That was something else!
Wednesday night's matches brought goals, goals, goals. And fantasy points. As discussed on this here blog, and on BlueSky, I made two changes to my fantasy team for a cost of five points. I brought in the Orlando duo of Barbra Banda and Summer Yates. I have to admit: Yates was a disappointment. She started both matches, but didn't notch a return and came off early in the second match for a returning-from-injury Adriana. I think here time in the team will be short-lived.
That being said, she returned 15 fantasy points! It was that kind of week.
Banda came through with 40 points off three goals and two assists. Just incredible scenes. My only concern now, is can I bench her with just the one match (home against Bay FC) this week. Spoiler alert: No way.
Overall, my fantasy team scored 203 points -- the large majority on that crazy Wednesday night -- and I'm up to seventeen overall. I'm really happy I attacked the double gameweek.
Which brings us to this week: double gameweek, part deux. I would love bring in as many players with two matches as possible, but I'm less optimistic on this round than I was last week. Let's look at why.
First, you have the team playing twice: KC, Seattle, Gotham, Utah, San Diego, and Houston. Save for the second placed Current, that's 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 in the standings. None of them are scoring even one goal per game! Whom do you target with those stats?
Well, obviously you target the Kansas City Current (at Seattle, NC Courage). I have Bia Zaneratto and Vanessa DiBernardo in my team at the moment. I want to bring in Temwa Chawinga, and in fact I will indeed be bringing her in for Mallory Swanson. The diffuculty lies with Bia's status. She missed the Houston match with a foot injury. I don't expect to see her in midweek, which means at best she's a one-gamer. I would love to swap her for Chawinga, but I need the money from selling Swanson for another move. I'm likely to just bench her instead of selling for a minus five points. It's not the worst problem in the world to be over-invested in the Current right now. However forward spots are precious and with Sophia Smith and Barbra Banda demanding to be picked, that leaves only one spot for a Current forward.
But that's a problem I'm happy to push to next week and just hope that my sit/start decision works out.
Let's look at the other matchups and see what we can do with them.
Houston Dash (Gotham, @Angel City)
The Dash have shored up the backline over the last few weeks and that's reflected in their best fantasy asset being the goalkeeper Jane Campbell. She made 12 (12!) saves against the Current and I wouldn't argue against bringing her in to any fantasy team. She's on the expensive side for a keeper, but at that position, the differences are pretty small. Diana Ordoñez and Ramona Bachmann are your two forward options, but I don't think either will justify taking one of your three spots. It's a shame Bachmann wasn't classified as a midfielder, as she was in the ShePlays World Cup game. Also to note that she's picked up a card in each of her first two games. That's negative fantasy points, and is heading towards an early suspension.
San Diego Wave (Utah, Gotham)
Ah... what to do with my precious Wave? I've given up trying to understand what Casey Stoney is doing with this team this season, but I'll go on record as not liking it. They had a player advantage for 90 minutes against Seattle, but one could not tell watching the game. They were slow and sloppy, and that didn't change regardless of if it was the subs who started or the starters who subbed in. Savannah McCaskill was a favorite of my last season as a consistent fantasy midfielder. While everything on the field goes through her, there's yet to be any regular end-product from the Wave. Ordinarily I would argue for their defence but due to injuries and suspensions, it's likely to be three rookies and a second-year utility player. For me, it's a stay-away until things change. And I really, really hope things change soon.
Utah (@San Diego, @Chicago)
Fading after a good start. Ally Sentnor (She of the two Ls and two Ns) is still putting up good numbers, especially at her rock-bottom $75,000 price. She's not hitting the ceiling of some of the top forwards in the game, but is certainly a viable punt for this week.
I miss Paige Monaghan's being listed as a defender for fantasy. Those were the days.
Gotham (@Houston, @San Diego)
Ground out a win a the weekend over North Carolina, which they'll have to repeat on the road twice this week. While they, along with San Diego, have still played a game (or two!) fewer than the other teams in the NWSL, they've scored and conceeded the fewest number of goals. For fantasy, Lynn Williams is always a good pick. However, I'm more interested in their defence. I picked Cassie Miller at the beginning of the season and if you combined her scores with new signing Ann-Katrin Berger they'd be among the top fantasy keepers. With that in mind, I'm going to spend five points to move from Miller to Berger this week.
I'm not sure I can recommend any other their other players. None are bad picks, and if you think they're on the upswing then definitely get in this week. I'm hoping Berger covers me and I can wait and see who else secures a starting spot, and pops.
Seattle (Kansas City, @Portland)
Another mess of a team who gutted out a win at the weekend. Seattle are the Micheal Myers of the NWSL. I'll be fascinated to see how they try to handle the two top scoring teams in the league back-to-back. I have Sophia Huerta on my fantasy team, and I'm not excited about that. Hopefully two matches in a week means points regardless, but... ugh.
Ji So-Yun got a rest against San Diego but still came on and assisted a goal. She's a stellar midfield pick in a year without too many of those. I'm not sure it's worth five points to bring her in over a single game player, but I'm not sure I won't do it. If that makes sense.