking space instead of an individual attacker, it is, in theory, less likely to get caught up in the hullabaloo of physicality a normal corner routine takes.

The problem is that zonal marking is a fundamentally reactionary system. The defenders are reacting to where the ball goes, and the attacking team has a better grasp on where the ball is going to go because they know the corner routine....because they are the aggressor. As a result, many teams play a hybrid, where a few players mark zonally while the rest mark man to man.

The zonal marking bug bit either end of the NWSL's seventh weekend. First, it was for Angel City's winner against Washington on Friday night. Look at Christen Press --yes, THAT Christen Press-- with no one with five yards of her on the near post, free as a bird to flick the ball on into the mix for Riley Tiernan to pound home from close range.

And here is Bay, late to react to a San Diego corner right onto the head of Kennedy Wesley. Pay attention to how much earlier San Diego makes their runs compared to when Bay's defense reacts.

You thought we were done? Nope! Here's another San Diego CB, this time 17 year old Trinity Armstrong, getting a nearly uncontested run on the ball against Bay's zone to win SD the game late into stoppage time.
The Synergy between Gia Corley and Delphine Cascarino
This isn't the first time --and certainly won't be the last-- time I sing the praises of San Diego's number right sided attackers today, but lets get into it anyways:

I've focused on what I call San Diego's vertical possession, or their ability to switch from their base keep-ball style into a quick transition look in a just few passes. There are a contributing factors for why SD have become such an entertaining, well structured team so early in the Jonas Eidevall era. Delphine Cascarino (or "Casca" as JP Dellacamera suddenly decided to call her multiple times in the second half of Sunday's match against Bay) is a big piece. The double pivot of Savannah McKaskill and Kenza Dali has been my favorite midfield partnership to watch in the league this season. Perle Merroni has been awesome going forward.

With all that and more due credit to her coaches and teammates I am becoming more and more of the belief that Corley is the biggest driver with every San Diego match I watch. She plays in the pocket between the winger and the center forward better than virtually anyone else in the league. She's a classic "half winger": A 10 who consistently pulls wide, but also likes to drive centrally. Maria Sanchez (or Melanie Barcenas) play a similar role on the left side of the Wave's attack, but Corley's speed and dynamism next to the threat of Cascarino is what makes San Diego's right side particularly dangerous.

I'll probably do a deeper dive with some more clips later this year, but let's start with the metrics. Below is Corley and Cascarino's radar charts overlayed after the first four games, but not much has changed:

Corley comfortably leads the Wave in progressive carries per 90 and is third behind Cascarino (who leads the team in both expected assisted goals and npxG) and Merroni in progressive passes received. That matches the eye test: Corley loves to receive the ball on the half turn and get forward. She's mostly two-footed, a dynamic dribbler, and has a low center of gravity which means that she's a threat to turn either direction. With the threat of Cascarino outside her, teams still haven't quite figured out where to go and how to assign numbers defensively without leaving one of the two Wave attackers clear. Look at how much more action comes down the Wave right than the left because of their ability to create overloads with Corley and Cascarino:

SD deservedly finds themselves third in the NWSL nearly a third of the way through the NWSL season, and it's in large part due to the chemistry their two right-sided attackers have developed. Long may it continue, Wave fans!

Goal of the Week: Reyna Reyes' game winner for Portland