Well, that was a pretty wild week in the NWSL! Bay set the all-time NWSL attendance record in their home match vs. Washington at Oracle Park (beating the record set last year when Bay visited the Stars at Wrigley Field in a match attended by yours truly). Later on Sunday, San Diego logged 11 corners, 22 shots, and 72% possession but still lost at home to Louisville. And, in my personal favorite match of the weekend, Ludmila set the all-time NWSL record for quickest hat trick, bookending Jaedyn Shaw’s second goal of the season, to secure a second consecutive 3-3 draw for the Stars. In fact, I technically predicted a Chicago hat trick in Round 17 all the way back in January – I just thought it would be Mal Swanson. Still pretty close though!
But there was also some very bad NWSL news this weekend, and we need to start with that, so…
What do we do about the Barbra Banda injury?
Unfortunately, Barbra Banda will miss the rest of the NWSL season. She suffered a a full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon in the heat-affected match in Kansas City last week, and has been officially added to the season-ending injury list. Get well soon Barbra! We miss you!
For any of the many FNWSL managers that have Banda on their teams, this is a tricky situation, as Banda is a premium, elite-level FW and, other than Temwa Chawinga, she can’t really be replaced from a FNWSL perspective. For a general take on what to do after injuries to elite players, take a look at our article from Mallory Swanson’s knee injury two years ago. Also (and coincidentally), last week, we talked specifically about possible replacements for Banda, considering the lack of goalscoring from the Pride.
TL;DR? Consider Esther, Trinity Rodman, and Taylor Flint if you’re looking for players at the premium price points.
We do have to expect that the Orlando attack, which has already been struggling, may find it even more difficult to find the back of the net. However, it is worth noting that the Pride signed Mexican international FW Jacquie Ovalle last week – for a world-record transfer fee in women’s soccer. She’ll be priced at $250k to start the season, and with Banda out, she may be in the Pride starting XI sooner rather than later… if you’re looking for a differential option, take a look!
It’s also likely that some of the established Pride attackers, especially Marta ($400k) and Ally Lemos ($75k), could see some more minutes over the next few weeks. For FNWSL managers, the situation is made even more complex by the fact that Orlando is also in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, which just started last week. So the next question we have to ask is…
How will the CONCACAF W Champions Cup affect FNWSL players?
Last week, the 2025-26 CONCACAF W Champions Cup group stage kicked off. Gotham, Washington, and Orlando are the US representatives in the competition. There are ten total teams in the competition, divided into two groups of five in a group stage that will run through mid-October. The top two teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage.
Gotham and Washington played midweek matches last week to begin the tournament, while Orlando had a bye in the first matchweek. As most of the matches are on weekdays, it’s important for FNWSL managers to keep their eye on this tournament. Most of the normal Gotham starters did not play in their match at home vs. Monterrey. Jess Carter and Esther played the second half, but AKB, Lilly Reale, and Sarah Schupansky didn’t play at all. Meanwhile, Washington put seven goals past Alianza in El Salvador, highlighted by a Rosemonde Kouassi hat trick. Narumi Miura and Paige Metayer started, but were replaced at halftime by Rebeca Bernal and Trinity Rodman, respectively. Rodman was then herself replaced later by Croix Bethune, and Leicy Santos got some late minutes as well. The vast majority of the normal Washington XI didn’t play, including Tara McKeown, Aubrey Kingsbury, Gift Monday, and Hal Hershfelt.
This is all pretty good news from a FNWSL perspective, as we didn’t see too many major changes to starting lineups or overall minutes when league play returned over the weekend. That means that managers may not have to do too much planning around cup matches moving forward and can play most of their players as normal. However, we could see more minutes from the normal starters as we get deeper into the competition, which could affect minutes in league play for players on these three teams.
Orlando will begin its cup run when the competition resumes on Tuesday, September 2nd. Gotham and Washington will also play matches that week, and play each other in the cup on October 1st, just before Round 23 of FNWSL. Not to worry, though. I’ll be keeping my eye on this tournament moving forward and will keep you updated!
As always, comment or Bluesky @MansersAnswers with any FNWSL questions!