NWSL Power Rankings: Week 14

World Cup players have departed their clubs resulting in a bunch of upsets in week 14. Which teams have responded and who has dropped?

Credit: North Caroline Courage

Week 14

1. North Carolina Courage (+4) - The top team in the NWSL table. Are they for real? They still don’t have any wins over the top 6. North Carolina’s remaining schedule will either validate or expose them as frauds. What will it be?
   Fun Fact: Tyler Lussi has scored their last two goals, both 1-0 wins

2. OL Reign (+2) - Finding a way to come back and get a draw down two goals is impressive. This team is deep and has a chance to show it off the rest of the WWC window.

3. Portland Thorns (-2) - Two consecutive 0-1 losses in all competitions. These losses will sting, but getting everyone full minutes will pay dividends later on.

4. Washington Spirit (-2) - Losing 0-3 at home to Orlando Pride is unacceptable.

5. NJ/NY Gotham FC (+1) - Who is going to step up in the absence of Lynn Williams? Gotham has only scored 15 goals which ranks third-worst in NWSL. Their USWNT star accounts for almost half their tallies.

6. San Diego Wave (-1) - Another bad loss, this time at Chicago. San Diego looks lost and have struggled to take control of any game, especially as of late.

7. Houston Dash - They’ve scored 0 goals in their last 3 regular season games and have scored a whopping one (1) goal in their last 5 matches in all competitions. The lack of service from fullbacks and midfield have hurt their frontline, all year.
   Positive note: Houston possesses the best defense in the NWSL.

8. Racing Louisville - In order to be a playoff team, you have to put games away. They have not been able to do that consistently this season. They were up 2-0 with 10 minutes left and could not hold on. Another disappointing result for Racing Louisville.

9. Angel City FC - This team has seen a significant boost since Becki Tweed took over the team. They have not lost since, but need to start picking up points. Even with the massive home field advantage Angel City has, they have been awful at BMO Stadium. This Sunday they take on NWSL leading North Carolina Courage with a chance to make a huge statement at home.

10. Orlando Pride - Seb Hines had Orlando ready to play and dominated Washington Spirit for over 90 minutes. The Pride has shown a ton of flashes and improvement. This team could make a late run, but are definitely in the playoff picture for 2024.

11. Kansas City Current - Michelle Cooper’s penalty kick goal was all they needed to give Portland their first home loss this season.

12. Chicago Red Stars - Huge win at home over a struggling San Diego Wave side. Their priority needs to be playing their young players as much as possible.

*Key: Teams with (+ or -) moved up or down from last week’s rankings

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Tier 1 - The Favorites: North Carolina, Portland, OL Reign
Tier 2 - Dark Horses: Washington, Gotham, San Diego
Tier 3 - Playoff Chase: Houston, Louisville, Angel City
Tier 4 - Nope: Orlando, Kansas City, Chicago