I did all right last weekend, only getting one wrong (I had LOU winning, not a draw). This is the last round for Group Play. WAS at NC - Draw (NC leaks goals, but appears to have the firepower to score some, too). ORL at GOT - GOT win at home (NC 4 ORL 2 last week, and GOT should be better than NC, but have been underperforming). RGN at SD - RGN win (the better team). CHI at KC - KC win (CHI may have the best midfield in the league wth Nagasato, Bernardo, Colaprico, & Gautrat, but KC is growing, KC is at home, and Pugh is not playing for CHI). LOU at HOU - LOU win (HOU's home has never been a fortress; HOU's ship is trying to keep from sinking while LOU has got lots of coal in the boiler). POR at LA - POR win (POR has the depth to adjust from last week's one goal win, while LA does not have enough strength to tip the scale the other way). -CJ
Alright, with the Challenge Cup group stage behind us, I'm going to again do what some of the writers for MLS do and continue with my team tier lists (i.e. to be periodically updated): Top Tier OL Reign - I'll admit to underestimating the Reign in my first tier list. Despite what looks like a downgrade on the roster from last year, they seem to have much more consistency now. Washington Spirit - seems like the Spirit have picked up where they left off, back in a knockout stage and still haven't lost on the field since Burke was removed. Still Shield contenders, but they might be hit harder by international duty than the Reign will be The Class NC Courage - This is one of the three big surprises to me so far - although, having now watched games, it shouldn't be so surprising that a team with two of the best currently-active Brazilians can move the ball this well. Portland Thorns - Depleted loss to Angel City aside, I stand by stating that no one should underestimate Portland; at full strength, they can still go toe-to-toe with the Top Tier, but this team also has cracks that other Strong-Looking teams can take advantage of Looks Strong KC Current - the second of the big surprises from me, as KC is punching above their weight so far - and it's far from just their old NC imports, which is great seeing those other players having improved from last year. It'll be interesting to see how those pieces perform outside of the Central division San Diego Wave - seems about as solid as we thought they would be, maybe a tad bit more, as their on-field product is pretty sound right now. Honestly, they probably could've easily had two or three more points in the Challenge Cup, save for the 12min against RGN when they simply hadn't woken up yet Good But Questions Angel City FC - downgrading AC a little bit from the previous list, but I can very easily see them bouncing back up again in the next tier list. It just seems like it took them several games to find their rhythm, because even though POR was depleted when they visited LA, AC looked quite good on their own regardless Chicago Red Stars - Chicago gonna Chicago, blue-collar work ethic is getting them results - but considering they've only played other Central division teams so far, I'm still not convinced this is a playoff team NJ/NY Gotham FC - this team seems surprisingly disjonted for having relatively little turnover. Not sure what's going on in Gotham right now, but they just don't seem to know exactly what their game plan is right now Rebuilding Houston Dash - Seems like the pieces that Houston still has from last year can't quite measure up without the pieces that were lost. I was always upset that they let go of K.Mewis, and now I'm even more so. Racing Louisville - like last year, this team is still capable of getting good results, but there just isn't much here, so those results won't come with any consistency Just Ouch Orlando Pride - already a huge amount of roster turnover with the new owners, and then the Pride lost Marta to injury. I hope Cromwell and the new owners have patience and are simply looking at this year as the prequel to next year.
I have a pair of predictions. Tonight, at the NC vs. LA game, if spectators hurl verbal abuse at Jaelene Daniels because of her skin color, they will likely be “managed,” because verbal racial abuse is considered to be unacceptable. On the other hand, if spectators hurl verbal abuse at Jaelene Daniels because she believes her God is sending lesbians to Hell, they will not be “managed,” because supporting freedom of religion is not nearly as socially acceptable as supporting racial diversity. And those fans don’t care at all about her mental health and emotional well-being. Quoting the Rose City Riveters from April 13, 2021: "We support the athletes in the NWSL, & condemn the targeted harrassment of players."
And here are two more end-of-preseason Power Rankings: Dan Lauletta https://equalizersoccer.com/2022/04/29/hitting-reset-2022-nwsl-regular-season-preview-team-guide/ 1. WAS 2. RGN 3. POR 4. NC 5. KC 6. NJY 7. SD 8. CHI 9. LOU 10. LA 11. HOU 12. ORL Sandra Herrera https://www.cbssports.com/nwsl/news...ing-strong-ahead-of-challenge-cup-semifinals/ 1. RGN 2. WAS 3. NC 4. KC 5. POR 6. CHI 7. SD 8. HOU 9. LOU 10. NJY 11. LA 12. ORL