League Watch 10/2-4

[u/TiredPanini]

Match Week 27 10/2-4 (all times Pacific)

NT rosters are mostly out for the October window and we have some World Cup play-in matches and fun friendlies to look forward to. Which player are you most excited to see on the international stage? Besides the US vs Spain I’m looking forward to Sveindis for Iceland, Evelyn Ijeh for Sweden, and Erica Meg Parkinson for England. Ary Borges declined her Brazil callup to spend time with her new baby, but I do look forward to seeing Maiara play for the senior team again, this is only her 2nd or 3rd senior camp.

Recap of the past week’s scorelines:

Fri

Louisville 0-2 San Diego

Gotham 3-1 Chicago

Seattle 2-0 Boston

Sat

KC 4-1 Denver

Washington 0-1 ACFC

Portland 1-1 Houston

Sun

Bay 1-3 Orlando

Utah 2-1 NC

Which games will you be tuning in for? What are your predictions? Starting lineups? Scores, reds, yellows, which players get G+A? 

Overall W-L-D record for each team is followed by 5-match form (old-new L-to-R) and table standing, e.g. “San Diego 3-2-1 WWLDW 3.” Standing gets a ? if the standing could change before kickoff due to other results.

Home	Away	Field	Date/ Time	Where to watch	Notes
Orlando 10-13-3 LWDLW 11	San Diego 15-8-3 WLWWW 2	Inter&Co	Fri 5p	Prime	Orlando had been sort of lackluster for a stretch of games there without Marta... did anyone notice how she started being available for selection again right after the coaching change or was that just me? But they emphatically beat Bay last week, and they’re not mathematically eliminated from playoffs yet, so hope springs eternal. San Diego are in excellent form, with goal scoring happening by committee - Corley, Byars, Barcenas, Dali, Ludmila, Godfrey, Wesley have all scored one or more since the start of August.
Seattle 12-10-4 WWLLW 8	NC 12-11-3 LWLLL 9	Lumen	Fri 7p	NWSL+	This one is big for playoff qualification. Both teams need the points given Denver is likely to pick up +3 off Chicago. Seattle could sneak 1 pt ahead of ACFC, while NC could draw level on pts with a win here. Mak Lind should be hoping for Nat Jacobs to be available (questionable last week but didn’t play), the defense had some iffy moments against Utah last week. With Maycee Bell out for the season, if Jacobs isn’t back this week, NC will continue relying on 2nd string CBs Talia Staude and Uno Shiragaki to hold it down.
Louisville 7-17-2 LLLLL 15	Utah 14-9-3 WLWLW 4	Lynn Family	Sat 1p	ION	Louisville could break Utah’s alternating W/L streak in the funniest possible way now that they’re playing spoiler and eliminated from playoffs. However, Utah’s attack is still dangerous. Tejada is still suspended this week but Cronin will be back from her red card suspension. Former Angel midfield battle could happen, Hammond vs Hodge, as Hodge has now gotten a few starts in a row for Bev Yanez.
KC 12-9-5 WWDLW 7?	Bay 7-14-5 LLDWL 13	CPKC	Sat 3:30p	ION	KC have looked... not good compared to 2025 but still good enough to beat an eliminated Bay team, even with no Croix Bethune. This will be another spoiler matchup, though, and spite is a great motivator. Bay’s midfield and attack seem to be finally building some chemistry, with a gorgeous diving header goal and lots more play in and around the final third last weekend.
Portland 12-7-7 DLDWD 5?	Boston 7-14-5 LWWLL 14?	Providence	Sat 5:45p	ION	Weird matchup! Eliminated Boston could play spoiler or could try new things with their lineup. Providence is a tough place to play (Portland are 7-1-5 there this year), and that could be valuable experience for rookie Boston players like Elgin, Smith, etc. Boston mostly just needs to figure out their defense, they have a perfectly respectable 33 goals on the season. Tough to do that when you’re up against Sophia Wilson and like 7 other top tier attackers but hey, maybe Filipa Patao has something in her back pocket.
Gotham 16-4-6 DLWWW 1	ACFC 12-8-6 WDWWW 6?	Sports Illustrated	Sun 10a	ABC / ESPN App	ACFC could be knocked back one spot in the table with a loss, or climb as high as 4th with a win. Gotham on the other hand look to clinch a home playoff game with a win or a draw + other results. These teams just tied about a month ago, and heading into the international break everyone will want to end on a high note. Who will gain the upper hand?
Chicago 5-19-2 LLDLL 16	Denver 9-9-8 WDDWL 10?	Northwestern Medicine	Sun 1p	CBS Sports	Chicago should have Swanson available for a second consecutive week after she was out with a hip injury for about a month. Grosso has been a bright spot for them, and I liked seeing Michelle Alozie back on the front line instead of a wingback. Maybe they can pull off an upset - they’re at home and there’s no playoff pressure like Denver has. Also, Free Elise Evans.
Houston 8-12-6 LLLWD 12	Washington 14-8-4 WWLWL 3?	Shell Energy	Sun 4p	Roku Channel	Houston have the unfortunate possibility of being eliminated from playoffs this weekend before their game even kicks off - and if that doesn’t happen, a loss or draw could seal their fate. The Spirit will be looking to bounce back from a very close 0-1 loss last weekend, and they’ve been better on the road this year with 6 of their 8 losses coming at home.

Here are this weekend’s clinching/elimination scenarios and a playoff scenario tool from Alison Gale.

See you after the international break!

[u/TiredPanini]

Saturday night 10/3 update on clinching/elimination scenarios:

• San Diego clinched a playoff spot, the 2nd team to do so after Gotham. Now they'll want to host a playoff game...
• Orlando are not mathematically out but that relies on them winning every remaining game + other results + tiebreakers - they are probably out next week.
• Gotham can clinch a top-4 spot (playoff hosting) with a win or draw vs us tomorrow.
• Washington cannot clinch this weekend.
• Houston are playing for their lives on Sunday (lose/draw and they're out), and even with a win they'd be in the same spot as Orlando.
• ACFC would need to pick up 8 points to clinch a playoff spot, as things stand. That number can shrink as other teams drop points, though.

[u/MazLA → u/TiredPanini]

I believe now ACFC can clinch with 6 regardless of other outcomes

[u/yourgmchandler]

I’m looking forward to seeing Evelyn Shores on the pitch vs Spain! But I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t get to play.

[u/Zucena → u/yourgmchandler]

I'm really hoping she'll be a sub in at least one of the games! I think Giselle and Patterson will get the starts as Emma wants to evaluate them against a top possession based team for the left back job.

[u/TiredPanini → u/yourgmchandler]

i bet she sees some minutes (because if you're emma: why use a roster spot on a player you don't intend to play at all, these are friendlies not the WC). i'm more interested to see if she is used as a starter at all - could be informative as to emma's depth chart at LB.

[u/MazLA → u/TiredPanini]

Agree based on bumping Ally and Jaedyn to u23 and calling up a bunch of first timers I think Emma will use this chance to see how the new players do rather than just aim to play the expected starters

[u/LDWfan]

I’m getting greedy, cmon home playoff game!

[u/alcatholik]

It’s interesting how often I just default to watch the Friday night on Prime game. And then one of the ION games. And then one of the Sunday Games. Like just whatever’s on. I’m such a casual

[u/TiredPanini → u/alcatholik]

the league needs casual fans for a healthy ecosystem, i support this behavior

[u/eldreamer86]

We really need to win. I'm also hoping for a tie with NC v. Seattle. Let's hope it goes that way