The Schedule Has Landed: NWSL Releases Schedule for 2018

The NWSL has dropped the hottest release of 2018, the schedule.

The NWSL has given us the full schedule as well as the details on the NWSL Game of the Week teams. Both Jenn Hildreth and Aly Wagner will be back to call all 20 of the NWSL Game of the Week games. They will still be on Lifetime and the pregame still starts at 3:30 p.m. ET, 3:50 p.m. ET kickoff time, but having Hildreth and Wagner takes some sting out of the less than ideal start time. Dalen Cuff will be back to host the 20 minute pregame show.

The NWSL is once again trying out using the go90 app for US based fans. Fans from outside the US, or fans inside of it with a VPN, can watch via the NWSL app and NWSLsoccer.com.

The NWSL Game of the Week

Taking a look at the games that Lifetime and the NWSL have picked our for the NWSL Game of the Week, we note a few things.

The new Utah Royals will be hosting five games, a league high. The Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit will each host three times, while the Chicago Red Stars and the North Carolina Courage each host twice. The Houston Dash and Sky Blue FC each host once. The Seattle Reign will not host at all.

While only hosting two of the NWSL Game of the Week games at home, the Chicago Red Stars will feature in six of the games as the away side. The Orlando Pride are the away side five times, three times for the Seattle Reign, twice each for the North Carolina Courage and the Portland Thorns FC, and only once for the Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash. Sky Blue will not be the away team on any of the NWSL Game of the Week games.

NWSL Game of the Week Schedule

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 The Full Schedule

Moving on to take a look at the full 108 game NWSL schedule there are a few things to note here too. 

Out of the 108 total games, 74 are played after 7 p.m. ET. Many of the Utah, Seattle, Portland home games are played in the 9 p.m. ET and 11 p.m. ET time frame to keep the effects of the heat down.

31 of the games will be held during the week, Wednesday the most popular with 20, 10 games will be on Fridays while a single game is held on a Tuesday.

Every team will be playing a home and an away match against each team. They will also have a second home game against four teams plus go on the road for four matches to make up the 24 game schedule.

Chicago will be playing their second home matches against: The Houston Dash, the Orlando Pride, the Portland Thorns and Sky Blue FC.

Houston will be playing their second home matches against: the North Carolina Courage, the Portland Thorns, The Utah Royals FC and The Washington Spirit.

North Carolina will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Portland Thorns, The Utah Royals FC and The Washington Spirit.

Orlando will be playing their second home matches against: the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, the Seattle Reign and Sky Blue FC.

Portland will be playing their second home matches against: the Orlando Pride, the Seattle Reign, Sky Blue FC and the Utah Royals.

Seattle will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage and the Washington Spirit.

Sky Blue will be playing their second home matches against: the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, the Seattle Reign and the Utah Royals.

Utah will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Orlando Pride, the Seattle Reign FC and the Washington Spirit.

Washington will be playing their second home matches against: the Chicago Red Stars, the Orlando Pride, the Portland Thorns and Sky Blue FC.

The match ups for the last weekend? No Washington Spirit the final weekend because of the odd number of teams. 

Friday, September 7, 2018 @ 10:30 PM – Portland Thorns FC vs Seattle Reign FC @ Providence Park

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 12:00 PM Sky Blue FC vs Orlando Pride @ Yurcak Field

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 3:30 PM – Utah Royals FC vs Chicago Red Stars @ Rio Tinto Stadium

Saturday, September 8, 2018 @ 7:00 PM – North Carolina Courage vs Houston Dash @ Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park

The Full NWSL Schedule

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