NWSL Power Rankings: Chawinga's brilliance keeps Current No. 1
It's Monday, and another week of NWSL action is in the books, which means it's time for ESPN's Power Rankings.
Who's climbing the table? Who's in free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 9 to come up with this week's order of all 14 teams in the league. Let's dive in.
1. Kansas City CurrentPrevious ranking: 1 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. Chicago Stars, 7:30 p.m. ET
In a battle between a pair of heavy hitters, the Kansas City Current traveled to Orlando and earned a 1-0 win over the Pride on Friday. It was a goal from -- you guessed it -- Temwa Chawinga that tilted the match in Kansas City's favor, and one that showcased what makes the attacker so wildly dangerous: her blistering speed. After a long ball into Orlando's half and a misplay from center-back Kylie Nadaner, Chawinga swooped in and finished to put the visitors ahead. If you make a single mistake against Chawinga and the Current, you're likely to get punished.
2. Orlando PridePrevious ranking: 2 Next match: Friday, May 23 vs. Utah Royals, 9:30 p.m. ET
The Pride didn't play a bad game against the Kansas City Current on Friday. From the opening whistle, they attacked in hopes of capitalizing on Barbra Banda's penalty box presence. However, a defensive miscue handed a golden opportunity to Kansas City in the second half, putting the Pride at a 1-0 deficit that they never reversed. Though they have just one win in their last five matches and there are some concerns about Orlando's ability to break down deeper defensive blocks, it's not time to sound the alarm bells for the Pride. Even not at their best, they still hung with the Current.
3. San Diego Wave FCPrevious ranking: 4 Next match: Sunday, May 25 vs. NC Courage, 10 p.m. ET
After topping NJ/NY Gotham FC 1-0 on Friday, the San Diego Wave are now undefeated in five-straight games -- with four wins in those five matches. Despite playing away from home at Sports Illustrated Stadium, San Diego used control of the ball to their advantage. Even considering teenager Kimmi Ascanio's goal in the 30th minute that could've prompted a more reserved defensive posture for the final 60 minutes, the Wave hoovered up 62% possession on the day. Gotham could hardly find any looks in the attack as a result. Life is good for the Wave.
4. NJ/NY Gotham FCPrevious ranking: 3 Next match: Saturday, June 7 vs. KC Current, 1 p.m. ET
Gotham's attacking issues continued in their 1-0 loss to the San Diego Wave on Friday. It's now been three-straight games without a goal for Juan Carlos Amorós' team, who completed a season-low 255 passes while hosting San Diego. Playing out of a 4-3-3 setup, NJ/NY Gotham failed to pose any sort of consistent threat to San Diego, taking just 13 touches in the Wave's box, according to FBref, which is their second-lowest total of any game in the regular season. There's plenty of work to be done in the attack.
5. Portland ThornsPrevious ranking: 5 Next match: Saturday, June 7 vs. Bay FC, 7:30 p.m. ET
Pietra Tordin didn't waste her opportunity in her first-ever start for the Portland Thorns. The 21-year-old attacker started up top and opened the scoring in the Thorns' 4-1 road win over the Houston Dash on Friday. After Tordin's expert finish put her side ahead in the first half, Portland didn't slow down: they bagged two more goals before the break and one more less than 10 minutes after half-time. With Portland putting up the third-highest non-penalty xG tally per 90 minutes in the NWSL, according to FBref, they're a team to be feared. Rob Gale's side now have a Concacaf W Champions Cup game to play against Tigres UANL midweek, meaning their next league game is not until June 7.
6. Washington SpiritPrevious ranking: 6 Next match: Friday, May 23 vs. Seattle Reign, 10 p.m. ET
The Spirit's attacking quality was on full display on Saturday. Up against the Utah Royals, Washington took a staggering 29 shots en route to a 3-3 draw. Despite giving Utah so much trouble with clever right-sided interplay between Croix Bethune, Ashley Hatch, and Rosemonde Kouassi, the Spirit needed a 102nd-minute equalizer from Casey Krueger to rescue a point in front of their home crowd. Sloppy box defending was Washington's undoing, and they'll rue the missed opportunity to collect a win.
7. Seattle Reign FCPrevious ranking: 8 Next match: Friday, May 23 vs. Washington Spirit, 10 p.m. ET
Name a better duo than "the Seattle Reign" and "games decided by a single goal." Seven of Seattle's nine NWSL matches this year have been decided by just one goal -- the other two were draws -- and only two of their games have featured either side reaching the two-goal mark. It was no surprise, then, to see the Reign earn a narrow 1-0 road win over Racing Louisville on Saturday. Laura Harvey's team took just four shots to Louisville's 20, but still managed to escape Kentucky with all three points. These kinds of wins are old hat for Seattle at this point.
8. North Carolina CouragePrevious ranking: 10 Next match: Sunday, May 25 vs. San Diego Wave, 10 p.m. ET
The North Carolina Courage are in the midst of a serious turnaround. After going winless until late April, North Carolina find themselves on an undefeated tear. This week, they took down the lowly Chicago Stars by a 2-0 scoreline. Between Denise O'Sullivan driving the ball out of central midfield and Jaedyn Shaw, Ashley Sanchez, and Manaka Matsukubo, who scored a brace, in the attack, North Carolina simply threw more at Chicago than their opponents could handle.
9. Angel City FCPrevious ranking: 7 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. Racing Louisville, 10 p.m. ET
With Christen Press back in the starting lineup for the first time in 2025, Angel City hoped to put in a sharp attacking outing against Bay FC on Saturday. Instead, they struggled to generate consistent chances and suffered a 2-0 defeat on the road. Still, it's perhaps not a surprise to see Angel City struggle to find their footing just days after Savy King's medical emergency last time out against Utah.
10. Racing Louisville FCPrevious ranking: 9 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. Angel City, 10 p.m. ET
It will be impossible for Racing Louisville to look back on their 1-0 loss to the Seattle Reign on Saturday as anything other than a missed opportunity. Despite registering five times as many shots as the visitors (20 to four), Louisville put just one effort on target and never managed to find the back of Claudia Dickey's net. Up against another squad fighting to land just above the playoff line come season's end, disappointing home defeats like the one Louisville suffered this weekend are the sort that come back to bite.
11. Bay FCPrevious ranking: 12 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. Houston Dash, 5 p.m. ET
Back in the win column for the first time in nearly a month, Bay FC bested Angel City 2-0 on Saturday. Two first-half goals, one via a well-executed transition attack and one from the penalty spot, put the visitors in the driver's seat early on and allowed Bay to control the remaining flow of the game. Crucially, after failing to keep things tight in the back against Kansas City and San Diego over the last two weeks, Bay managed one of their best defensive showings of 2025.
12. Houston DashPrevious ranking: 11 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. Bay FC, 5 p.m. ET
Poor goalkeeping has plagued the Houston Dash in 2025. They've allowed two more goals than expected this season, according to FBref, which puts them second-to-last in the NWSL in that metric. In a 4-1 loss to the Portland Thorns on Friday, Abby Smith struggled between the posts. Between her slow reactions and a back-three setup that ceded too much space to Portland, the Dash couldn't keep up with the visitors.
13. Utah RoyalsPrevious ranking: 14 Next match: Friday, May 23 vs. Orlando Pride, 9:30 p.m. ET
Mandy McGlynn, take a bow. The shot-stopper continued her strong 2025 campaign for the Utah Royals with nine saves in a 3-3 draw with the Washington Spirit. With her outfield teammates conceding nearly 30 shots, McGlynn needed to come up big in net -- and she did. Her penalty save on Hatch looked primed to help Utah earn a road win, but inattentive defending deep in stoppage time turned three points into one for the visitors.
14. Chicago Stars FCPrevious ranking: 13 Next match: Saturday, May 24 vs. KC Current, 7:30 p.m. ET
The Chicago Stars' brutal season continued on Saturday in a 2-0 loss to the North Carolina Courage. Despite Ludmila's plethora of dangerous runs in behind North Carolina's backline, the Stars failed to work their way onto the scoresheet. Even with a very narrow setup from interim head coach Masaki Hemmi, Chicago couldn't contain the Courage's central overloads and still find themselves with only one win on the season.
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