NWSL: Week 1 Roundup, Standings and Team of the Week

Season 5 kicked off with some surprising results, and fantastic goals. A look at the NWSL week one results, standings, and our team of the week.

The NWSL season is underway and week one gave us plenty to talk about. After an offseason hype train that was full speed ahead for the Chicago Red Stars, they were beaten by a very solid looking Houston Dash team.

The Portland Thorns continued to look strong and won 2-0 over Orlando in front of a crowd of over 16,000.

In Kansas City, things went from perfect to somber very quickly. Both Sydney Leroux and Amy Rodriguez returned from missing last season and scored. In the second half Rodriguez went down with an ugly looking injury. After working so hard to get back, it would be a shame for her to miss even more time, especially after such an impressive return.

The new coverage from Lifetime and Go90 had both success and issues. By most accounts the Lifetime broadcast went well, the graphics and presentation looked very high quality. A lot of frustration came from the Go90 side of things.

Fans in the US only being able to watch on mobile devices is very frustrating, that only got worse when commercial breaks popped up multiple times during the Kansas City/Boston match. Hopefully that was just a week one issue and the bugs continue to get worked out as the season continues.

Standings

1. Houston Dash: 3 pts, +2 GD
2. FC Kansas City: 3 pts, +2 GD
3. Portland Thorns FC: 3 pts, +2 GD
4. NC Courage: 3 pts, +1 GD
5. Seattle Reign FC: 1 pt, 0 GD
6. Sky Blue FC: 1 pt, 0 GD
7. Washington Spirit: 0 pts, -1 GD
8. Boston Breakers: 0 pts, -2 GD
9. Chicago Red Stars: 0 pts, -2 GD
10. Orlando Pride: 0 pts, -2 GD

Match Recaps

Houston 2 – Chicago 0

The most surprising result of the weekend. Houston got a goal from last year’s golden boot winner Kaelia Ohai. The new centerbacks for the Dash were able to keep a dangerous Chicago attack in check. Then Rachel Daly capped off the day with the goal of the week.

Portland 2 – Orlando 0

The initial Lifetime Game of the Week was certainly an entertaining one. Portland had some iffy moments in the back initially. Orlando wasn’t able to take advantage of those chances and the Thorns settled into the game. A penalty kick from Nadia Nadim, followed by a Christine Sinclair goal finished off the Pride.

Washington 0 – North Carolina 1

The final score is deceptive of how well the North Carolina Courage played. Debinha looked fantastic and set up many chances and had a few of her own. Stephanie Labbe kept the Spirit in the game thanks to some incredible saves.

Seattle 1 – Sky Blue 1

The two teams traded penalty kicks and shared the points. Kelley O’Hara was moved up top and was a menace all night, drawing the penalty for Sky Blue. Lauren Barnes kept the rest of Sky Blue in check and Haley Kopmeyer was huge in goal to preserve the draw.

Kansas City 2 – Boston 0

Things were going perfectly for FCKC until the previously mentioned injury to Rodriguez. The highlight of the game was Leroux’s goal. Just look at this pass from Becky Sauerbrunn.

NWSL Team of the Week

Next: NWSL: Watch Every Goal From Week 1

Labbe just barely edges out Kopmeyer at the keeper position. In the midfield Brooks and Killion both played a major role in helping out their backlines to get results. Killion also finished off the penalty kick for Sky Blue FC. The three up top were active, constantly dangerous and all got goals in their team’s respective 2-0 wins.