NWSL, week 10 preview: National team duty

With every team missing large parts of their rosters due to international call-ups and bringing in reserve players for the weekend, week 10 is wide open. Houston and FC Kansas City - the league’s two hottest teams - face off on Saturday, with each trying to build on an unbeaten streak. On Sunday, Chicago tries to right the ship against Sky Blue FC, while Sky Blue tries to figure out if they’re even still a little bit seaworthy and will the Red Stars please loan them like, an oar, or something. And in Portland, the Thorns welcome the Spirit to perform a live version of the body-switching comedy we never knew we needed.

Houston Dash vs. FC Kansas City
BBVA Compass Stadium, Saturday 9:00 PM ET

It took a little while, but things are finally coming together for the Dash. The plan for much of the first half of the season, it seemed, was hold on tight until defensive reinforcements - in Whitney Engen and Meghan Klingenberg - could arrive from Sweden. Both players landed in Houston last week, with Engen appearing last weekend against Sky Blue FC. But here’s the thing: Houston had already started a little streak. It was one game, yeah, but every winning run starts somewhere. Engen’s presence, combined with Sky Blue’s general ineptitude, helped the Dash to their most complete performance of the season, a 3-0 win. Two in a row, and then Engen and Klingenberg left again, this time to join the USWNT ahead of a pair of friendlies with France, and the Dash? The Dash kept rolling, winning their third straight on Wednesday against Western NY. There is still much work to do, of course, but the Dash have dug themselves out of the basement enough to put a three point gap between themselves and eighth place Sky Blue FC. Houston is also now nipping at the heels of Portland and Western NY, just a point behind both.

The Dash will face the toughest challenger to their winning run in second-place Kansas City, but just as Houston will be without Klingenberg and Engen, as well as Nina Burger, Erin McLeod and Kaylyn Kyle due to international duty, the Blues will also be missing a large chunk of their roster. Nicole Barnhart, Becky Sauerbrunn, Lauren Holiday and Amy Rodriguez will all miss Saturday’s match due to USWNT duty.

Chicago Red Stars vs. Sky Blue FC
Benedictine U. Sports Complex Stadium, Sunday 2:00 PM ET

The month of May was very, very good to the Chicago Red Stars. Chicago was unbeaten in all six games they played in May, winning five and drawing once. The Red Stars outscored their opponents 14-4 as they climbed into second on the table. Everything was going great. Except that all six of those games were against the bottom three teams in the table, with two each against Boston, Sky Blue FC and Houston. Once May ended though, so did Chicago’s gift of a schedule. And so did the winning. The Red Stars have now dropped two straight, to Washington and Seattle, and fallen into fourth.

Which makes now the perfect time for another trip to the NWSL’s basement. Guys, there is so much weird stuff down here. Is that the WPS Championship trophy? Here’s a box of skorts. And the 2012 split L.A. Sol kit. Wait, are those the field boards Dan Borislow refused to put up? Hey, you guys. One-Eyed Willie’s treasure. GUYS. Wait, I hear people. Oh, Sky Blue FC. Didn’t see you over there in the corner. Are you looking for a forward? Or like, a kitten that’s decent at rolling a ball of yarn around? No? Yes? You don’t know? No, Christie Rampone and Kelley O’Hara aren’t down here. They went with the National Team. No, we talked to Julie Johnston and Christen Press and they said they were there with them in Tampa. The Canadians? They, no, they’re gone too. Anyway, we have this game thing, but we’re kind of tired from all the yellow cards we accumulated last week and if you co--- oh, you’re just going to stay down here watching video of the ‘09 Championship game over and over again? Okay, cool.

Portland Thorns FC vs. Washington Spirit
Providence Park, Sunday 5:00 PM ET

Remember Portland? League champions? The NWSL’s model club? The team with Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair and Nadine Angerer and head coach Paul Riley? Yeah, that team has now lost three straight games, by a combined score of 10-2, and fallen into sixth, five points out of a playoff spot. How about Washington? You know, last place, perennial losers, can’t-score-a-goal Washington? Well, that team is third on the table. Before Wednesday’s loss to Boston, the Spirit was unbeaten in five, with three consecutive wins.

For Sunday’s live performance of Freaky Friday: NWSL Edition, the roles of Christine Sinclair, Alex Morgan, Nadine Angerer, Allie Long, Ashlyn Harris, Crystal Dunn and Ali Krieger will all be filled by understudies. Which is very bad news for Portland because two of the only three people who have managed to score a goal for the Thorns all season - Long and Sinclair - will be gone. But which also might be good news, since nothing the Thorns have been doing lately has worked even a little bit and Washington will be missing a good chunk of its defensive corps.