As the National Women’s Soccer League has moved to accept American-raised players who have not exhausted their college eligibility, some thought has been given to eliminating the entry draft. The reasons for this go beyond some of the best available players entering the league before they would be drafted — and that may be a topic for a future column — but the first weeks of this season have shown the draft to be a landmine for finding players capable of contributing. The most poignant example so far is Croix Bethune. When the Georgia midfielder went No. 3 overall to the Washington Spirit, the ..read more

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” That was Kelley O’Hara’s message to her fans in a retirement video announcement with Just Women’s Sports. All good things must come to an end, including the two-time National Women’s Soccer League champion, Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion’s career. As the decorated defender wraps up her professional career, she is grateful for the journey, and specifically, she is grateful to go out on her own terms with NJ/NY Gotham FC. “It feels like everything that happened in my career was meant to be,” O’Hara exc ..read more

The 2024 National Women’s Soccer League season is the first of its kind to have a record-high of seven international roster spots for each team in the league. With the wide variety of players in the league, international players are now taking the NWSL season by storm with a new caliber of competition. Internationals set the bar Previously, the NWSL had allowed five international players per roster, which was increased to seven players ahead of the 2024 season with approval from U.S. Soccer. In the opening weeks of the regular season, the competition for the Golden Boot race is already off to ..read more

CARY, N.C. — On Saturday, as the North Carolina Courage hosted Seattle Reign FC at WakeMed Soccer Park in National Women’s Soccer League action, a quiet-but-important moment emerged on the field during first-half play. With the action and most of the players on both teams confined to one side of the pitch, a Reign player slowly snuck up the other side. If the player hit the right mark and successfully received a big switch pass from a teammate, she could be free to bear down on goal, with no Courage defender anywhere close to offer resistance. But North Carolina forward Tyler Lussi noticed the ..read more

As one of the National Women’s Soccer League‘s newest expansion sides, Bay FC wants to make its presence known. And what better place to start than California, where they are the league’s third club from the Sunshine State? Bay won its first match against Angel City FC in Week 1 and got its first regular-season shot at San Diego Wave FC this weekend. Though Bay fell 2-1 in the latter, the club is holding steady in the middle of the table six games into the season. Just one point behind both in-state competitors. Preparing for the game In their inaugural season, Bay FC has scored a total of 10 ..read more

The Seattle Reign insist they are okay. The National Women’s Soccer League table, which shows the three-time Shield winners on the bottom, suggests otherwise. “Not a lot of things are going their way right now,” coach Laura Harvey said following Saturday night’s 1-0 loss in North Carolina, adding that she told the team she was proud of them. “They could drop their heads and show a different mentality and they’re not. And that’s really hard to do.” The loss to the Courage was the Reign’s fifth in a row following an opening-weekend, 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit and the second straight ..read more

Through five games, the Kansas City Current have scored a league-high 17 goals. More than half of the 30 they scored all of last season. At home, they’ve been especially dangerous scoring 14 in front of sold-out crowds. A far cry from where they were last year at this time, having just parted ways with their coach after three straight losses to start the season.  For now, the Current are perched atop the table and are one of just three unbeaten teams heading into a Friday night clash with Angel City FC. “I don’t want our team to get used to that,” coach Vlatko Andonovski said after the cl ..read more

As the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) continues to grow, both Utah Royals FC head coach Amy Rodriguez and Racing Louisville FC head coach Bev Yanez are making history — taking the league by storm as a pair of former NWSL players now leading as head coaches. This past weekend, Rodriguez and Yanez became the first former NWSL players to face off against each other as head coaches. Entering the game, Racing were riding an unbeaten streak, having recorded four draws across the board, and were eager to secure three points. Meanwhile, Rodriguez and the Royals recorded their first win in Week ..read more

The Washington Spirit are off to a soaring start. After dropping their season opener in Seattle, they’ve gone on to decisively win four straight games. That includes Saturday’s 2-0 defeat over NJ/NY Gotham FC, the reigning NWSL champions. The strong stretch for the Spirit comes as somewhat of a surprise to fans who have followed the team for the past few years. After winning the NWSL championship in 2021, the Spirit endured two lackluster seasons, finishing in 11th place in 2022 and eighth place in 2023. But so far in 2024 — what was supposed to be a rebuilding year with an interim coach — the ..read more

Chelsea coach Emma Hayes may have just become the first manager in five years to guide a team to victory on Barcelona’s home turf, but you wouldn’t have known it from her post-match press conference. There was no sense of celebration. No poems. No interest in mulling over the records her team had just broken. No time for relaxing. Her thoughts had immediately turned to April 27, when Chelsea host Barcelona for the return leg at Stamford Bridge with a chance to earn a spot in the UEFA Women’s Champions League final. She had no interest in talking about what this 1-0 victory meant. Instead, she ..read more