First-month grades for all 16 NWSL teams: From an A+ to FplayColumbus awarded newest NWSL expansion team (0:53)Jeff Kassouf reports on Columbus landing the NWSL’s 18th franchise with a record $205M expansion fee, and will join alongside Atlanta by 2028. (0:53)Jeff KassoufApr 24, 2026, 06:48 AM ETClose
Jeff Kassouf covers women’s soccer for ESPN, focusing on the USWNT and NWSL. In 2009, he founded The Equalizer, a women’s soccer news outlet, and he previously won a Sports Emmy at NBC Sports and Olympics.
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Prepare yourselves for a lecture, folks: The first round of NWSL report cards are in after the two-week international break. Some teams are basking in the glory of an amazing start, while others have dug themselves into holes that, even this early in the year, could be insurmountable.
Granted, the NWSL season is a handful of games young and early-season outliers have historically been misleading. This isn’t our first rodeo, so we’ve taken that into account. Our grading system is all relative due to a wide variety of expectations for teams heading into the season.
Outperforming expectations and shaking off old, troublesome identities will go a long way to scoring high marks on this progress report. Likewise, those with championship standards are under a greater microscope and will endure more scrutiny for their struggles.
Let’s break out the red pen.
– Columbus Crew owners get 18th NWSL franchise for record fee
– What did USWNT learn for World Cup after Japan series?
– Seattle Reign’s Jess Fishlock to retire after 14 seasons with club
Boston Legacy FC (16th place; 0W-0D-4L, 0 pts.)
Grade: D-
Expectations for expansion teams are always modest, but four losses in four games with a total of 1.99 expected goals, per ESPN Research, and only one goal scored, is bleak.
Boston constructed its roster, right down to head coach Filipa Patão, with a very international approach, and thus far the learning curve has been rough. Patão has stuck to nuanced versions of a five-at-the-back system and tried to make some players work outside of their usual roles.
The team’s biggest learning curve appears to be the tempo of the NWSL. Too often, Boston looks slow on the ball and unwilling — or unable — to pounce on transition moments when they become available.
Racing Louisville (15th place; 0-1-3, 1 pt.)
Grade: D
Louisville is the only returning franchise without a win, which sounds dire. (It mostly is.) The data makes it look worse on paper: they rank second-last in possession, touches, and passing attempts.
Those following along, however, know the double-edged sword of Louisville’s style: they want to dictate games out of possession and punish teams on the counterattack. They are generating those chances, too, and their seven goals scored are tied for fifth in the league.
Racing’s problem has been in the back, where a lack of depth and availability issues has pushed all-league midfielder Taylor Flint into an unfamiliar center back role, and usually steady goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer has made an occasionally costly error.
STREAM FUTBOL W ON ESPN+Ali Krieger, Cristina Alexander and Jeff Kassouf debate the biggest storylines and break down the best highlights from women’s soccer in the Americas. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
Chicago Stars (14th place; 1-0-4, 3 pts.)
Grade: D
An opening-day thrashing in Los Angeles looked like déjà vu for Chicago, then they came back and defeated reigning NWSL Shield winners Kansas City Current to provide some hope.
They have dropped two results since, including an away loss in San Diego where the result was never in question: Chicago’s only shot on goal came in the third minute of second-half stoppage time.
The status quo isn’t good enough for Chicago.
Gotham FC (13th place; 1-2-2, 5 pts.)
Grade: D+
That opening day, grind-it-out win on the road over Boston feels like a distant memory for the defending champions. Gotham has not won since, and they have only scored twice in five games this season. Some of the errors, like goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger’s blunder inside the 18 during a home loss to Denver, have been shocking.
Gotham has been here before and has oodles of talent — which includes the arrival of Guro Reiten this week from Chelsea — to pull out of this hole, but the fact that they are in it again is a major disappointment after last year’s early-season slump, and talk about changing that in 2026. It’s a poor start for a championship-caliber team.
North Carolina Courage (12th place; 1-2-1, 5 pts.)
Grade: C
Expectations were modest for the Courage ahead of this season, which puts their start in the “meeting expectations” category, to borrow more generous elementary school grading.
The Courage are middle of the pack across most statistical categories, which is about right given their offseason changes. Ranking ninth in expected goals won’t be good enough for new head coach Mak Lind, who says he is “obsessed” with scoring, but Ashley Sanchez’s hot start to the season is encouraging.
Kansas City Current (11th place; 2-0-3, 6 pts.)
Grade: C-
A recent home victory over Gotham FC saved the reigning NWSL Shield winners a full failing grade after losing three games in a week — as many as they lost all last year — on the road.
Temwa Chawinga’s return is already paying dividends, and they have dealt with other availability issues, but the Current’s defensive lapses (especially on set pieces) have been a concern.
The reality is that this team wants to be the best in the world. It put together the best season in league history in 2025, and Concacaf play begins in a few months. The expectations here are much higher.
Bay FC (10th place; 2-0-2, 6 pts.)
Grade: B-
Bay got off to a positive start with an opening-weekend win over Denver, aided by a player advantage after an early red card, and a 3-1 road win in North Carolina was another big positive.
The reality is that Bay is likely in a multi-year project after bringing in new head coach Emma Coates in the offseason, but picking up some points early is good for confidence. Teenage forward Alex Pfeiffer is oozing with that, as is blockbuster offseason addition Claire Hutton. The USWNT international Hutton is the centerpiece of Bay’s makeover, and she has already solidified Bay’s midfield.
Denver Summit FC (9th place; 1-3-1, 6 pts.)
Grade: B+
Denver has settled for three draws so far, but they look like an expansion team that will be competitive out of the gate. The road win over Gotham allowed Denver to breathe ahead of a historic home opener, and the Summit continues to play teams tough.
Forward Melissa Kössler is thriving in her early days in the league, while defender Kaleigh Kurtz and goalkeeper Abby Smith have kept things tight in the back.
Denver has struggled to create quality chances, a problem that should be solved with the summer arrival of USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps.
Washington Spirit (8th place; 1-3-1, 6 pts.)
Grade: C+
Don’t panic yet, Spirit faithful. Washington ranks second in the league in expected goals and chances created, per ESPN Research. The Spirit have, despite their abundance of attacking talent, failed to score frequently enough — they have five goals in five games.
Still, they have only conceded four times and lost once. Both the data and the known quality of their roster suggest that they are off to a slow start rather than spiraling. They certainly seem to be missing that X-factor that midfielder Croix Bethune — who was transferred to Kansas City this offseason — used to bring.
It’s been underwhelming from Washington so far, but the start has felt less discouraging than those of similar recent contenders Gotham and Kansas City.
Utah Royals (7th place; 2-1-2, 7 pts.)
Grade: B
Perspective is everything here. Yes, Utah’s only two wins thus far came over Boston and Chicago, two basement dwellers. Let’s be real, though: any kind of a positive start for Utah is a major victory.
Since the Royals were revived, they’ve been Jekyll & Hyde between the first (awful) and second (encouraging) half of their two seasons. It took them 13 games to get to 7 points last year, when they snapped a six-game losing streak with a win on June 16.
Maybe they can partly thank the schedule makers for at least momentarily bucking that trend, because there are still major concerns about errors trying to play out of the back and passing accuracy. But for Utah, decent in April is progress.
Orlando Pride (6th place; 2-2-1, 8 pts.)
Grade: B+
Orlando has been solid defensively, conceding only four goals in five games. That is a point of encouragement after losing center-back Emily Sams in the offseason, and it also speaks to new arrival Hailie Mace stepping up in her place.
Haley McCutcheon continues to be invaluable in midfield, and the Pride are somewhat quietly off to a good start to the season.
A big difference from late 2025 is the return of, Barbra Banda, who makes a world of difference. She has three goals thus far, and she leads the NWSL in shots, shots on target and fouls drawn. If Orlando is going to win another trophy this year, it will be behind another big year from Banda. Early reports are positive on that front.
Houston Dash (5th place; 3-0-1, 9 pts.)
Grade: A-
Wait, wait, wait: The team that ranks last in the NWSL in possession, touches, and pass attempts, per ESPN Research, is … off to a spectacular start? Hear me out.
The Dash are doing a bit of an early Louisville 2025 in that they are comfortable in their team identity as a high-pressure, quick transition team that will punish opponents for mistakes deep in their own territory. Houston still ranks third in expected goals in the league and has scored nine times.
Houston still looked like the better team in its lone loss of the year, and defender Avery Patterson made note afterward that the culture of the team has shifted from constant turnover to stability under head coach Fabrice Gautrat. Will the Dash have enough gas to keep this up all season? Unclear. But pushing the petal to the floor is paying off early.
Angel City FC (4th place; 3-0-1, 9 pts.)
Grade: A-
Combine the team’s short history of on-field struggles with the demand to win in Los Angeles and a clear dip in attendance over the past year, and Angel City’s hot early start is the story of the NWSL season through April.
Sveindís Jónsdóttir has been a force up top with three goals and two assists, Riley Tiernan and Kennedy Fuller have adapted to new wide roles, and Emily Sams has provided a calming presence in the back next to a rotation of Sarah Gorden and Savy King.
Angel City has struck a balance between possession and direct play. For the first time in forever, they look legitimately dangerous as a unit, not just as a group of individuals.
Seattle Reign FC (3rd place; 3-1-1, 10 pts.)
Grade: B+
Victories over the past two NWSL Shield winners (Orlando and Kansas City) beg for exemplary marks, but the disastrous loss to the nine-player Portland Thorns and a scoreless draw with the Denver Summit add a dose of caution around Seattle.
Still, this is a largely positive start to the season. Head coach Laura Harvey stated the three games after the loss in Portland were indicative of the Reign’s identity. Seattle’s underlying data is decent, and they’ve gotten the most from players like Sam Meza in midfield. They’ve also been without rising star center-back Jordyn Bugg thus far.
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Jess Fishlock reflects on decision to retire at the end of the season
Seattle Reign player Jess Fishlock opens up on her decision to retire at the end of the NWSL season.
Portland Thorns FC (2nd place; 3-1-1, 10 pts.)
Grade: A-
Even modest early-season returns for Portland would have been positive considering the Thorns waited so long to hire a coach that he arrived less than two days before the season opener. The fact that they are two points off the pace is a credit to new boss Robert Vilahamn and first assistant Sarah Lowdon, who guided the team through an uncertain preseason.
And this Thorns team has already provided an enduring memory that will live on in NWSL lore: going down a player in the 9th minute, then down to nine players in the 57th minute, and defeating rival Seattle Reign FC 2-0. Sophia Wilson is back and nearing full fitness, too. Will the success continue? It’s hard to say, but they couldn’t dream of a better start.
San Diego Wave FC (1st place; 4-0-1, 12 pts.)
Grade: A-
The Wave’s lone loss was in the season opener as Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell put in a memorable shift. San Diego has won four straight since, and they’ve done it in style, from winger Dudinha running point on the press and finishing chances, to midfielder Kenza Dali pulling the strings in another early-season masterclass.
Per ESPN Research, they lead the NWSL in expected goals (10.13), chance creation and passing percentage, among several other categories.
At the back, Kennedy Wesley has emerged as a force at center-back for both the Wave and the USWNT, and her strides help the Wave fully turn the corner from last year’s departure of Naomi Girma. Also, Mimi Van Zanten has done well so far in a full-back role that was a question mark entering the season, and fellow rookie Lia Godfrey can’t stop scoring game-winners.
The Wave have looked so good so far that the offseason losses of winger Delphine Cascarino and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan haven’t even been talking points, and those could have been major setbacks to the team’s creativity and stability. Oh, and Catarina Macario is due to debut for the team soon.
Boston Legacy FC (16th place; 0W-0D-4L, 0 pts.)
Racing Louisville (15th place; 0-1-3, 1 pt.)
Chicago Stars (14th place; 1-0-4, 3 pts.)
Gotham FC (13th place; 1-2-2, 5 pts.)
North Carolina Courage (12th place; 1-2-1, 5 pts.)
Kansas City Current (11th place; 2-0-3, 6 pts.)
Bay FC (10th place; 2-0-2, 6 pts.)
Denver Summit FC (9th place; 1-3-1, 6 pts.)
Washington Spirit (8th place; 1-3-1, 6 pts.)
Utah Royals (7th place; 2-1-2, 7 pts.)
Orlando Pride (6th place; 2-2-1, 8 pts.)
Houston Dash (5th place; 3-0-1, 9 pts.)
Angel City FC (4th place; 3-0-1, 9 pts.)
Seattle Reign FC (3rd place; 3-1-1, 10 pts.)
Portland Thorns FC (2nd place; 3-1-1, 10 pts.)
San Diego Wave FC (1st place; 4-0-1, 12 pts.)
