October is upon us, and as the leaves continue to turn, so too does the NWSL continue to dish out Fall Series highlights. Here are the top plays from the first weekend of the month.

 

5. MEWIS SLOTS IT HOME

KRISTIE MEWIS!!!! 3-0 #HoldItDown pic.twitter.com/IlCupR9JzY

— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) October 5, 2020

Houston Dash forward Veronica Latsko wins the ball off a pass over the top, shielding the ball from a North Carolina defender before laying it back to teammate Kristie Mewis. Mewis wastes little time in dribbling to goal before snapping the ball into the side panel of the far post. Mewis finished the day with three assists to go along with her score in the Dash’s 4-1 win over the Courage. Hey Coach Andonovski, how about adding another Mewis to the roster?

 

4. ECKERSTROM IS LIGHTS OUT

????‍♀️ @Breck28 ????‍♀️

0-0 | #PORvRGN

Tune in now on @Twitch.#NWSLFallSeries | #VerizonCommunityShield pic.twitter.com/gcTq8v4lri

— National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) October 1, 2020

The Portland Thorns should have warned OL Reign they were shooting on a brick wall. Early on in the match, OL Reign midfielder Shirley Cruz launches a ball into the box, finding her teammate Bethany Balcer, who heads the ball toward the front post. Britt Eckerstrom leaps to attack the shot, lifting the ball over the crossbar. Eckerstrom went on to hold OL Reign to only a single goal, helping her team to a 4-1 victory.

 

3. SINCLAIR: NOTHING BUT CLASS

The Great Horan sets up the GOAT and it's perfect.#PORvRGN | #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/2yd3OQxV7u

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 1, 2020

Lindsey Horan and Christine Sinclair… you can’t name a better duo. In textbook style, Horan receives a quick give-and-go on the flank before dribbling into the box, playing a diagonal ball back to Sinclair. The Canadian legend calmly lasers the ball into the back post corner, scoring one of her three goals on the day. Sinclair’s hat trick helped Portland roll to their 4-1 dub over OL Reign.

 

2. ROCKY THE ROCKET RODRIGUEZ

Her first Thorns goal, and it's a BEAUTY. Take a bow, @raque_rocky.#PORvRGN | #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/3uVDDnk5Vt

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 1, 2020

Try to say that three times fast. Woof. Rocky Rodriguez’s goal is a showstopper as she pockets her first goal as a Portland Thorn since joining the club earlier this year. Portland’s Simone Charley chips a beautiful cross into the box, setting up her teammate, who volleys a rocket near the upper V of the front post. Can we just say that we would have shanked this volley in 10 of 10 tries?

 

1. YOKOYAMA’S SCREAMER

A thing of beauty from @yoko10_official ????

0-1 | #NJvWAS

Tune in now on @Twitch. #NWSLFallSeries | #VerizonCommunityShield pic.twitter.com/XzrpNmZzRH

— National Women's Soccer League (@NWSL) October 3, 2020

‘Tis spooky season, and Kumi Yokoyama is ripping screamers. In the 50th minute, a booming tackle sends the ball soaring in the air just outside the 18. Yokoyama tracks the ball down before slipping past her defender. She drives to the box, takes a touch to her right-foot, and then sends a curling shot that deflects off the post into the back of the net. Yokoyama’s spectacular goal helped the Washington Spirit sneak away with a 1-0 win over Sky Blue FC.

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

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The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

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Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

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Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."