2018 NWSL Week 18 result: Saturday, July 28 Chicago Red Stars v. Sky Blue PPD 2018 NWSL Week 19 Times are CDT Streaming coverage is now on http://www.nwslsoccer.com/ Sunday, August 5 North Carolina Courage v. Portland Thorns 5:00 pm Orlando Pride v. Sky Blue 6:30 pm Houston Dash v. Utah Royals 7:30 pm Seattle Reign v. Washington Spirit 8:00 pm BYE: Chicago Red Stars
2018 NWSL Week 18 results: Sunday, August 5 North Carolina Courage 2-1 Portland Thorns Orlando Pride 2-2 Sky Blue Houston Dash 1-2 Utah Royals Seattle Reign 2-0 Washington Spirit Standings: 1. NCC 20 g.p. 49 pts +28 g.d. 2. SEA 19 g.p. 32 pts +7 g.d. 3. ORL 20 g.p. 30 pts +2 g.d. 4. POR 19 g.p. 29 pts +6 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. CHI 18 g.p. 28 pts +3 g.d. 6. UTR 19 g.p. 25 pts -2 g.d. 7. HOU 19 g.p. 23 pts -7 g.d. 8. WAS 19 g.p. 10 pts -15 g.d. 9. SKY 17 g.p. 4 pts -21 g.d
2018 NWSL Week 19 Times are CDT Streaming coverage is now on http://www.nwslsoccer.com/ Wednesday, August 8 Utah Royals v. Washington Spirit 9:00 pm Friday, August 10 Chicago Red Stars v. North Carolina Courage 7:00 pm Saturday, August 11 Utah Royals v. Seattle Reign 2:30 pm Lifetime Sky Blue v. Houston Dash 6:00 pm Orlando Pride v. Portland Thorns 6:30 pm Every team plays at least once, Utah plays twice.
2018 NWSL Week 19 results: Wednesday, August 8 Utah Royals 1-0 Washington Spirit Friday, August 10 Chicago Red Stars 1-1 North Carolina Courage Saturday, August 11 Utah Royals 0-1 Seattle Reign Sky Blue 1-2 Houston Dash Orlando Pride 0-2 Portland Thorns Standings: 1. NCC 21 g.p. 50 pts +28 g.d. 2. SEA 20 g.p. 36 pts +8 g.d. 3. POR 20 g.p. 32 pts +8 g.d. 4. ORL 21 g.p. 30 pts -1 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. CHI 19 g.p. 29 pts +4 g.d. 6. UTR 21 g.p. 28 pts -3 g.d. 7. HOU 20 g.p. 26 pts -6 g.d. 8. WAS 20 g.p. 10 pts -17 g.d. 9. SKY 18 g.p. 4 pts -21 g.d
2018 NWSL Week 20 Times are CDT Streaming coverage is now on http://www.nwslsoccer.com/ Wednesday, August 15 Seattle Reign v. Chicago Red Stars 9:30 pm Friday, August 17 Houston Dash v. Washington Spirit 7:30 pm Saturday, August 18 Sky Blue v. Utah Royals 5:30 pm North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride 6:00 pm Portland Thorns v. Chicago Red Stars 9:30 pm ESPNews Every team plays at least once, Chicago plays twice.
2018 NWSL Week 20 results: Wednesday, August 15 Seattle Reign 0-0 Chicago Red Stars Friday, August 17 Houston Dash 4-0 Washington Spirit Saturday, August 18 Sky Blue 2-2 Utah Royals North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride ppd Portland Thorns 2-2 Chicago Red Stars 9:30 pm Sunday, August 19 North Carolina Courage 3-0 Orlando Pride Standings: 1. NCC 22 g.p. 53 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 21 g.p. 37 pts +8 g.d. 3. POR 21 g.p. 33 pts +8 g.d. 4. CHI 21 g.p. 31 pts +4 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. ORL 22 g.p. 30 pts -4 g.d. 6. HOU 21 g.p. 29 pts -2 g.d. 7. UTR 22 g.p. 29 pts -3 g.d. 8. WAS 21 g.p. 10 pts -21 g.d. 9. SKY 19 g.p. 5 pts -21 g.d
2018 NWSL Week 21 Times are CDT Streaming coverage is now on http://www.nwslsoccer.com/ Tuesday, August 21 Seattle Reign v. Houston Dash 9:30 pm Wednesday, August 22 Washington Spirit v. Utah Royals 6:30 pm Portland Thorns v. Sky Blue 10:00 pm Saturday, August 25 Seattle Reign v. North Carolina Courage 3:00 pm Orlando Pride v. Chicago Red Stars 6:30 pm Washington Spirit v. Portland Thorns 7:00 pm ESPNews Houston Dash v. Sky Blue 7:30 pm Every team plays at least once. Seattle, Houston, Washington, Portland, and Sky Blue play twice. There are only 6 games left in the regular season after this week. The playoffs start on September 15.
It is a big week for the Dash's chances to make the playoffs for the first time but things don't look good. Only North Carolina has clinched although Seattle is very close. Unfortunately the Dash play both of them in the final three games. Teams, Current Points, Max Possible Points: 1. NCC 53, 59 2. SEA 37, 46 3. POR 33, 42 4. CHI 31, 40 ----------------------------- 5. ORL 30, 36 6. HOU 29, 38 7. UTR 29, 35 Remaining schedules for the contenders: NCC: @sea, HOU SEA: HOU, NCC, @por POR: SKY, @was, SEA CHI: @orl, SKY, @utr ORL: CHI, @sky HOU: @sea, SKY, @ncc UTR: @was, CHI Utah only has two more games. They are not mathematically eliminated but they are close. Orlando also has only two games. They have a favorable schedule but 36 points might not be enough. Chicago has two road games so they are not safe despite having three left. Portland has two home games and a very winnable road game. They are looking good. The Dash need to get 7 points while Orlando and Chicago stumble. There is a mathematical chance with 5 points but it is not very likely.
2018 NWSL Week 21 Tuesday result: Tuesday, August 21 Seattle Reign 2-0 Houston Dash Wednesday, August 22 Washington Spirit v. Utah Royals 6:30 pm Portland Thorns v. Sky Blue 10:00 pm Saturday, August 25 Seattle Reign v. North Carolina Courage 3:00 pm Orlando Pride v. Chicago Red Stars 6:30 pm Washington Spirit v. Portland Thorns 7:00 pm ESPNews Houston Dash v. Sky Blue 7:30 pm Standings: 1. NCC 22 g.p. 53 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 22 g.p. 40 pts +10 g.d. 3. POR 21 g.p. 33 pts +8 g.d. 4. CHI 21 g.p. 31 pts +4 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. ORL 22 g.p. 30 pts -4 g.d. 6. UTR 22 g.p. 29 pts -3 g.d. 7. HOU 22 g.p. 29 pts -4 g.d. 8. WAS 21 g.p. 10 pts -21 g.d. 9. SKY 19 g.p. 5 pts -21 g.d
The Dash lost at Seattle on Tuesday night so things are now pretty grim. Seattle has clinched a playoff spot. Teams, Current Points, Max Possible Points: 1. NCC 53, 59 2. SEA 40, 46 3. POR 33, 42 4. CHI 31, 40 ----------------------------- 5. ORL 30, 36 6. HOU 29, 35 7. UTR 29, 35 Remaining schedules for the contenders: NCC: @sea, HOU SEA: NCC, @por POR: SKY, @was, SEA CHI: @orl, SKY, @utr ORL: CHI, @sky HOU: SKY, @ncc UTR: @was, CHI It is hard to find a path for the Dash since Chicago plays both Orlando and Utah plus has an almost guaranteed win against Sky Blue. Portland has a toughie against Seattle but also plays Sky Blue. Doesn't look good even if the Dash could beat Sky Blue and then upset North Carolina in the finale.
2018 NWSL Week 21 Wednesday results: Tuesday, August 21 Seattle Reign 2-0 Houston Dash Wednesday, August 22 Washington Spirit 0-1 Utah Royals Portland Thorns 2-1 Sky Blue Saturday, August 25 Seattle Reign v. North Carolina Courage 3:00 pm Orlando Pride v. Chicago Red Stars 6:30 pm Washington Spirit v. Portland Thorns 7:00 pm ESPNews Houston Dash v. Sky Blue 7:30 pm Standings: 1. NCC 22 g.p. 53 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 22 g.p. 40 pts +10 g.d. 3. POR 22 g.p. 36 pts +9 g.d. 4. UTR 23 g.p. 32 pts -2 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. CHI 21 g.p. 31 pts +4 g.d. 6. ORL 22 g.p. 30 pts -4 g.d. 7. HOU 22 g.p. 29 pts -4 g.d. 8. WAS 22 g.p. 10 pts -22 g.d. 9. SKY 20 g.p. 5 pts -22 g.d
The usual suspects lost as usual on Wednesday night. Portland clinches a playoff spot. Teams, Current Points, Max Possible Points: 1. NCC 53, 59 2. SEA 40, 46 3. POR 36, 42 4. UTR 32, 35 ----------------------------- 5. CHI 31, 40 6. ORL 30, 36 7. HOU 29, 35 Remaining schedules for the contenders: NCC: @sea, HOU SEA: NCC, @por POR: @was, SEA UTR: CHI CHI: @orl, SKY, @utr ORL: CHI, @sky HOU: SKY, @ncc Utah moves up into the top 4 but they only have one game left. It is going to be tight for that last spot.
2018 NWSL Week 21 Saturday results: Tuesday, August 21 Seattle Reign 2-0 Houston Dash Wednesday, August 22 Washington Spirit 0-1 Utah Royals Portland Thorns 2-1 Sky Blue Saturday, August 25 Seattle Reign 1-1 North Carolina Courage Orlando Pride 1-3 Chicago Red Stars Washington Spirit 0-1 Portland Thorns Houston Dash 6-1 Sky Blue Standings: 1. NCC 23 g.p. 54 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 23 g.p. 41 pts +10 g.d. 3. POR 23 g.p. 39 pts +10 g.d. 4. CHI 22 g.p. 34 pts +6 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. UTR 23 g.p. 32 pts -2 g.d. 6. HOU 23 g.p. 32 pts +1 g.d. 7. ORL 23 g.p. 30 pts -6 g.d. 8. WAS 23 g.p. 10 pts -23 g.d. 9. SKY 21 g.p. 5 pts -27 g.d. The NWSL uses head-to-head as the first tie-breaker so Utah is still ahead of the Dash. And Chicago also has the tie-breaker over the Dash so Houston is eliminated.
2018 NWSL Week 22 & 23 Times are CDT Streaming coverage is now on http://www.nwslsoccer.com/ Saturday, September 1 Washington Spirit v. Sky Blue 6:00 pm Tuesday, September 4 Chicago Red Stars v. Sky Blue 6:30 pm Friday, September 7 Portland Thorns v. Seattle Reign 9:00 pm Lifetime Saturday, September 8 Sky Blue v. Orlando Pride 11:00 am Utah Royals v. Chicago Red Stars 2:30 pm North Carolina Courage v. Houston Dash 6:30 pm Every team plays at least once. Chicago plays twice and Sky Blue plays three times. That concludes the regular season. The playoffs start on September 15.
The Dash attendance was down 22% in 2018 from 2017 by my calculation (3,570 vs. 4,578) There is a discrepancy in on the soccer stadium digest website because they only have the Dash with 11 home games to calculate their average (when they had 12). Butts in seats may have even been worse.
2018 NWSL Week 22 & 23 Week 22 result: Saturday, September 1 Washington Spirit v. Sky Blue PPD Sunday, September 2 Washington Spirit 1-1 Sky Blue Tuesday, September 4 Chicago Red Stars v. Sky Blue 6:30 pm Friday, September 7 Portland Thorns v. Seattle Reign 9:00 pm Lifetime Saturday, September 8 Sky Blue v. Orlando Pride 11:00 am Utah Royals v. Chicago Red Stars 2:30 pm North Carolina Courage v. Houston Dash 6:30 pm Standings: 1. NCC 23 g.p. 54 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 23 g.p. 41 pts +10 g.d. 3. POR 23 g.p. 39 pts +10 g.d. 4. CHI 22 g.p. 34 pts +6 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. UTR 23 g.p. 32 pts -2 g.d. 6. HOU 23 g.p. 32 pts +1 g.d. 7. ORL 23 g.p. 30 pts -6 g.d. 8. WAS 24 g.p. 11 pts -23 g.d. 9. SKY 22 g.p. 6 pts -27 g.d.
2018 NWSL Week 22 & 23 Tuesday result: Saturday, September 1 Washington Spirit v. Sky Blue PPD Sunday, September 2 Washington Spirit 1-1 Sky Blue Tuesday, September 4 Chicago Red Stars 5-0 Sky Blue Friday, September 7 Portland Thorns v. Seattle Reign 9:00 pm Lifetime Saturday, September 8 Sky Blue v. Orlando Pride 11:00 am Utah Royals v. Chicago Red Stars 2:30 pm North Carolina Courage v. Houston Dash 6:30 pm Standings: 1. NCC 23 g.p. 54 pts +31 g.d. 2. SEA 23 g.p. 41 pts +10 g.d. 3. POR 23 g.p. 39 pts +10 g.d. 4. CHI 23 g.p. 37 pts +11 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. UTR 23 g.p. 32 pts -2 g.d. 6. HOU 23 g.p. 32 pts +1 g.d. 7. ORL 23 g.p. 30 pts -6 g.d. 8. WAS 24 g.p. 11 pts -23 g.d. 9. SKY 23 g.p. 6 pts -32 g.d. Chicago clinched the last playoff spot. The only thing left is the final seeding for the playoffs this weekend.
2018 NWSL Week 22 & 23 Friday and Saturday results: Saturday, September 1 Washington Spirit v. Sky Blue PPD Sunday, September 2 Washington Spirit 1-1 Sky Blue Tuesday, September 4 Chicago Red Stars 5-0 Sky Blue Friday, September 7 Portland Thorns 3-1 Seattle Reign Saturday, September 8 Sky Blue 1-0 Orlando Pride Utah Royals 2-1 Chicago Red Stars North Carolina Courage 5-0 Houston Dash Standings: 1. NCC 24 g.p. 57 pts +36 g.d. 2. POR 24 g.p. 42 pts +12 g.d. 3. SEA 24 g.p. 41 pts +8 g.d. 4. CHI 24 g.p. 37 pts +10 g.d. ----------------------------- 5. UTR 24 g.p. 35 pts -1 g.d. 6. HOU 24 g.p. 32 pts -4 g.d. 7. ORL 24 g.p. 30 pts -7 g.d. 8. WAS 24 g.p. 11 pts -23 g.d. 9. SKY 24 g.p. 9 pts -31 g.d. That finishes off the regular season.
2018 NWSL Playoffs Times are CDT Semifinals Saturday, September 15 Portland Thorns v. Seattle Reign 2:00 pm Lifetime Sunday, September 16 North Carolina Courage v. Chicago Red Stars 2:00 pm ESPN2 Final Saturday, September 22 3:30 pm Lifetime @ Providence Park, Portland OR
The Dash have been a dumpster fire, they bring in a coach who at least seems to whip them into some sort of respectable team (low bar) and those with the social and other agenda want to discount the whole thing. I dunno, you could say it was the talent alone but then most claimed she wrecked the roster with bad trades and draft picks. I think they mostly don’t like that the team improved after ERob came on after whining about how more qualified women were passed up. IIRC, these same folks like the Washington Spirit coaches who had a horrific season. http://mobile.twitter.com/HalesBells99/status/1041394794516373505
I find it is useful to know what you are talking about before you detail a lengthy opinion. You got it dead wrong on a number of topics. Vera had the worst offseason perhaps in league history and put the team in a big hole. They got her an experienced assistant who tried to advise her but she wouldn't listen. She ran that assistant off because she felt threatened by her. Apart from her South Africans, who the showed extreme favoritism to from day 1, the rest of the team despised her. One player even retired to get away from her. The staff despised her. She tried to get them all fired. Eventually she succeeded in getting one fired by lying which was the point at which the org had enough and brought Eddie in to rein her in and act as a buffer. He did a pretty good job. After 5 games, she did what her assistant had told her to do along which was move Daly and Mewis out of the back and up into their normal positions. At that point, they got rid of 2/3 of the players she brought in and made some astute trades and signings which improved the team. Not unlike the 2016 Washington Spirit, it was a mess internally but they had strong player leadership and marshalled all that anger into playing reasonably well. The 2016 Spirit got all the way to the NWSL Final despite total chaos internally. After that season, all that quality and leadership on the Spirit forced their way out and the team has sucked the last 2 years. Same would happen here, but I'll be shocked if they brought her back. Also, reality of the record is this: the Dash benefited from the fact that there were two historically bad teams in the league this year. The Dash got 9 wins and 32 points. 6 of the wins and 18 points came off those two terrible teams. They took a grand total of 3 wins and 14 points in 18 games against everyone else, that's not great. If you have the inside scoop, she was truly horrendous. As for the Washington coaching staff, you got that part wrong too. The Dash assistant who was run off (and who would have been a better head coach that Pauw) went to Washington to work with the academy team mid-season. She had nothing to do with the horrific season you describe. That was all Gabarra, who should have been removed after the 2016 season and the players kept, but at least they got enough really good young talent there that a better coach should be able to turn them around quickly now.
Wait a second - I recognize all the teams padded their records on the Washington and Sky Blue disasters. But if the Dash coach was such a disaster and only succeeded due to the players, then why weren’t the Dash any better in prior years with more talent? It’s sort of disingenuous to claim the coach’s lack of competence caused the roster to be gutted then discredit whatever she did to “coach up” the poor talent leftover.
The only team that really padded its stats against those two teams was the Dash. They were one of two teams that won all 6 games against them (North Carolina the other). Everyone else took points off the top teams consistently. The Dash were miserable. Orlando finished just behind them by virtue of a late season collapse that saw them drop a of points against Sky Blue and Washington. 2015 was the best season in Dash history, that remains true. You had a great locker room and a lot of good leaders. That team was in the playoff positions going into the final month and finished 5th. Things changed when McLeod and Masar left at the end of the season. The 2016 team was very young, no established leaders on the active roster outside of Carli Lloyd and she's not a leader. The wheels came off that season. Waldrum lost the locker room. It was a mess. 2017 the Dash brought back Waldrum which they never should have done. Playing for a coach that didn't have the support of the team, they were awful. They terminated him early in the season and put in charge someone who didn't have the qualifications to run a division 1 NCAA team much less a team of pros. Ohai, Brooks and Daly matured somewhat as leaders but Lloyd still cast a long shadow. It's hard to really step up and take charge when with a player like Lloyd. You also had a few truly pissy players in the locker room. This year, all those pissy players were gone. Lloyd was gone. Ohai, Brooks and Daly could really step up and make it their team both from standpoint of their natural leadership, their length of service now and being senior members of the team. I think you're missing the point on the roster. The only good thing the Dash did this year was only take 5 games to recognize how badly they screwed up with the roster and take a lot of aggressive moves to fix it. The end of season starting lineup included only 4 players that were in the opening day starting lineup, and one of those was playing at forward now rather than RB and another was only starting because of an injury.
Shorter version 2015: Very mature team, strong respected senior leaders that wouldn't put up with drama and killed it straight away (including Carli Lloyd drama). Almost made playoffs, finished 5th. 2016: All the senior leaders gone. Arguably more talented team but very young and lots of drama. No leaders to stamp down on that (because that's not what Lloyd does). Team imploded as a result. 2017: Ditto, but made worse by bringing back a coach who had lost the locker room and then when they finally fired him replacing him with someone only marginally more qualified to coach than any of us. Tons and tons of drama, implosion. 2018: Lloyd gone, 3 long serving and now senior and confident enough leaders to take charge without the shadow of Lloyd and handle the team despite the drama coming from the coach. Also the type of players that play better when they are pissed off, so being constantly angry kind of worked in their favor.
2018 NWSL Playoffs First semifinal result. The 2nd semi was moved to Portland on Tuesday due to Hurricane Florence Semifinals Saturday, September 15 Portland Thorns 2-1 Seattle Reign Sunday, September 16 North Carolina Courage v. Chicago Red Stars PPD Tuesday, September 18 North Carolina Courage v. Chicago Red Stars @ Portland, OR 8:00 pm ESPNews Final Saturday, September 22 3:30 pm Lifetime @ Providence Park, Portland OR