The National Women’s Soccer League comes your way with five matches this weekend, including a tripleheader on Saturday as Racing Louisville FC host Orlando Pride, Chicago Red Stars face Kansas City NWSL, and OL Reign and Washington Spirit square off. We’re in the final stretch of the 24-game regular season with just a couple of matchdays remaining. Fans can watch games across CBS platforms throughout the weekend with two matches on CBS Sports Network and three on Paramount+.
Here’s how to watch and what to know about the games this weekend:
How to watch NWSL games this weekend
Saturday, Oct. 16
- Racing Louisville FC vs. Orlando Pride, 7:30 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
- Chicago Red Stars vs. Kansas City NWSL, 8 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
- OL Reign vs. Washington Spirit, 10 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
Sunday, Oct. 17
- North Carolina Courage vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network)
- Houston Dash vs. Portland Thorns FC, 7 p.m. ET (Paramount+)
Orlando desperately needs three points
The Orlando Pride, currently in eighth and four points away from the sixth and final playoff spot, desperately need to pick up three points on the road to stay within range. Louisville is already eliminated and Orlando needs to win out the final two games of the season and hope that other clubs drop points along the way to sneak in. The Pride will need another big game in Louisville from Sydney Leroux, who currently leads the club this season with eight goals. Leroux’s last goal for Orlando came over a month ago, against Louisville on Sept.11.
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Kansas City to play spoiler again?
The Chicago Red Stars host bottom-dwellers Kansas City NWSL, who could play the role of spoiler down the stretch as they notched eight of their 15 total points earned over the past six games. Chicago is looking to improve their place in the standings, but it come easy against a Kansas City side that has stolen points from first-place Portland and recently defeated fourth-place Houston last week. Mallory Pugh and Kealia Watt have been the key to Chicago’s attack down the stretch, with the two players having scored in the last three matches combined.
Golden boot contenders square off
OL Reign, just one point off of first place, will go for nine games without a loss come Saturday as they host the Washington Spirit. It’s a tall task against a visiting side that will put a four-game unbeaten streak on the line and boast a high-octane attack. On one side you’ll have Reign forward Bethany Balcer looking to keep her side in the hunt for the regular-season shield, and on the other you have Spirit forward Ashley Hatch looking to help her club stay in third. Both players are in three-way tie in the golden boot race and lead their respective teams with nine goals.
Gotham FC need playoff bump
NJ/NY Gotham FC, currently in seventh, are the only club with four games remaining over the next three weeks and are looking to push their way back into the playoff picture. Gotham FC hold tiebreakers over Orlando, Houston and Chicago. A win against North Carolina could see them back in the hunt with a couple of makeup games remaining.
With 29 points through 20 games played, they can end the season with 41 points. What that means is they are mathematically still in contention for the league’s best regular-season record, though they would need to win out their remaining four games and have Portland (currently at 40 points) and OL Reign (39 points) to just about lose out in order to obtain the shield at the end of the season.
First place Thorns head to Houston
Fourth-place Houston Dash host table toppers Portland Thorns FC for their final regular season meeting. Houston recently picked up a 3-2 win against Portland on Oct. 6, that contributes to the Thorns current four-game winless skid. Both teams are on a quick turnaround after midweek matches, so expect player rotation in this match.
