NOTES TO KNOW

NOTES TO KNOW

CLINCHES AND ELIMINATIONS

The road to the 2023 NWSL Shield, presented by Carmax ends with two teams this Sunday, October 15, as Portland Thorns FC and San Diego Wave FC compete in their final respective regular season matches to determine the 2023 campaign winner. Both clubs have clinched top-two playoff seeds and a first-round bye in the NWSL Playoffs, presented by Bud Light. Wave FC, the first club to earn a spot in the playoffs, drew against the North Carolina Courage, leaving Portland with a path to the regular season crown after securing a 1-0 victory over NJ/NY Gotham FC. With their win, the Thorns earned their seventh consecutive playoff berth. Despite scoring three goals for the second time this regular season, the Chicago Red Stars dropped a 6-3 decision to the Kansas City Current, eliminating them from playoff contention. A mainstay in postseason play, this season marks the first time the Red Stars have missed the playoffs since 2014, apart from the shortened 2020 season. Chicago’s loss keeps playoff hopes alive for the Houston Dash, who lost to Angel City FC, but maintain a path to the playoffs heading into the final weekend of matches.

MILESTONES AND RECORDS

ATTENDANCE RECORDS

As fans showed up in droves to support their clubs in the battle for playoff positioning, three clubs set new attendance records last weekend. OL Reign supporters packed Lumen Field in Seattle to salute forward Megan Rapinoe in her final regular season home match on Friday, setting a new NWSL attendance record in the process with 34,130 fans in the stadium. Alongside in-stadium attendance, a record 683,000 viewers tuned into the match on the CBS Television Network, securing its place as the most-watched regular season match in league history. Saturday’s slate of games saw two more club attendance records broken as 10,434 fans descended on WakeMed Soccer Park to watch the Courage take on the Wave at home, setting a record for both the club and the venue. Closing out its two-year stint at Children’s Mercy Park in epic fashion, the Kansas City Current broke its home attendance mark for the fourth time this season, welcoming 15,671 fans to the stands for their final home contest of the season. Beginning in the 2024 season, the club will play its home matches at the team’s new stadium, the first venue purpose-built for an NWSL team, located at the Berkely Riverfront Park. In total, seven clubs have matched or set attendance records this season, including Angel City, who has matched its capacity record four times with sellout matches in the regular season, most recently on August 27 against OL Reign. The Portland Thorns also matched the club’s at-capacity record on September 16 with a crowd of 25,218 for its home match against OL Reign. On June 4, Gotham FC set a new club attendance record with a crowd of 15,058, while Racing Louisville FC set a club record on August 19 with a crowd of 10,214.

GOALS GALORE

The Current defeated the Red Stars, 6-3, in front of a record setting crowd, marking the fourth nine-goal game in NWSL history. The Current’s first ever five-goal game makes the club just the sixth to do so, while their six different goal scorers tie the league record for most on one team in a single game, matching the mark set by the Houston Dash in a 6-1 win against Sky Blue FC in August of 2018. Notably, Current forward Alexa Spaanstra’s goal marked the first of her professional career following five seasons of college soccer at the University of Virginia, where she scored 37 goals, and Debinha’s goal marked her ninth of the 2023 regular season, tying her with Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch for third in the Golden Boot race. Red Stars defender Kayla Sharples scored her first NWSL goal in the loss, with forward Yuki Nagasato picking up her 22nd assist with the club, tying Vanessa DiBernardo for the club record.

A GOOD WEEK FOR KEEPERS

OL Reign fans set a new league attendance record for Megan Rapinoe’s final home match on Friday against the Washington Spirit, with the match ending in a scoreless draw. With the shutout, her fourth of the season, Spirit keeper Aubrey Kingsbury joined exclusive company as the sixth keeper in league history with 30 career clean sheets in the regular season. Kingsbury is the third player to reach the milestone this season, as North Carolina keeper Casey Murphy and Dash keeper Jane Campbell both hit 30 earlier in the year. Murphy recorded a shutout against the San Diego Wave this week, her 25th with the Courage, making her the sixth keeper to record 25 clean sheets with a single club. Meanwhile, Wave keeper Kailen Sheridan recorded her 29th career shutout in the same match, giving her the opportunity to reach 30 in her club’s last game of the regular season.

SIGNIFICANT SCORING

With a 17th minute penalty kick against Racing Louisville FC, Orlando Pride forward Marta scored her 30th regular season goal, making her the 22nd player to score 30 and the 13th player to do so for one club. Four minutes later, Marta assisted on defender Kerry Abello’s first NWSL goal. The first half ended with a stoppage time penalty kick goal from Racing forward Nadia Nadim, her 11th regular season PK goal, the third highest total in league history. The PK also marks Nadim’s 10th regular season goal with Racing, making her the first in club history to reach double digits. Houston Dash midfielder Andressa scored her first NWSL goal on Sunday against Angel City FC, making her the eighth Brazilian to score this season. After assisting on Alyssa Thompson’s equalizing goal in the 68th minute, Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill scored the game winner in the 91st minute, making her the first player in club history to score 10 regular season goals.

GAMES AND MINUTES PLAYED

Saturday’s match between Portland Thorns FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC featured two big milestones, as Thorns captain Christine Sinclair and Gotham FC captain Ali Krieger each reached their 175th career game played, making them the sixth and seventh players to cross that threshold, while Krieger becomes the third player to appear in 175 games for a single club. OL Reign vs. Washington Spirit on Friday featured five NWSL OGs, including OL Reign’s Megan Rapinoe, Lauren Barnes and Jess Fishlock, who all took the field, as well as Spirit forward Tori Huster and keeper Nicole Barnhart who did not see match action. While the OGs were honored before the game, Reign defender Emily Sonnett and Spirit forward Ashley Hatch, who have been in the league since 2016 and 2017, respectively, both surpassed 10,000 career regular season minutes in the match.

WEEK 21 MATCH RESULTS

October 6, 2023

Racing Louisville FC vs. Orlando Pride | 3 – 2 | Match Recap OL Reign vs. Washington Spirit | 0 – 0 | Match Recap

October 7, 2023

Portland Thorns FC vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC | 1 – 0 | Match Recap North Carolina Courage vs. San Diego Wave FC | 0 – 0 | Match Recap Kansas City Current vs. Chicago Red Stars | 6 – 3 | Match Recap

October 8, 2023

Houston Dash vs. Angel City FC | 1 – 2 | Match Recap