SFPI NWSL Power Rankings (Week of Sep 3)

Another week of NWSL action is done, and the Thorns are BACK IN THE PLAYOFFS BABY!!! And thanks to Chicago beating North Carolina Portland still has an outside shot at repeating as NWSL Shield Holders (although The Courage DO still have a game in hand thanks to Hurricane Harvey). A ton of shuffling this week as only two teams stayed put while the other 8 all moved either up or down 1 spot; and with only 3 weeks left, things are getting tight.

COMPONENTS OF SFPI:

PERFORMANCE SCORE: 100% based on performance on the field made up of the following.

PPG Score: Total Points Per Game added to Points Per Game over Last Five with Last Five being given more weight. Single largest component of SFPI

Goal Difference Per Game: Total Goal Difference divided by games played

Home/Away Bonus: Bonus Points added for earning results (W/D) on the road, points subtracted for dropping results (D/L) at home. Accrues over entire season.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE: Average Performance Score of all of a teams opponents to date. Accounts for road games by adding a percentage of a teams Home PPG to the performance score when faced on the road. Weighted at less than 100%

TOTAL SCORE: Performance Score is added to Strength of Schedule to form a teams Total Score. Teams are then ranked in order from highest to lowest.

(all times Pacific *Denotes in Playoff Position **Clinched Playoff Berth)

1 **NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE (42pts 14W-6L-0D) SCORE: 10.6318 (+0.3786) PREV: 1 (NC) H1/L1

SCHEDULE: 8 (+1) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 6 (+1) OVERALL PACE: 50 (-2)

GAMES REMAINING: 4 CONSECUTIVE WEEKS AT #1: 3

LAST WEEK: W 3-2 at Washington L 2-1 at Chicago

NEXT WEEK: vs (8) Houston Sat 9/9 430pm

2 *ORLANDO PRIDE (35pts 10W-6L-5D) SCORE: 9.983 (+0.4963) PREV: 3 (+1) H2/L3

SCHEDULE: 10 (NC) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 1 (+2) OVERALL PACE: 40 (+2)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: W 4-2 vs Boston NEXT WEEK: vs (6) Seattle Thu 9/7 5pm

3 **PORTLAND THORNS (40pts 12W-5L-4D) SCORE: 9.6223 (+0.0564) PREV: 2 (-1) H2/L3

SCHEDULE: 9 (-1) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 5 (+3) OVERALL PACE: 45 (+1)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: W 4-0 vs Washington NEXT WEEK: at (9) Boston Sun 9/10 3pm

4 FC KANSAS CITY (26pts 7W-9L-5D) SCORE: 7.4506 (+1.4958) PREV: 5 (+1) H4/L5

SCHEDULE: 6 (NC) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 8 (+1) OVERALL PACE: 29 (+2)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: W 4-1 vs Sky Blue NEXT WEEK: vs (5) Chicago Sat 9/9 1230pm (Lifetime)

5 *CHICAGO RED STARS (35pts 10W-6L-5D) SCORE: 7.141 (+0.826) PREV: 4 (-1) H4/L6

SCHEDULE: 3 (+1) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 3 (-1) OVERALL PACE: 40 (+4)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: W 2-1 vs North Carolina NEXT WEEK at (4) Kansas City Sat 9/9 1230pm (Lifetime)

6 SEATTLE REIGN (30pts 8W-7L-6D) SCORE: 6.7542 (+1.4187) PREV: 7 (+1) H4/L7

SCHEDULE: 5 (NC) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 4 (+2) OVERALL PACE: 34 (+2)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: W 1-0 at Houston NEXT WEEK: at (2) Orlando Thu 9/7 5pm

7 SKY BLUE FC (29pts 9W-10L-2D) SCORE: 5.9988 (+0.401) PREV: 6 (-1) H6/L7

SCHEDULE: 4 (-3) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 9 (+1) OVERALL PACE: 33 (+1)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: L 4-1 at Kansas City NEXT WEEK: vs (10) Washington Sun 9/10 3pm

8 HOUSTON DASH (23pts 7W-11L-2D) SCORE: 3.2292 (-2.0407) PREV: 8 (NC) H8/L8

SCHEDULE: 7 (NC) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 2 (-1) OVERALL PACE: 27 (-2)

GAMES REMAINING: 4

LAST WEEK: L 1-0 vs Seattle NEXT WEEK: at (1) North Carolina Sat 9/9 430pm

9 BOSTON BREAKERS (16pts 3W-11L-7D) SCORE: 2.0588 (-1.2267) PREV: 10 (+1) H9/L10

SCHEDULE: 2 (NC) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 7 (-3) OVERALL PACE: 18 (-2)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: L 4-2 at Orlando NEXT WEEK: vs (3) Portland Sun 9/10 3pm

10 WASHINGTON SPIRIT (16pts 4W-13L-4D) SCORE: 1.9457 (-1.9541) PREV: 9 (-1) H9/L10

SCHEDULE: 1 (+2) REMAINING SCHEDULE: 10 (-5) OVERALL PACE: 18 (-3)

GAMES REMAINING: 3

LAST WEEK: L 3-2 vs North Carolina, L 4-0 at Portland

NEXT WEEK: at (7) Sky Blue Sun 9/10 3pm

PLAYOFF PICTURE/THORNS ROOTING INTEREST

Of the five matches we were keeping an eye on last week only 1 went exactly the way we’d hoped (KC at Sky Blue) and another (NC at Chicago) went sort of the way we would like (a draw would've allowed Portland to gain on both teams and finish no worse than 3rd) for 1.5/5

Assuming a Thorns Win, how should we root for the rest of the games this week:

Seattle at Orlando: SEATTLE ( I know it makes me feel icky too)

Kansas City at Chicago: KANSAS CITY

Houston at North Carolina: HOUSTON

Washington at Sky Blue: DRAW (it doesn’t impact the Thorns in any way as neither team can catch them, but for the sake of the following Table)

If the week breaks 100% for the Thorns, this is how the standings would look:

(* Denotes Clinched Playoff **Clinched Home game ***Clinched Shield #Eliminated)

1 **Portland 43

2 **North Carolina 42

3 Chicago 35

4 Orlando 35

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5 Seattle 33

6 Sky Blue 30

7 Kansas City 29

8 Houston 26

9 #Washington 17

10 #Boston 16