The world of the NWSL doesn’t stop for the Olympics.
While some of the league’s brightest stars will be in Japan, play will continue back on the home front with some teams being hit harder by absences than others.
The teams taking the biggest blows are those who most rely on U.S. women’s national team stars, as the bulk of the USWNT roster hails from the NWSL.
But the league’s teams will also supply players for Canada, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Sweden, and New Zealand among others.
Which teams look best positioned to thrive during the Olympics, and which are set to suffer?
Goal gives you three examples of each below...
Best positioned
Racing Louisville: As expected, the expansion side has taken its lumps this year – particularly in back-to-back defeats to North Carolina and Portland by a combined score of 8-0.
But Christy Holly’s team have shown some resilience in their first NWSL campaign, while getting strong contributions from up-and-coming talents like Emily Fox, Cece Kizer and Ebony Salmon.
Crucially for Louisville, they are the only team who won’t be losing any players for the Olympics. In fact, they will be making a major addition as Nadia Nadim gets set to arrive from Paris Saint-Germain.
Some teams may have to withstand the Olympic break, but Louisville could be set to profit from it.
Washington Spirit: Unlike Louisville, the Spirit are losing some real talent, namely USWNT duo Kelley O’Hara and Emily Sonnett in addition to contributors Saori Takarada (Japan) and Julia Roddar (Sweden).
The good news for the Spirit is stalwart center back Paige Nielsen just returned from injury to help soften the blow of O’Hara and Sonnett’s absence, while having captain Andi Sullivan barely miss out on the USWNT Olympic squad will be a major boost.
The biggest reason the Spirit will be fine through the Olympics, though, is that their two most dynamic attackers aren’t (yet) in the USWNT picture: Ashley Sanchez and Trinity Rodman.
The young duo have both had breakout seasons and will likely get their national team shot after the Olympics but, for now, their focus will be fully on the Spirit. Having the league's co-leading scorer Ashley Hatch stay certainly won't hurt either.
Goal
Orlando Pride: Sure, losing Marta and Alex Morgan is a blow, as is the loss of dependable outside back Ali Riley. But this surprising Pride team has shown that it has enough to overcome absences that may have doomed them in previous seasons.
The Pride’s strong 2021 campaign has been built from the back and no Orlando player has been better than goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, who has somewhat surprisingly fallen out of the USWNT picture. Ali Krieger has also missed the U.S. Olympic team and the veteran will instead anchor the team’s back line.
Sydney Leroux has enjoyed a strong campaign up top and, along with breakout sophomore Taylor Kornieck and new signing Jodie Taylor, the Pride should have enough in attack to not be laid flat by the absences of Morgan and Marta.
Absences could take their toll
Houston Dash: Perhaps no NWSL team will be hit harder by Olympic absences than the Dash, whose core is comprised of USWNT players (Jane Campbell and Kristie Mewis), Canada national teamers (Sophie Schmidt, Allysha Chapman and Nichelle Prince) and Team GB star Rachel Daly.
The good news for Houston is center-back stalwarts Katie Naughton and Megan Oyster will still be around, but much of the attacking onus will fall on Shea Groom, who will have to be in top form to prevent Houston from losing too much ground.
Chicago Red Stars: Chicago was rocked by USWNT absences, with four of the team’s top players, Julie Ertz, Alyssa Naeher, Tierna Davidson and Casey Krueger all travelling to Japan.
Naeher and Ertz were expected, while Davidson wasn’t a major surprise either. But Chicago likely thought that they could count on Krueger to help steady their back line, given the defender wasn’t called up for the team’s friendlies in April and June.
With a back line decimated by absences, Chicago will have to look further up the field toward 2019 World Cup winners Mallory Pugh and Morgan Gautrat, both of whom have put together strong 2021 campaigns so far.
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North Carolina Courage: Lynn Williams has been one of, if not the best, attacking player in the NWSL this season, but she’ll be away with the USWNT along with do-everything midfielder Sam Mewis.
The Courage will be especially affected by the departures of Abby Erceg (New Zealand) and Debinha (Brazil), the team’s defensive bedrock and its creative hub.
Erceg will be particularly hard to replace, as she’s been in stellar form while holding together the team’s defense following Abby Dahlkemper’s move to Manchester City.
Hailie Mace will likely get a chance for an extended run in the lineup and along with Jessica McDonald and Kristen Hamilton, the trio will be tasked with helping the Courage attack keep up.