2025 nwsl week 8: xG race charts & g+ pass networks

In week 8 the ‘don’t ever question my parity’ league went off again. Orlando Pride dropped more points, Gotham took an L courtesy of a banger from Taylor Flint, and the Spirit found themselves in a 3-2 tussle with bottom-of-the-table Chicago.

Apart from that, Houston won a game while only taking three shots, Alyssa Thompson was in distributor mode before deciding to do it all herself, Kansas City found the infinity stone they misplaced, and the Geyse-Esther-Purce front line somehow didn’t deliver.

Here’s what it all looked like in xG race charts & g+ pass networks.

rahsing louisville 1-0 gotham fc

I thought it’d take a few weeks before we saw the Geyse-Esther-Purce front line but was extremely hype and eager to see it so soon. But err uh, even though they took a good amount of shots, the quality wasn’t quite there for the Bats.

On the other side, well, sometimes soccer be soccering. Rahsing continued their trend of sub 1.0 xG + >70% pass completion, but an absolute thunderbanger from Taylor Flint got them the only goal.

The interesting thing is that, unlike other weeks, at least Loovull had strong passing connections between players, particularly midfielders. DeMelo (and Flint tbh) was a sort of kryptonite for Gotham’s aggressive pressing and Rahsing made sure she saw plenty of the ball. DeMelo led all players in fouls drawn, with 6.

The threat of Emma Sears probably had a lot to do with why Gotham’s rebuilt and super talented forward line didn’t really work. Lilly Reale had to stay back to absorb the threat, which meant she was often far away from Geyse in possession. They linked up frequently, but closer positioning would’ve allowed for more intricate play but that was a risk Gotham wasn’t willing to take thanks to Sears.

On the other side, Purce tucking in is interesting. Schupansky had a poor pass and receiving g+ game, so maybe Purce’s positioning was necessary to see more of the ball. The midfield scrap seems to have drawn Esther into the middle third too, which was a win for Rahsing.

angel city 2-0 utah royals

First things first, I am thankful to hear that Savy King is stable and seems to be ok. I’m hoping for more updates when it’s time, but that was a terrifying moment and I agree with everyone who questioned why the match continued after. I also have a big problem with the NWSL defending its decision in a statement on King’s medical status. That was absolutely not the move.

As for the match, well, NWSL games rarely go according to plan but this one did. Angel City used their speed and aggressive positioning in wide areas to further limit Utah’s already limited build-from-the-back ideas. The result was another sub 1.0 xG game for Utah, and a 2.12 xG game, and 2-0 win, for Angel City.

Fast is fun, and Angel City are fast as hell. Especially in wide areas. Given very little resistance, they zoomed up and down both sides of the pitch and made life hell for Utah. Alyssa Thompson’s pass g+ was outrageous, and she seemed to be focusing on being a distributor more than creating her own shot. In fact, she took one shot all game, in the 97th minute, which was a goal.

Aside from Utah making things very hard for themselves when it comes to entering the final third, they don’t really have players who operate with a ton of precision once they’re in those areas. Not only do they artificially limit their chances, even when they achieve their highest shot totals of the season—like they did in this game—there’s not much to show for it.

Mozingo missed their biggest chance, a .24 xG shot, but 8 of their 15 shots were .05 chances or lower, and 12 were below the per shot league average (.11 xG).

chicago tsars 2-3 washington spirit

We need to have a conversation about the Washington Spirit’s ability to defend. At one point this was their strength, and the line least impacted by injury. But the losses of Hal Hershfelt and Casey Krueger (who returned off the bench in this game) have been felt tremendously in recent weeks.

Chicago have a new approach and are pinning their ears back (relatively, for them) after being freed from their previous ultra-defensive approach. Though they aren’t exactly the type of offensive juggernaut that should be racking up damn near 2.0 non-penalty xG against a team with legitimate hopes of a trophy.

The key thing the Tsars seems to be doing is hanging onto the ball with their backline before choosing their moments to play forward. Grosso and Ludmila on the right had positive receiving g+, and Schlegel was close by to help facilitate.

Yeesh. Getting Morgan and McKeown on the ball a lot was good, and they both put up great pass g+ contributions. The rest of the team spent a lot of time struggling to connect in the middle and attacking thirds. Ella Brockway has been tracking the number of different lineups the Spirit have had, and this was their 9th (in all comps)

Thankfully, Rose Kouassi is back from injury, and back to being a menace. She was involved in all three of the Spirit’s goals, and her bright green receiving g+ is why. Spirit players were able to find her with the ball often, and in return she forced an own goal, scored her first, and had the assist on the match winning goal.

north carolina courage 1-1 orlando pride

It brings me no pleasure to report that soccer has indeed occurred once again. The Courage took their best chance, while the Pride missed theirs (and each subsequent chance). Their only saving grace was 900ft tall Casey Murphy deciding to do a Danny DeVito impression at the most inopportune moment.

North Carolina’s depth tells you their gameplan, especially when coupled with their 37% possession. They found a moment to sneak through the Pride’s defense as they invited them up the pitch, and managed to score. Ashley Sanchez in particular is loving this new approach, and posted high pass and receiving g+. In fact, every member of the Courage’s front three had positive receiving g+, which is highly unusual against the Pride.

When Banda is cookin she has vivid green pass and receiving g+. Recently though, teams are finding a way to only allow her one or the other. In this game she only took three shots, and just one was above average xG. Banda can score low quality chances at a higher rate than most, but that doesn’t mean it’s a thing that can be relied on.

In this game the bog chances fell to Watt (x2) and Angelina, and they missed all three.

san diego wavé 1-1 portland thorns

Technically, Poindexter, the red card for Kennedy Wesley was right. But dammit it ruined what could have been the match of the weekend. Both teams have found interesting solutions in the midst of their rebuilds and have been fun to watch in recent weeks. Instead, San Diego had to drop their aggression and focus on defending their early lead from the 41st minute on.

It was, however, probably good for them to know they can be effective in this way too. Portland created a ton of looks but not a ton of very good ones. It wasn’t until Sam Coffey tapped into her CAM college days and used a sneaky cut inside the box to draw a last minute penalty.

Until Kennedy Wesley’s sending off, this was verrrrrry interesting from the Wavé. They didn’t press as aggressively as we’ve seen, probably due to a bit of game managing after the early goal. Still, it’s not the Wavé we’re used to. McCaskill, Dali and Corley all struggled to find space and effective passes from deep areas.

This would explain the midfield stalemate both teams got into for a significant portion of the first half. After Ascanio put Portland behind in the 6th minute they pushed hard to respond but only managed five below average xG shots before the red card. Goals obvs change games, but it would have been fun to see how Portland would have approached attacking San Diego without the benefit of an extra player.

kansas city current 4-1 bay fc

After a brief hiatus, the real Kansas City Current are back. Sheesh.

Claire Hutton went off. Debinha went off. Bia went off. When that happens, and I haven’t even mentioned Temwa Chawinga yet, it means things got real bad for whatever team they were sharing the pitch with.

Not that getting wrecked by the Current is something to cause organization-wide panic, they can do this to just about anyone. But Bay spent a lot of money to not be mediocre, and yet here they are making mediocrity their absolute ceiling.

It doesn’t appear to be personnel either. Pickett has been a revelation, Taylor Huff was exactly what they needed in midfield, Kundananji is a top-tier wide attacker, Lema is a star in the making, Dahlkemper is a former USWNT stalwart, and Malonson should be. If it’s not the players, well…

seattle reign 0-1 houston dash

It feels like Reign coach Laura Harvey keeps being tempted by the English Football Man demon that sits on her shoulder. Last week they shocked Orlando and got a win by leaning into proper football. But against the Dash it was not successful, and instead a lot of opportunities to attack weren’t taken while Houston managed just three shots, scored, and won.

This was probably Maddie Dahlien’s most frustrating game as a pro. She struggling to have the same impact with pass or receiving +, and spent most of the match in a state of visible annoyance. She wasn’t alone though. Lynn Biyendolo struggled too, and was often left isolated against at least two Houston center backs.

Seattle’s wide players—Barnes and Crnogorčević—had good pass g+ and the latter added positive receiving g+. Given the speed outside on the line above them in Dahlien and Biyendolo, I was expecting them to create gaps in Houston’s defense. The two drifted narrow, instead, and Houston CBs breathed grateful sighs of relief.

Houston, meanwhile, dominated the middle third. Nearly every outfield player is positioned there, and they also moved the ball around a ton—but refused to take many risks to go forward. Their goal came from one shot out of just three overall, and was the result of some solid work out wide to get Ryan Gareis into the box with a clear path to play a cross.

Maggie Graham made a very Maggie Graham-esque run across the box to be first to the ball. I love these runs Graham has seemingly perfected. She has tremendous timing and flashes in front of defenders at the last moment. It’s a neat trick and I love that it’s already translated to this level.

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