The NWSL MVP race is heating up. With half of the regular season in the books, competition for the league’s top individual honor has started to take shape, with a handful of favorites emerging.

As national team players return from Olympic duty, here’s who to keep an eye on for the remainder of the 2021 NWSL season.

Sydney Leroux, Orlando Pride

Sydney Leroux is on a tear. The Pride striker currently leads the league’s Golden Boot race with seven goals in 13 appearances, and she also has the most attempted shots so far this season, with 42.

The veteran forward has powered a resurgent Orlando offense, stretching opponents’ backlines and exploiting seams wherever she can. Though her attacking presence can’t be understated, Leroux is also known to put in the work on defense. The 31-year-old often tracks into midfield or all the way back to Orlando’s box in order to break up an opponent’s play, triggering the Pride’s counterattack.

Leroux’s standout year marks the striker’s first full season back on the pitch since having her second child in 2019. The biggest question may be whether the Pride can keep their form following the departure of Marc Skinner.

Syd called game 😌#CHIvORL | https://t.co/0LtSAUK1Jw | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/21SF0Uel1M

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 8, 2021

Ashlyn Harris, Orlando Pride

Ashlyn Harris has long been a dominant presence in goal, but the veteran keeper seems to have tapped into a new mindset this year.

Harris has stopped five straight penalty kicks from the line, making her the only goalkeeper to stop multiple PKs so far this season.The 35-year-old sits third in the league’s goalkeeper rankings, with 39 saves in 990 minutes on the pitch.

👉😠👈@Ashlyn_Harris' penalty stop is your @Verizon Save of the Week winner 👏 pic.twitter.com/aN2TI4ic00

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 8, 2021

Harris’s ability to come up clutch and keep Orlando in close games has propelled the club to fourth in the NWSL standings with half the season left to play.

Bethany Balcer, OL Reign

Second only to Leroux in the Golden Boot race, Balcer has been a consistently energizing force for the OL Reign.

Bethany Balcer strikes first 💪@OLReign | @NWSL pic.twitter.com/pqbQ8QT8JS

— CBS Sports Soccer (@CBSSportsSoccer) July 18, 2021

The 2019 Rookie of the Year is lethal in the club’s attack, employing strategic movement off the ball to create a flurry of chances in the final third. Whether or not the 24-year-old is scoring–and she often is–Balcer’s mere presence and ability to create space rattles defenses, complicating opponents’ game plans.

Simone Charley, Portland Thorns

Simone Charley is having a moment. Making her mark during the Olympic break, Charley’s third year with the Thorns is proving to be her breakout season.

The 26-year-old is currently tied with Sophia Smith as the club’s leading scorer, recording four goals in 13 appearances. The Portland striker has emerged as a fixture for Portland’s offense, creating ten chances and powering the team to the top of the NWSL table. If Portland can stay there, and Charley can keep scoring, she’ll remain a dark horse candidate for league MVP.

NBD, just @SimoneCharley soarin' ✈️#ORLvPOR | https://t.co/0LtSAUK1Jw | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/L4ttzgkR4c

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 26, 2021

Lynn Williams, North Carolina Courage

Williams has momentum on her side. The Courage striker is coming off an impressive Olympic debut, notching a goal and an assist in the USWNT’s win over the Netherlands in Tokyo.

Make that two braces in two games for Lynn Williams! She doubles to lead for the Courage!#NCvPOR | 2-0pic.twitter.com/qGRiqclykt

— The Equalizer (@EqualizerSoccer) June 27, 2021

Williams was on a scoring streak before leaving for the Games, netting four goals in four days in her final NWSL matches before heading to Tokyo. If Williams can keep up that type of offensive output for the Courage, she could be in contention for her second NWSL MVP award, having won the honors in 2016 with the Western New York Flash.

Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.

Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.

If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.

Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.

The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.

"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."

Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.

Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.

"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.

How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action

With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.

Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.

WSL side Liverpool opened their 2025/26 League Cup campaign with an emotional 5-0 win over WSL2 club Sunderland on Wednesday, dedicating the shutout victory to former manager Matt Beard after the 47-year-old's sudden passing last Saturday.

The match marked the Reds' return to the pitch following the postponement of their Sunday regular-season game against Aston Villa due to Beard's passing.

"It's a good win for Matt. We played with a lot of emotion," Liverpool defender Jenna Clark said afterwards, calling Wednesday "a really emotional night and an emotional few days for everyone involved with the club."

"We have pulled through together as a team the best we could and you saw that on the pitch tonight," Clark added.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, departing the Reds in 2015 for a two-year stint with the NWSL's Boston Breakers.

He made his return to Liverpool in 2021, lifting the club back into the top-flight WSL by earning promotion his first season back at the helm.

"Matt will leave a huge void in the women's game," USWNT head coach and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in a statement earlier this week. "He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all. My heart goes out to his family, but I want to take the time to acknowledge what a special man he really was."​

How to watch Liverpool this weekend

Liverpool will continue their 2025/26 WSL campaign against Manchester United this Sunday, kicking off live at 7 AM ET on ESPN+.

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.

The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.

On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.

The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.

"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."

How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final

England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.

While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.

Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.

"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."

Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.

"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."

How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend

No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.

Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.