Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The 2023 National Women’s Soccer League schedule was released on Wednesday, 45 days before the league’s first kick on March 25. The entire schedule can be viewed and filtered by team on the league’s website. Here, we bring you the highlights and analysis:
Great: Finally, Decision Day
This will feel like foreign territory for NWSL fans, but there are plenty of things to like about this schedule.
Firstly, the regular season ends for all 12 teams on Oct. 15, with simultaneous kickoffs at 5p.m. ET. This is a big deal and important for creating a meaningful event on the eve of the playoffs.
Last season highlighted how much self-harm poor scheduling had on the league’s trademark parity. What could have been a single, final day to the regular season that featured the NWSL Shield, final playoff berth and all six playoff seeds changing hands by the minute, was instead spread out over three days and made the single, final game on a Sunday cut-and-dry based on a result two days earlier….
