It’s Monday, and another week of NWSL action is in the books, which means it’s time for ESPN’s Power Rankings.
Who’s climbing the table? Who’s in free fall? Our writers studied the action from across Matchday 4 to come up with this week’s order of all 14 teams in the league. Let’s dive in.
Previous ranking: 1 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. Washington Spirit, 5 p.m. ET
Orlando are still the team to beat after defeating Seattle Reign 1-0 on Saturday. Orlando’s quality across multiple lines shined in Barbra Banda’s 41st-minute goal: Marta found left-back Kerry Abello, who then carried the ball to midfielder Summer Yates on the left wing. Yates then unbalanced Seattle’s defense on the dribble before slotting in a crisp assist to Banda, waiting patiently in front of goal. Orlando were outshot 13 to 7 (and 5 to 4 on target), but goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse (freshly returned from international duty with England) made five essential saves to keep a clean sheet and secure Orlando’s continued run at the top of the NWSL.
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Previous ranking: 2 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. Houston Dash, 7:30 p.m. ET
In what’s turned into a bit of a trend early this season, Kansas City scored their goals early (Debinha in the 16th minute, followed by Lo’eau LaBonta from the penalty spot), then stood firm defensively in the second half as they weathered San Diego’s attack. The Wave held 70% of possession and outshot Kansas City 7 to 0 in the second half, requiring Current keeper Lorena to make four saves (compared to Kailen Sheridan’s two) to walk away with a clean sheet.
Previous ranking: 3 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. Orlando Pride, 5 p.m. ET
In their first game back from international duty, Jonatan Giraldez opted to rest Trinity Rodman and Leicy Santos in the first 45 as things stayed fairly even in Louisville. They both emerged for the second half and it didn’t take long for Santos to score a beautiful goal from a free kick to make it 1-0. Just over 15 minutes later, English defender Esme Morgan dropped a dime on Ashley Hatch’s head that the in-form striker (who became NWSL’s fifth-highest goal-scorer all-time just before the international break) scored to seal a 2-0 victory and finish the weekend on top of the golden boot race. Next weekend may not be so easy; they head to Florida to play the first-place Orlando Pride next.
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Previous ranking: 4 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC, 10:30 p.m. ET
By beating Houston 3-1, Angel City ended the weekend as one of just three undefeated teams after four matchdays. Alyssa Thompson is in hot form: after setting up two goals in two games for the United States, Thompson returned to club duty by scoring her third goal of the year and collecting an assist. Angel City’s rookie class is also making their mark. Macey Hodge, 23, opened the scoring and Riley Tiernan, 22, made it 2-0 in the 29th minute, then went on to assist 20-year-old Thompson’s goal. In a game where all three goal scorers are under 23, it’s easy to get excited about Angel City’s fresh look this season. But they’ve got a challenging three weekends ahead: next up is Seattle at home. After that, they play first-place Orlando Pride and third-place Washington Spirit in back-to-back weekends on the road.
Previous ranking: 11 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. Angel City, 10:30 p.m. ET
Gotham returned from the international break sitting toward the bottom of the table, with no wins and just one goal after three matchdays. But they came out firing against a floundering North Carolina Courage. Spanish forward Esther González netted a first-half brace, and rookie left-back Lilly Reale made it three before half-time in a resounding and sorely needed first win of the season.
Previous ranking: 5 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. Racing Louisville, 3 p.m. ET
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San Diego picked up a second-straight loss after falling 2-0 to Kansas City at home in California. However, first-place Orlando Pride and second-place Kansas City in back-to-back to weekends are a tough two games to handle, especially so early in the season. And neither result immediately reflects how well San Diego did in both performances. San Diego has the building blocks to have a stronger season, and there’s some easier challenges on the horizon: Louisville next, followed by Chicago Stars.
Previous ranking: 6 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. Portland Thorns, 10 p.m. ET
Seattle also picked up a second-straight loss over the weekend. And like San Diego, it was against one of the best teams in the league: Orlando Pride. They held off the reigning champs and limited them to a 1-0 victory, with only Banda breaking through. Next up? They host their old friends from Portland.
Previous ranking: 12 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. Seattle Reign, 10 p.m. ET
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Portland still can’t figure out what kind of year they’re going to have (or who will score their goals this season). But they picked up their first win of 2025 in a 1-0 victory against the last-place Utah Royals. It’s not perfect, but it’s progress. Reilyn Turner, 22, scored her second goal of the year to seal it, marking just three goals in four match days for the Thorns, who averaged 2.2 goals a game when they won the Championship in 2022. They’ve got a Cascadia rivalry battle next weekend, and travel to Seattle with a lot of questions looming over the year.
Previous ranking: 7 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. KC Current, 7:30 p.m. ET
Houston picked up their second loss of the season in a 3-1 defeat to Angel City at home. They had their chances and certainly got the ball into the final third, but looked slightly deflated at times, and made sloppy mistakes that the visitors punished. Next up they hit the road to face second-place Kansas City at CPKC Stadium, where the hosts still have only lost one game in their history (and that loss came against 2024’s record-setting champions, Orlando Pride).
Previous ranking: 8 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. NC Courage, 7 p.m. ET
Bay was caught sleeping early against the Chicago Stars. Brazilian forward Ludmila, fresh from international duty, took no more than five minutes to score the first of two goals in a 2-1 loss to Chicago at home. If it wasn’t for Abby Dahlkemper’s goal-line heroics, it would have been three. With nearly 70% of possession but half the shots on target, Bay fans may wonder why their team didn’t produce more against Chicago. But the home team struggled to break open a compact Chicago once they’d fallen behind.
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Previous ranking: 14 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. Utah Royals, 9:30 p.m. ET
Brazilian forward Ludmila returned from the international break in fine form, putting two first-half goals (both assisted by Jameese Joseph) past a struggling North Carolina squad to help seal a 2-1 win in California. That’s the team’s first win of the year and brings their total goals tally up from one to three. Here’s hoping Ludmila keeps that form going, while coach Lorne Donaldson figures out more plans of attack.
Previous ranking: 10 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. San Diego Wave, 3 p.m. ET
Louisville lost 2-0 at home to the third-place Washington Spirit but produced more opportunities than the scoreline shows. They fired off more shots — though slightly fewer on target — than their visitors, forcing Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury to come up with a few big saves to keep a clean sheet. Despite their potential, they also finished the weekend with the fewest total goals scored (two) so far this season.
Previous ranking: 9 Next match: Saturday, April 19 vs. Bay FC, 7 p.m. ET
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Things we didn’t expect: Sean Nahas’ Courage squad struggling this bad so early this season. North Carolina has all the tools to be a strong, playoff-bound team in 2025, but they still haven’t won a single game yet and only Utah sits below them in the standings. Spanish forward González put two first-half goals past them and rookie Reale added a third to make it 3-0 by the end of the first half in a 3-1 defeat in New Jersey.
Previous ranking: 13 Next match: Friday, April 18 vs. Chicago Stars, 9:30 p.m. ET
Utah held their own against Portland at home on Saturday, but fell 1-0 with a goal from Turner and finished the weekend in last place in the standings. Four weekends in, and they’ve yet to pick up a win, something only North Carolina has in common. Next weekend, they’ll host the Chicago at home in one of their easier upcoming tests despite the Stars’ fresh victory. If they don’t collect something from that meeting, the season could get quickly out of control.
As the Utah Jazz look to take on the Charlotte Hornets for their second of two meetings for the season, it’ll mark the first time that a familiar face, Collin Sexton, returns to the Delta Center since his offseason trade to the East Coast.
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Earlier in this past offseason, Sexton was sent to the Hornets along with a pair of future second-round picks in exchange for veteran center Jusuf Nurki. It was a deal that was a bit criticized from Utah’s perspective upon initially going down, but in the time since, has seen both players find their way into notable roles with their new squads.
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While Nurkic is listed as questionable to suit up for the action against his former team, Sexton seems ready to go against his, and could even start back in Utah after having previously done so in the Hornets’ latest game against the Indiana Pacers; a game they fell short in 112-114.
So, not only will Sexton be looking for a bounce-back win off a loss, but he could have an extra chip on his shoulder to perform well against his former team as well.
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Collin Sexton Returns to Utah as Jazz Take on Hornets
Sexton was a part of the Jazz for three seasons from 2022 to 2025 after initially coming aboard as a part of the extensive Donovan Mitchell and Lauri Markkanen trade as a sign-and-trade acquisition, and for the tenure that he was in Salt Lake City, was a pretty significant part of the roster––playing a total of 189 games, starting in 120 of them.
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In that time, Sexton averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 48.8% from the field and 39.8% from three, being a consistent offensive piece in the backcourt next to a growing Keyonte George and, at the time, his fellow veteran guard, Jordan Clarkson.
However, the Jazz, during their latest offseason, made the inevitable shift to focus on their young talent in place of Sexton after three good years of being a core rotational piece, sending him to Charlotte for his third team since being drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2018.
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Nov 2, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Collin Sexton (8) on defense against Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) during the first quarter at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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Since being in Charlotte, Sexton has remained about as steady as he was in Utah––averaging 15.2 points a night on 48.3% from the field, paired with 2.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, filling in once again as a valuable locker room add and veteran teammate to help bring along the Hornets’ developing roster.
Last time he went up against the Jazz, it was on his new home floor in Charlotte, making for a pretty brutal game from the Jazz, as they were blown out by Sexton and the Hornets, 103-126 at the beginning of November, which also made for the first time Utah was without Walker Kessler after he was ruled out for the season due to shoulder surgery on a torn labrum.
The Jazz will try and even up their season series, looking a bit different from that two-month span, and will be forced to do so without the services of Lauri Markkanen (rest) and Ace Bailey (hip), thus giving a brighter green light for Keyonte George to have another explosive night scoring the ball, this time against his former teammate.
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WEBER COUNTY, Utah — She was a good Samaritan, stopping to help when she saw a crashed car, but tragically, that decision ended her life.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, just before 6 a.m. on Friday, a man and woman were traveling along I-84 in Weber Canyon when they saw a crashed car on the side of the road.
They got out to help, but then they saw another car coming with its brakes locked up.
“The two individuals that were standing outside of the vehicle ran to avoid being hit. One went one direction, the other went towards the side of the barrier, jumped over the barrier, thinking it was solid on the other side, and fell in between the two bridge structures below,” said Corporal Eric Prescott with Utah Highway Patrol.
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Woman dies after falling over I-84 barrier while assisting accident in Weber Canyon
Woman dies after falling over I-84 barrier while assisting accident in Weber Canyon
Prescott said they were from out of town and didn’t know the area very well, and unfortunately, he’s seen this happen before.
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“About 15 years ago. I had another crash that occurred. Had 29 cars that were involved in a similar situation,” he said. “he stepped out to help, and he slipped on the barrier and fell.”
FOX 13 News asked if something could be fixed.
“We love that people want to help, but you also need to consider your safety also. So, it’s a pitch-black situation, you need to be cognizant and aware of like, hey, is this risk worth it of a vehicle that’s in the dark around the corner, no one’s going to be able to see you, and so you just have to weigh that risk,” Prescott said.
No other injuries were reported.
Prescott said they also have trauma resources available for the other drivers on the scene.
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“They didn’t do anything wrong, they were involved in a crash, the bridge was icy. Didn’t contribute anything to the death of this individual, but there’s still going to be those feelings that are going to be involved in it,” Prescott said. “We were able to give some information, these resources, to kind of help give them some closure, to help them to know that, hey, this wasn’t your fault.”
FOX 13 News visited gas stations and rest stops around the area, and while no one wanted to be on camera, each person said even after hearing the story, they would still want to get out and help someone in their time of need.
UHP stated that it takes them 24 hours to notify the next of kin, but they’re hoping to release the identification and other information about the investigation in the coming days.
Jackson has been writing about sports for the Deseret News since 2023.
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No. 9 BYU (14-1, 2-0) vs. Utah (8-7, 0-2)
Tip: Saturday, 8 p.m. MST
Venue: Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City
TV: ESPN
Streaming: espn.com/live
BYU radio broadcast: 102.7 FM/1160 AM/Sirius XM 143
Utah radio broadcast: 92.1 FM/700 AM
Series: Utahleads, 79-72 since 1949 (most recent meeting: 2025)
The trends
For BYU: 14-1 on the season, No. 10 in KenPom, averaging 88.2 points scored and 66.7 points allowed per game
For Utah: 8-7 on the season, No. 131 in KenPom, averaging 80.3 points scored and 80.1 points allowed per game
Players to watch
For BYU: Forward AJ Dybantsa, guard Richie Saunders, guard Robert Wright III
For Utah: Guard Terrance Brown, guard Don McHenry, forward Keanu Dawes
Utah forward Keanu Dawes (8) dunks the ball during a game against the Arizona Wildcats held at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News
