The 10 Most Memorable Moments of the NWSL Regular Season
The 2021 NWSL regular season has officially come to an end. It was a wild season with many ups and downs; we take a look at some of the most memorable moments.
1. Emina Ekic goal, Louisville’s first win
Hometown heroics for our first-ever @budweiserusa Play of the Week. ? pic.twitter.com/JMW5jlUPWB
— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) May 25, 2021
Who better to score the game-winning goal than the hometown girl herself, Emina Ekic. The rookie found the back of the net and got an assist to give Racing Louisville their first regular-season win in club history.
2. KC Current rebrand
Power. Lives. Here.
We are the Kansas City Current.
#TealRising pic.twitter.com/sK46epCUnL— KC Current (@thekccurrent) October 31, 2021
Kansas City came into this season with a temporary name and crest due to the quick turnaround in joining the league. However, during their last home game, they revealed the permanent crest and name, the Kansas City Current.
3. Cascadia Rivalry in Seattle
The oldest rivalry in the NWSL is the Cascadia rivalry between the Portland Thorns and OL Reign. One of those meetings came at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington, with 27,278 fans in attendance. It was a league record for attendance, and the Reign knocked off their rivals 2-1 in a great environment.
4. Playoff chaos
Going into the final week of the regular season, the playoff scenario was still unknown, leading to some really exciting last matches. There were four teams still fighting for a spot, and three were trying to secure a home quarterfinal match. It came down to the wire with the very last regular-season game deciding who got the sixth spot. Thanks to a Washington Spirit win over the Houston Dash in the final match, the North Carolina Courage squeezed in, knocking the Dash out.
5. Carli Lloyd’s last goal at home
WHO ELSE BUT @CarliLloyd?! #NJNYvLOU | https://t.co/bONPZnnmCJ | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/5wViVSfL0u
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 31, 2021
In Carli Lloyd’s last game in her home state, she found the back of the net, securing the tie for Gotham in their last regular-season game. It was a great ending for her last game at Red Bull. Lloyd still has at least one game left in her career, with Gotham traveling to Chicago for the first round of the playoffs.
6. Kansas City ends their losing streak
Kansas City had a rough start to their first NWSL season. The club went 13 games without a win before getting their first win on August 13. It was a 1-0 win over OL Reign in Kansas City.
7. Big returns and signings
There were some notable returns and signings this season, both on the field and off. Nadia Nadim made her return to the NWSL with Racing Louisville, Samantha Mewis came back to the Courage, Rose Lavelle to OL Reign, and Abby Dahlkemper to Houston. Eugénie Le Sommer, Dzsenifer Marozsán, and Sarah Bouhaddi joined OL Reign on loan.
Laura Harvey made her NWSL coaching return rejoining OL Reign, and former Seattle Reign player Bev Yanez returned to the league as an assistant coach for Gotham FC.
8. Player solidarity
#NoFinishLine pic.twitter.com/tVRiYFfpSu
— NC Courage (@TheNCCourage) October 13, 2021
After the fallout of the many covered-up abuse allegations came to light, the players wanted their voices heard. The league isn’t prioritizing them, and they were sick of it. They postponed the weekend games after The Athletic article detailing the allegations emerged to take a minute and pause. When they returned to play, both teams joined in the middle of the circle in the sixth minute to represent the six years that the league stood silent. In a time of darkness, the players were able to come together as a league.
The NWSL Player’s Association also was heard and got all eight of their demands from the league met, centered around players’ safety.
9. Coaching changes
This 2021 NWSL season, there have been a ton of coaching changes throughout the league. Six of the ten teams have undergone a coaching change this regular season. Abuse and misconduct led to Washington, North Carolina, Louisville, and OL Reign all firing their former head coaches. Additionally, mark Skinner left the Orlando Pride for Manchester United and Freya Coombe left Gotham to be the first head coach for Angel City FC.
10. Olivia Moultrie
View this post on Instagram
Our last memorable moment of the 2021 NWSL season is Olivia Moultrie’s debut. Previously the league had a rule stating that nobody under 18 could play, Moultrie sued the league to get that rule removed. After some back and forth with the league and a judge ruling in her favor, she played for the Portland Thorns in June. She made her league debut on July 3 with the 15-year-old becoming the youngest player to ever play in the league. Her first goal for the Thorns came during the Women’s International Champions Cup against the Houston Dash.
Featured image via @TheNCCourage on Twitter
_
GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS
Girls Soccer Network
Your source for girls soccer news
