In a true show of the talent that lies within the FA Women’s Super League, Manchester City and Everton battled for the title of FA Women’s Cup Champions in a thrilling match that required extra time to decide its winner. Man. City came out victorious behind goals from Sam Mewis, Georgia Stanway and Janine Beckie, winning the tournament for the third time in four seasons and for the second season in a row. USWNT stars Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis each logged valuable minutes during the match, earning their first silverware with Man. City since their signings in August.

Here’s how the action unfolded.

They've done it!!

Your #WomensFACupFinal winners for 2019-20

Congratulations, @ManCityWomen! pic.twitter.com/sGAiHMWTes

— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) November 1, 2020

In the 15th minute, a ball was threaded through to Everton midfielder Hayley Raso, catching the Man. City defense too far upfield. Taking advantage of the breakaway, Raso took her space as Man. City defender Lucy Bronze recovered, gaining on Raso from behind and tripping her to end the scoring drive. The foul would draw a yellow card and give Everton a set-piece opportunity, which the squad was unable to convert.

33. Bronze battling for Gold! ⚔️????

???? 0-0 ???? #ManCity | https://t.co/HkTzfLv0HJ pic.twitter.com/XTyBOXo0z1

— Man City Women (@ManCityWomen) November 1, 2020

Fighting for a go-ahead goal, Man. City continued to press the Everton defense, with standouts Chloe Kelly and Sam Mewis leading the charge. With 25 minutes gone, Mewis received a lofted ball just outside the eighteen, taking a touch forward to beat three Everton defenders. Mewis attempted to poke the ball past Everton goalkeeper Alexandra MacIver, but the keeper would deny Mewis’ scoring chance to render the game deadlocked at 0-0.

Battling ???? pic.twitter.com/RTuRSaYLVi

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) November 1, 2020

As the first half began to draw to a close, Man. City had yet to be rewarded for their impressive showing. In the 39th minute, they would get their chance, earning a corner kick that was taken by defender Alex Greenwood. Greenwood played in a near-perfect ball, finding the head of Mewis in the box. The 6-foot midfielder had no trouble redirecting the ball into the back of the net, notching her third regular-season goal in her sixth appearance for the club to put Man. City up 1-0.

Deadlock broken ????❌@sammymewy bags the first goal in the #WomensFACupFinal for @ManCityWomen ⚽️pic.twitter.com/tQBdJ6G1F2

— Barclays FA Women's Super League (@BarclaysFAWSL) November 1, 2020

In the 55th minute, a Man. City shot rebounded off of the post and to the feet of Chloe Kelly, who fired off a close-range shot that would be denied by MacIver yet again to limit Man. City’s lead to one goal. Everton would level the score five minutes later, in a similar fashion to Mewis’ goal —  a corner kick taken by Izzy Christiansen was headed home by forward Valérie Gauvin, who battled back from an injury earlier in the match to deadlock the game once more at 1-1.

????????#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/37EOyTewOO

— Everton Women (@EvertonWomen) November 1, 2020

With six minutes of stoppage time on the clock, Man. City’s Caroline Weir played a give-and-go with Chloe Kelly, receiving the ball and firing a shot that deflected off of the crossbar. Both teams fought for a goal that would render them the FA Cup Champions, but neither were successful in their efforts, leaving the match to be decided in extra time.

A hard-fought first half of extra time ensued, highlighted by a Man. City chance which began when a pass was slipped to forward Georgia Stanway. Taking her space, Stanway collided with MacIver, who had abandoned the net in an attempt to make a save. The ball squeaked out from under MacIver, allowing Stanway to maintain possession, but a recovery and clearance from Everton defender Megan Finnigan would serve to fend off the attack.

Finally, in the 111th minute of play, Jess Park played a through ball into the path of Stanway, who ran onto the pass and, on her first touch, put away the go-ahead goal, giving Man. City a 2-1 advantage. Minutes later, it was Stanway on the ball again — this time slotting a pass to Janine Beckie in the box, who scored to seal the FA Women’s Cup Championship title for her squad.

GOAL!@ManCityWomen take the lead again!

Jess Park beautifully sets up @StanwayGeorgia who gets the vital touch. Will that be the winner?!#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/3UQRiXebqG

— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) November 1, 2020

It's all over!@janinebeckie seals the victory for @ManCityWomen ????

What a game ????#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/8t3tkhx5Pf

— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) November 1, 2020

This feeling. ????????

Well done, @ManCityWomen!#WomensFACupFinal pic.twitter.com/Ji2XfypUz3

— Vitality Women's FA Cup (@VitalityWFACup) November 1, 2020

WHAT’S NEXT IN THE FA WSL:

 

November 7th 

Manchester City vs. Bristol City @ 10:00 a.m. EST

November 8th 

Chelsea vs. Everton @ 7:00 a.m. EST

Manchester United vs. Arsenal @ 7:00 a.m. EST

Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Aston Villa @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Birmingham City vs. West Ham United @ 9:00 a.m. EST

Tottenham vs. Reading FC @ 9:00 a.m. EST

As the WNBA plans to implement league-wide charter flights, the NWSL is struggling with some travel issues of its own. 

Missed flights, inclement weather, and a stretch of midweek games have spurred workload and logistical concerns for a number of NWSL teams. Last week, three games were played Wednesday night, while another three games are set to be played tonight. 

"You can't play your best XI right now because of the amount of games you have," said Red Stars head coach Lorne Donaldson after last Wednesday's 4-2 loss to Washington. Donaldson emphasized the importance of rotating through the team’s depth so as to avoid injury.

"You have to get to about 16 deep where you can," he continued. "Or else your best XI is going to be injured or walk off the field and they can’t finish the season."

Kansas City has faced some of the league's most extreme turnaround times this season. On Sunday, the Current missed an evening flight to Seattle due to a multi-hour rain delay in Houston, throwing off their training schedule ahead of their midweek match against the Reign. The NWSL eventually gave them the green light to charter a plane, but not before frustration spread throughout the team.

"We lost the whole day of the opportunity to recover," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the Current's weekend draw against the Dash. "So the schedule, it's already challenging to begin with. We have by far the worst schedule in the league, and this just made it even worse.

"We don't have a hotel, we got to figure out a hotel. We don't have flights for tomorrow, we got to figure out flights. We had trainings for some players that we believe needed training time to be able to perform on Wednesday.”

While the team was given permission to charter a plane, navigating such approvals has proven difficult in the past. This past July, the NWSL fined Kansas City $55,000 over the unauthorized use of a charter flight.

Recently retired WNBA superstar Candace Parker has her next gig lined up: president of women’s basketball at Adidas.

Parker announced her retirement at the end of April, bringing a close to a 16-year professional career spanning three WNBA championship titles with three different teams. And now, she’s stepping into a slightly different role — this time off the court — with longtime sponsor Adidas.

"The brand and I have grown together, and we’ve done some amazing things," she told Fast Company in an exclusive interview published Wednesday morning. "I’m excited about what the future holds on this side of things, because I’m so passionate about growing the game of basketball."

Parker initially signed with Adidas at the end of her first professional season in 2008, going on to spend the vast majority of her illustrious WNBA career linked to the German athletic brand. In 2010, she became the first woman to receive a signature Adidas shoe: the ACE Commander.

Her most recent Adidas collaborations include basketball sneakers Exhibit B (2022) and Exhibit Select (2023) in a variety of different colorways, as well as limited edition off-court apparel.

In 2022, Parker led a mentorship program for the brand’s first class of NIL-sponsored college athletes, a stacked roster that involved the likes of rising star Hailey Van Lith, among others. In her new position, she’ll be "overseeing pretty much everything" when it comes to the brand’s women’s basketball operations.

That "everything" includes weighing in on shoe and clothing design, navigating new and existing athlete partnerships, and taking control of Adidas' grassroots growth strategies. She’ll also help with "how we actually speak to the women’s basketball consumer," Eric Wise, who leads the brand’s global basketball business, told Fast Company.

According to Parker, the decision to accept the offer hinged on her desire to be more than just "the face" of Adidas women’s basketball.

"I said to [Adidas], 'I don’t want to be a mascot,'" Parker said. "'I really want to be in the meetings, and I want to be a part of making decisions.'"

Charter flights are on the horizon for the WNBA, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert saying on Tuesday that the league will provide teams with full-time private travel services beginning as soon as this season. 

The move is set to address years of player safety concerns, among other issues. Engelbert told AP Sports Editors that the league aims to launch the program "as soon as we can logistically get planes in place."

The initiative is projected to cost around $25 million per year over the next two seasons.

The WNBA has previously provided charter flights on a limited basis, including during the postseason and when teams were scheduled to play back-to-back regular season games. Individual owners seeking to independently provide their teams with private travel — such as the New York Liberty’s Joe and Clara Wu Tsai back in 2022 — faced significant fines for using unauthorized charters.

While players and team staff have been calling for league-wide charters even before Caitlin Clark and other high profile rookies joined the league, Engelbert has routinely cited steep year-to-year costs as the reasoning behind sticking to commercial flights. 

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However, the WNBA's surging popularity means increased visibility, and a subsequent uptick in security concerns — especially when it comes to big name newcomers like Clark — has Englebert reconsidering her previous decision. 

WNBA Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike called the move "transformational," and credited the WNBPA as well as the league for its implementation. 

"Our league is growing, the demand for women's basketball is growing," Ogwumike told ESPN. "That means more eyes on us, which is what we want, but that means more protection from the organization that we play for, the whole W that we play for.

"Chartering flights not only is a safety measure, the biggest thing, and then obviously what it means to be able to play a game and go home and rest and recover and be the elite athletes that we try to be every single night when we step out onto this court."

Aces coach Becky Hammon called the immediate response to the charter announcement "great" but noted that there are still kinks to be worked out. 

"What it all looks like, we’re still gathering information, we don’t know," she said Tuesday.

Several players emphasized the importance of safety, highlighting how last season the Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner was harassed in an airport while traveling commercial.

"All these players and these faces are becoming so popular that it really is about that as much as it as about recovery," Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier said.

"Above everything else, I think it's the safety of our players," Mercury player Natasha Cloud added. "We have a prime example with BG on our team that needs to be safe. At airports, it's like a madhouse. You see Caitlin Clark walking through airports, people following her, people trying to touch her, get pictures with her. It's just a safety measure, through and through. You would never have an NBA team walk through an airport."

Prior to Tuesday's announcement, the league had said it would charter flights for the playoffs and back-to-back games via a program introduced last year. The latest news, however, promises that teams will also be provided charters to and from all regular season games.

"Our safety is being taken seriously now, finally. In no world should our security not be a priority," Griner told ESPN. "If we want to be the league that we want to be and have the respect that we have, it comes with some risks. Sometimes people want to get close to you and it's not people you want, so I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with that anymore."

Deja Kelly has landed on her final destination, with the former North Carolina star announcing her commitment to Oregon on Monday. 

A three-time All-ACC guard, Kelly averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in her four years in Chapel Hill. She led the team in scoring in each of the last three seasons, but opted to transfer elsewhere for her fifth and final year of NCAA eligibility.

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The 5-foot-8 Texas native finishes her UNC career eighth on the team’s scoring list, having helped carry the Tar Heels to a Sweet 16 in 2022. 

Kelly is the seventh new addition for Oregon Ducks coach Kelly Graves this offseason, as the program faced a number of big name departures at the close of the 2023 NCAA tournament. She will join Texas' Amina Muhammad, Arizona's Salimatou Kourouma, Washington's Ari Long, BYU's Nani Falatea, UC Santa Barbara's Alexis Whitfield, and Siena's Elisa Mevius in Eugene this fall.

Kelly wasn't the only noteworthy transfer shaking up women's college hoops this week, with Marquette's Liza Karlen and Pitt's Liatu King both announcing their commitments to Notre Dame within a span of roughly 18 hours.