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NWSL 2014 schedule set, takes a more balanced approach

Sahlen's Stadium

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

By CAITLIN MURRAY

The 2014 National Women’s Soccer League regular season is set with 108 games across a balanced schedule spanning from April to August.

The schedule, released by the NWSL Friday, gives an opening spotlight to the Houston Dash, the Dynamo-run expansion team that only joined the league in November. The Dash will host Portland Thorns at 8 p.m. ET on April 12 to kick off the season, in what should be a big match. FC Kansas City will host Sky Blue at the same time.

A match to circle on the calendar is May 3, when the Western New York Flash will host the Thorns in a rematch of last year’s NWSL championship. It will be the first time the two sides meet since Portland defeated the Flash there in Rochester N.Y. for the inaugural league title, 2-0.

The 2014 schedule will feature a balanced schedule with each team playing the rest of the league three times for a 24-game season. Last year, the schedule was unbalanced with teams only playing their closest rivals three times.

A league source told SBI the home/away balance in each match-up series is planned to be reversed in 2015 out of fairness. That means, a team in 2014 that only hosts once and plays away twice in a match-up will in 2015 get home field advantage twice in that match-up.

Check out the full 2014 schedule below:

2014 NWSL Schedule

Date

Home Team

Visitor

Kickoff (ET)

Saturday, April 12 Houston Dash Portland Thorns 8:00 PM
Saturday, April 12 FC Kansas City Sky Blue FC 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 13 Washington Spirit WNY Flash 4:00 PM
Sunday, April 13 Seattle Reign Boston Breakers 7:00 PM
Saturday, April 19 Washington Spirit FC Kansas City 6:30 PM
Saturday, April 19 Chicago Red Stars WNY Flash 6:00 PM
Saturday, April 19 Sky Blue FC Portland Thorns 7:00 PM
Sunday, April 20 Boston Breakers Houston Dash 6:30 PM
Wednesday, April 23 Seattle Reign Washington Spirit 10:00 PM
Saturday, April 26 Portland Thorns FC Kansas City 10:00 PM
Saturday, April 26 Chicago Red Stars Washington Spirit 8:00 PM
Sunday, April 27 Boston Breakers Sky Blue FC 6:30 AM
Sunday, April 27 Seattle Reign Houston Dash 7:00 PM
Wednesday, April 30 FC Kansas City Chicago Red Stars 8:00 PM
Wednesday, April 30 Sky Blue FC Seattle Reign 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 03 Houston Dash FC Kansas City 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 03 Washington Spirit Seattle Reign 6:30 PM
Saturday, May 03 WNY Flash Portland Thorns 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 03 Sky Blue FC Boston Breakers 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 07 WNY Flash FC Kansas City 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 07 Sky Blue FC Chicago Red Stars 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 10 Portland Thorns Seattle Reign 10:00 PM
Sunday, May 11 WNY Flash Sky Blue FC 3:00 PM
Sunday, May 11 FC Kansas City Washington Spirit 6:00 PM
Sunday, May 11 Chicago Red Stars Houston Dash 6:00 PM
Wednesday, May 14 Houston Dash Portland Thorns 8:00 PM
Wednesday, May 14 Seattle Reign FC Kansas City 10:00 PM
Thursday, May 15 Boston Breakers Chicago Red Stars 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 17 Washington Spirit WNY Flash 6:30 PM
Sunday, May 18 Boston Breakers Chicago Red Stars 6:30 PM
Sunday, May 18 FC Kansas City Houston Dash 6:00 PM
Wednesday, May 21 Portland Thorns WNY Flash 10:00 PM
Wednesday, May 21 Washington Spirit Sky Blue FC 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 21 FC Kansas City Seattle Reign 8:00 PM
Friday, May 23 Houston Dash Chicago Red Stars 8:00 PM
Saturday, May 24 Portland Thorns Sky Blue FC 10:00 PM
Sunday, May 25 Boston Breakers FC Kansas City 7:00 PM
Sunday, May 25 Seattle Reign WNY Flash 7:00 PM
Monday, May 26 Washington Spirit Houston Dash 4:00 PM
Wednesday, May 28 Sky Blue FC Chicago Red Stars 7:00 PM
Wednesday, May 28 Boston Breakers Portland Thorns 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 31 WNY Flash Houston Dash 7:00 PM
Sunday, June 01 Boston Breakers Washington Spirit 6:30 PM
Sunday, June 01 Sky Blue FC Seattle Reign 6:00 PM
Wednesday, June 04 FC Kansas City WNY Flash 8:00 PM
Wednesday, June 04 Chicago Red Stars Washington Spirit 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 07 Portland Thorns WNY Flash 10:00 PM
Saturday, June 07 FC Kansas City Boston Breakers 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 07 Seattle Reign Chicago Red Stars 10:00 PM
Sunday, June 08 Sky Blue FC Houston Dash 10:00 PM
Wednesday, June 11 Houston Dash WNY Flash 9:00 PM
Wednesday, June 11 Boston Breakers Washington Spirit 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 14 Houston Dash FC Kansas City 9:00 PM
Sunday, June 15 Portland Thorns Washington Spirit 5:00 PM
Sunday, June 15 Chicago Red Stars Sky Blue FC 2:00 PM
Wednesday, June 18 WNY Flash Chicago Red Stars 7:00 PM
Thursday, June 19 Boston Breakers Seattle Reign 7:00 PM
Saturday, June 21 Washington Spirit Portland Thorns 6:30 PM
Saturday, June 21 FC Kansas City Chicago Red Stars 8:00 PM
Sunday, June 22 WNY Flash Seattle Reign 3:00 PM
Sunday, June 22 Sky Blue FC Boston Breakers 6:00 PM
Wednesday, June 25 Portland Thorns Sky Blue FC 10:00 PM
Friday, June 27 WNY Flash Boston Breakers 7:30 PM
Saturday, June 28 Houston Dash Washington Spirit 9:00 PM
Saturday, June 28 FC Kansas City Portland Thorns 8:00 PM
Saturday, June 28 Seattle Reign Sky Blue FC 9:00 PM
Wednesday, July 02 Washington Spirit Boston Breakers 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 02 WNY Flash Seattle Reign 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 02 Sky Blue FC Houston Dash 7:00 PM
Friday, July 04 Portland Thorns Chicago Red Stars 2:00 PM
Saturday, July 05 Houston Dash WNY Flash 9:00 PM
Sunday, July 06 Sky Blue FC FC Kansas City 6:00 PM
Sunday, July 06 Seattle Reign Boston Breakers 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 09 Chicago Red Stars Portland Thorns 8:00 PM
Friday, July 11 Houston Dash Boston Breakers 9:00 PM
Saturday, July 12 WNY Flash Washington Spirit 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 12 Chicago Red Stars Seattle Reign 8:00 PM
Sunday, July 13 Portland Thorns FC Kansas City 5:00 PM
Thursday, July 17 Houston Dash Washington Spirit 9:00 PM
Thursday, July 17 Chicago Red Stars Portland Thorns 8:00 PM
Friday, July 18 WNY Flash FC Kansas City 7:30 PM
Sunday, July 20 Portland Thorns Boston Breakers 5:00 PM
Sunday, July 20 Sky Blue FC Washington Spirit 6:00 PM
Sunday, July 20 Seattle Reign Chicago Red Stars 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 23 Washington Spirit Portland Thorns 7:00 PM
Friday, July 25 WNY Flash Boston Breakers 7:30 PM
Saturday, July 26 Chicago Red Stars Houston Dash 8:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 FC Kansas City Sky Blue FC 6:00 PM
Sunday, July 27 Seattle Reign Portland Thorns 7:00 PM
Wednesday, July 30 Houston Dash Seattle Reign 9:00 PM
Wednesday, July 30 Washington Spirit FC Kansas City 7:00 PM
Thursday, July 31 Sky Blue FC WNY Flash 7:00 PM
Saturday, August 02 Washington Spirit Chicago Red Stars 6:30 PM
Saturday, August 02 FC Kansas City Seattle Reign 8:00 PM
Sunday, August 03 Boston Breakers WNY Flash 6:30 PM
Sunday, August 03 Portland Thorns Houston Dash 5:00 PM
Wednesday, August 06 FC Kansas City Boston Breakers 8:00 PM
Wednesday, August 06 Seattle Reign Houston Dash 10:00 PM
Saturday, August 09 Houston Dash Sky Blue FC 9:00 PM
Saturday, August 09 Chicago Red Stars FC Kansas City 8:00 PM
Saturday, August 09 Seattle Reign Washington Spirit 10:00 PM
Sunday, August 10 Boston Breakers Portland Thorns 6:30 PM
Wednesday, August 13 WNY Flash Sky Blue FC 7:00 PM
Wednesday, August 13 Chicago Red Stars Boston Breakers 8:00 PM
Saturday, August 16 Washington Spirit Sky Blue FC 6:30 PM
Saturday, August 16 Chicago Red Stars WNY Flash 8:00 PM
Sunday, August 17 Boston Breakers Houston Dash 6:30 PM
Sunday, August 17 Portland Thorns Seattle Reign 5:00 PM

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What do you think of the schedule? Which games are the big ones on your radar? How does your team’s schedule look?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’m going crazy without a Philly team! We need a Philly owner to step up and we’ll definitely support a team. It’s true the Independence struggled a bit for attendance but with a very small advertising budget and a stadium far outside the city it takes a while to build good attendance. When the Charge were here at Villanova they drew very well.

    Reply

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