Orlando sits at top of standings
Volume 02 | Issue 02 | April 2025
nwsl Updates
Orlando Pride Holds Top Standing After Week Six
Despite earning its first loss of the season, the Orlando Pride sat at the top of the NWSL standings at the end of Week Six.
The Washington Spirit beat the Orlando Pride 1-0 on April 19 when Gift Monday scored her first NWSL goal off a keeper error. The match was Monday’s first NWSL start and second NWSL appearance.
The Kansas City Current nipped at the Pride’s heels as the team vies to remove the reigning NWSL Shield holders from the top of the standings. The Current reached first in the rankings after Week Five of play before dropping back to second after Week Six.
Washington held steady at third in the rankings for the fourth week in a row.
The NWSL shield is awarded to the team with the best record at the end of regular season play.
Orlando finished out the 2024 NWSL regular season with a record of 18-2-6 and won the 2024 NWSL Championship.
Esther Leads NWSL Golden Boot Race
Esther González pulled to the front of the race for the NWSL Golden Boot with five goals at the end of Week Six.
Esther scored two braces so far this season, earning her first brace in NJ/NY Gotham FC’s match against the North Carolina Courage and the second the following week against Angel City FC.
Barbra Banda and Ashley Hatch each have four goals, with Banda also having an assist.
Temwa Chawinga won the 2024 NWSL Golden Boot with 20 goals and six assists during the regular season.
NWSL Bids for Second Division
The NWSL submitted a bid to the U.S. Soccer Federation to start an NWSL Division II league with a target launch date in 2026.
A second NWSL division would begin with eight clubs in the opening season and would scale up to all NWSL clubs attaining a Division II team by year four.
The first eight clubs targeted for a Division II team include Bay FC, Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Orlando Pride, Racing Louisville FC, Seattle Reign FC, and Washington Spirit.
USWNT Updates
USWNT Faces Brazil in California Friendlies
The USWNT faced off against Brazil in two international friendlies in California early in the month for rematches of the Olympic gold medal game.
The USWNT beat Brazil 2-0 on April 5 in front of 32,303 fans at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, marking the first time a professional women’s sporting event was held at that location.
Trinity Rodman returned to the pitch for the USWNT for the first time since the Olympics after managing a back injury. Rodman scored the first goal of the game in the 6th minute with an assist from Alyssa Thompson.
Lindsey Heaps (formerly Horan) converted a penalty kick in the 66th minute, bringing the score to 2-0 for the US. This was Heaps’s first goal under her married name.
Two players earned their first caps playing for the USWNT in the first match against Brazil.
Phallon Tullis-Joyce earned her first clean sheet in her first appearance as goalkeeper for the US and felt the pressure from an eager Brazil team that was hungry to score. Joyce plays for Manchester United.
Avery Patterson, who plays for the Houston Dash, stepped onto the pitch for the first time for the USWNT when she was subbed into the game in the 88th minute.
Brazil came back with a win on April 8, beating the USWNT 2-1 in front of a sold-out stadium at PayPal Park in San Jose.
Patterson earned her first start for the USWNT in the youngest Starting XI under head coach Emma Hayes. The Thompson sisters, Alyssa and Giselle, earned their second joint start for the national team.
The US was quick to get on the scoreboard with a goal from Catarina Macario in the 34th second after a fast and long breakaway from A. Thompson.
Brazil applied the pressure and tied up the match before halftime with a goal by Kerol in the 24th minute.
The game was a high-tempo, dueling battle played with swift end-to-end transitions across the field, with both teams eager to earn the win.
Brazil sunk a second goal in the back of the net when Amanda Gutierres scored straight off the bench in the 90th plus 5th minute, marking the first time Brazil beat the USWNT since December 2014 and the fourth overall in the competitive history of the two teams.
“It’s been a really good camp, and we mustn't always measure progress by outcome,” said Hayes in a post-game interview.
“That was the youngest capped US Women’s National Team in 24 years, so what a great experience for them to go into a game which you get to feel the pressure of playing a really, really difficult opponent.”
Visit www.ussoccer.com for the full USWNT schedule.
Graphic images created with Adobe Generative AI.