NWSL Playoffs: Can Anyone Catch the Current?
Image courtesy of She Kicks.
By Griffin Cappiello
The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) recently wrapped up the regular season, and the nation’s top women’s soccer clubs have their eyes set on the postseason and the NWSL Championship. The 2025 NWSL Playoffs will begin with the quarterfinal round this weekend with four matches coming over the course of three days.
This Friday, November 7, #4 Orlando Pride will host #5 Seattle Reign at Inter&Co Stadium. Orlando, the defending NWSL Champion, only finished one point ahead of Seattle in the standings. The Pride are led by legendary Brazilian forward Marta after the team’s leading goalscorer, Barbra Banda, picked up a season-ending injury back in August. The Reign’s goalkeeper, Claudia Dickey, was the only goalkeeper in the NWSL to play every game this season and led the league with 88 saves on the year. This match will be available to watch on Prime Video at 8 p.m. ET.
On Saturday, #2 Washington Spirit will host #7 Racing Louisville FC here in D.C. at Audi Field. The Spirit have star players in Gift Monday, who led the team in goals, and Trinity Rodman, a skilled American forward who has been nursing an on-and-off knee injury. Louisville is led by forward Emma Sears, whose ten goals on the season earned her a fourth place finish in Golden Boot standings. This match will be broadcast live on CBS and will be available to stream on Paramount+ at 12 p.m. ET.
Sunday will bring an NWSL quarterfinal double headed beginning with #1 Kansas City Current welcoming #8 Gotham FC to CPKC Stadium. The NWSL Shield-winning Current set several league records in an incredible season, including most points and most wins in a single season. Forward Temwa Chawinga won back-to-back Golden Boots with fifteen goals on the season, and goalkeeper Lorena only conceded thirteen goals, setting the record for fewest goals conceded in a season. Gotham’s Esther González came second in Golden Boot standings with thirteen goals on the year, and American defender Emily Sonnet came third in total passes with 1,520. This match will kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
In the second match of Sunday’s double header, #3 Portland Thorns FC will face off against #6 San Diego Wave FC. The Thorns are led by midfielder Olivia Moultrie, who leads the team in scoring, and American international Sam Coffey. The Wave has key players in Delphine Cascarino, who leads the NWSL with six assists on the year, and Kenza Dali, who leads the league with 1,636 passes this season. This match will air live on ABC at 3 p.m. ET.
The NWSL Playoffs are an incredible opportunity for some of the best women’s soccer players in the world to make a name for themselves. Will the Kansas City Current sweep away the competition or will an underdog manage to knock out the most successful team in NWSL history? Keep an eye on the nation’s premier women’s soccer league as they begin their postseason!
