NWSL Week 2 Wrap-Up: Ji Whiz

Round up from week 2:

• NWSL is back and so are the Chicago Red Stars: Takeaways
• nwsl week 2: xG race charts & pass networks
• NWSL Snap: Lorneball, and staying "humble"

Not sure it was a strong fantasy week for too many teams. I thought my week was going to be HORRIBLE. First on Friday I benched Ally Sentor for Messiah Bright -- who did so well for me last season. 

Well, we know how that turned out.

Sentor scored a banger for the Royal, leading a host of "rookie queens score for fun" stories around the league. See above. Meanwhile Bright looked... off the pace. She got a few good chances - mostly from Claire Emslie's endless supply or corner kicks - only to shoot over, or misconnect on a pass. It was deeply frustrating, and honesty (and to my great shame) put me in a lousy mood.

Saturday seemed to go just as poorly, but mostly that was Wave-focused. I was surprised to see Jaedyn Shaw benched, and even more surprised by how poorly the Wave played for much of that match. Kansas City could have scored more than the two goals they got.

I knew I had a goal from Ji - my week two transfer, replacing the injured Debinha - in my pocket. But I also spent five points to bring in Feli Rauch, who didn't keep a clean sheet at Utah. Nor did week one hero, Lysianne Proulx against a previously shot-shy Washington Spirit.

But enough bitching. You're not here for my bitching. Ji's goal and a surprisingly strong Carson Pickett performance got me to 70 points. Juuust enough to keep my lead in the BlueSky League and 85 overall (out of 1419 teams).

For week 3, I'm going to focus on two things:

1. I want to invest in either Chicago or Kansas City, and
2. I want to be sure to have players playing Houston

I'm thinking of trading Bruninha, who didn't start for Gotham this weekend and will likely have Kelly O'Hara vulturing minutes from her all season, to Chicago's Maximiliane Rall. I may not start Rall this week, but the $50k savings means that in future weeks I can get from Messiah Bright to Mallory Swanson. Swanson has been starting matches this season without impacting them. I want to be able to cash in when, in about a month's time and she has her soccer legs back under her, that changes.

I was planning to start Cassie Miller in goal this week, but Bay FC gets the gift of a home game against the Houston Dash. So I'll probably keep Proulx as my starting keeper. I'm happy to have Castellanos on my team, but would look to pick up Oshoala if you're looking for a one week punt.

NWSL Week 1 Wrap-Up

Dusting off the old blog home for some ShePlays NWSL fantasy game content. This is to help me organize my own thoughts, but that's always been something we've been happy to share with the community.

I did pretty well, ending on 92 points. Sophia Smith returned as captain for the second year in a row. Manaka Matsukubo came off the bench to assist in North Carolina's rout of the Dash. On Sunday I got clean sheets from Sofia Huerta and Lysianne Proulx. Interestingly, Ally Sentor and Deyna Castellanos brought in some attacking points despite not getting any "counting" stats.

Let's catch-up on what happened last week and try to learn some lessons, shall we?

Three Stats: Seattle Reign vs. Washington Spirit
Ji looks like a good midfield target. I have to decide what to do with Debinha, who pulled up with a hamstring against Portland. I have half a mind just to go for the Korean who earned six attacking points without recording a goal or assist. She seems to have a very high floor -- the opposite of Debinha's high ceiling.

NWSL Power Rankings: North Carolina Courage begin at No.1
3 most important takeaways from Week 1 of the 2024 NWSL season
The Courage look like the team to target. I have Matsukubo, but I'm discouraged that she didn't start. Feli Rauch was one the last players cut from my fantasy team, and that seems like a mistake I need to rectify. Haley Hopkins is already in the goal scoring books, and is a dirt cheap option at forward. I'm not sure it's worth moving off Messiah Bright for a minus five points, but I'll consider it for sure.

Evaluating the 5 Chicago Red Stars Debuts vs. Utah

NWSL Weekend Take-Off: KC Current, NC Courage start 2024 off with goal avalanche

Seven Observations from KC Current’s Amazing Opener

Dydasco’s late defensive gem preserves Bay FC’s win in inaugural game
As a Castellanos owner, I was disappointed in how involved Boade and Anderson were. The latter seemed to dominate the set pieces, which are an easy source of points in the ShePlays game. Something to monitor.

Red Stars Shine in Season Debut
Chicago's young attackers were good, if inconsistent last season, and were good again in week one. My concern is that there are too many options and you won't know which one to back week to week. That is, unless...

Swanson is back! As she gets her legs back under her, maybe she can re-establish herself as Chicago's talisman. Nothing to rush -- for her, Chicago, or your fantasy team as she's still at a premium price -- but something to watch.

Finally, I'll leave you with the thoughts of someone much smarter than me about all of this:

5 things about nwsl opening weekend

yo dawg i heard you like xG race charts & pass networks