The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup group stage concluded on Sunday, sending four teams to the semifinals next Wednesday. Now that each team has played six matches, it’s time to look at where teams stand as the regular season kicks off with a matchup between Angel City FC and the North Carolina Courage on Friday night.

While the Challenge Cup was an opportunity for early evaluation, teams’ performances don’t necessarily reflect the full picture. Some coaches used the preseason tournament to experiment with different formations and attacking styles. Others focused on helping rookies adjust to the speed of the professional environment. The teams that turned over much of their roster in the offseason need time to build chemistry. During the regular season, however, the only motive is to win.

After the chaos of the Challenge Cup, here is where every team stands in the Just Women’s Sports NWSL preseason power rankings.

1. OL Reign

They’re good on paper, and they’re even better on the pitch. With the most wins of any team in the tournament, the second-most goals and the fewest goals conceded, the Reign are roaring. They’re one of a few teams with no weak link in their lineup, boasting strong depth along their backline and a Bethany Balcer-led attack that’s thriving even without 10-year veteran Megan Rapinoe and Tziarra King. Adding to the dominance are three of the best center midfielders in the world — Jess Fishlock, Quinn and Rose Lavelle — who are responsible for the Reign’s creative combination plays into the attacking third.

Playing in the West Division, the Reign have arguably had an easier run to the Challenge Cup semifinal because of the 2022 expansion teams, but beating longtime NWSL conqueror Portland in their second meeting says a lot about this team’s standing.

2. North Carolina Courage

The Courage going undefeated in the group stage of the Challenge Cup was perhaps the biggest surprise of the tournament. Finishing in sixth place last season before losing a herd of stars (including Lynn Williams, Sam Mewis and Amy Rodriguez) and signing six rookies from December’s draft, North Carolina appeared to be heading for a slight rebuild. They shut that theory down pretty quickly, racking up three wins and three ties in the tournament.

While Abby Erceg continues to be one of the strongest defenders in the NWSL, Kerolin Nicoli has been a game-changing addition up front, consistently creating dangerous chances with her 1v1 play. With veterans Meredith Speck and Denise O’Sullivan holding the team to a high standard, the Courage appear poised to extend the club’s long history of success in the league.

3. Washington Spirit

The Spirit ended the Challenge Cup with the fewest amount of wins of the three undefeated teams, but with the longest unbeaten streak. Outside of two forfeits in September due to COVID-19 protocols, the 2021 NWSL champions haven’t lost since Aug. 7. They’re still working on coming out of the gate with more intensity, but once their front trio of Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez get in a groove, they are very difficult for teams to stop. In their group stage finale Saturday, the Spirit displayed some impressive team defense to salvage a draw with the Courage while playing without starters Andi Sullivan and Sam Staab.

Trin is a menace 🔥 @trinity_rodman pic.twitter.com/uAiPwhzIFR

— Washington Spirit (@WashSpirit) April 18, 2022

4. Kansas City Current

The Central Division was perhaps the most competitive and unpredictable, with two clubs — the Houston Dash and Racing Louisville FC — tying at six points apiece. Kansas City was the outlier, earning 13 points to pull ahead of the second-place Red Stars by five, thanks in large part to the team’s depth. The Current were projected to improve this year after acquiring U.S. national team players Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams from North Carolina, but both were out of the Challenge Cup due to injury. Kansas City proceeded to dominate anyway behind the frontline duo of veteran Kristen Hamilton and rookie Elyse Bennett.

5. Portland Thorns

For the second time in just a few months, Portland has failed to advance in an NWSL competition because of an underdog. In November, the No. 4 Chicago Red Stars upset the Thorns in the NWSL semifinals. On Sunday, last-place Angel City blanked them 1-0 for their first win as a franchise. Granted, the Thorns were missing their head coach and five players in that game due to COVID-19 protocol. That match aside, Portland had a solid showing across the tournament with a handful of players stepping up in the absence of stars.

6. NJ/NY Gotham FC

Next to the Courage, Gotham FC was the second-biggest surprise of the Challenge Cup, and for the opposite reason. After adding Olympic bronze medalist Kristie Mewis and World Cup champions Ali Krieger and Ashlyn Harris, the 2021 Challenge Cup finalists appeared primed for success. But, despite being the oldest team in the NWSL by average age, they haven’t built chemistry as quickly as some might have thought for an experienced team. They also were tested early, competing in one of the toughest divisions with North Carolina and Washington.

7. Chicago Red Stars

The Red Stars have recently been without many key players due to injuries and trades, and unable to live up to the standard they set in the fall when they reached the NWSL championship game. They did, however, maintain a decent 2-2-2 record in the Challenge Cup. Defender Bianca St. Georges has become an important player on the backline, building on her breakout 2020 Challenge Cup before a quiet 2021. Mallory Pugh, before she suffered a concussion, was essential to the Red Stars remaining in the top half of the Central Division, netting four goals to place her among the top goal-scorers of the tournament.

Game on in KC 😱@biancastgeorges | @chicagoredstars pic.twitter.com/xAFnZRVcTV

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) April 24, 2022

8. Racing Louisville FC

Racing Louisville’s only two losses in the Challenge Cup unusually came against the Houston Dash, the last-place tema in the Central Division. Louisville has a group of hard-working subs who were able to turn around the team’s energy on several occasions, most notably in their 2-1 loss to Houston on Sunday despite the final score. As Louisville’s new players become more acquainted with the team, and the defense cleans up its technical errors, the team has what it takes to be a strong contender in the league this season.

9. San Diego Wave FC

The Wave, perhaps surprisingly, have come out as the stronger of the two 2022 expansion teams. The club has a bright future thanks to its promising rookie class, including center back Naomi Girma, game-changing substitute Amirah Ali and forward Kelsey Turbow, who has been key to the Wave controlling the center of the park. Sofia Jakobsson, a Swedish national team player competing in the NWSL for the first time in her career, has brought a fire to San Diego’s attack. With a number of individual talents, the Wave need more time to gel, but their competitive start bodes well for the regular season.

10. Houston Dash

The Dash finished the tournament as the only team with no draws. The inconsistency of their results — two wins and three losses — makes more sense when considering they used the Challenge Cup to experiment with new systems. In their most recent win over Racing Louisville, the Dash played three attacking midfielders, allowing them to press and capitalize on small mistakes in Louisville’s defensive third. María Sánchez had a standout tournament, solidifying her spot on the attack as the Dash adjust to losing midfielder Kristie Mewis to Gotham. They’ll have more adjusting to do at the start of the regular season after head coach James Clarkson was suspended based on initial findings in the NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint investigation into workplace conduct.

11. Angel City FC

Angel City is beginning to find their stride, especially after outplaying the Thorns in their first-ever win on Sunday. They scored in every game except one, a 3-0 loss to Portland, despite having 56.1 percent of the possession in that game. Overall, the Challenge Cup was a bit of a learning curve for Angel City as the club faced two of the strongest teams in the league, the Reign and the Thorns, two times each. A quickly developing team, ACFC has the potential to climb in the standings during the regular season.

Forward @ChristenPress talks about @weareangelcity first game of the season at @BancStadium this Friday #angelcity #angelcityfc #christenpress #nwsl pic.twitter.com/LRxeayK5Fv

— Eduard Cauich (@ecauich) April 27, 2022

12. Orlando Pride

The Pride are in for a ride this season, with nearly half the roster new to the club and head coach Amanda Cromwell embarking on her first professional season at the helm. They were tested through the second half of the Challenge Cup after Marta, their star attacker, was ruled out with a season-ending injury. The tournament, as a result, gave them a chance to adjust the lineup before jumping into regular season. Even with Marta on the pitch, it could take a couple of years for Orlando to contend for trophies.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

Stakes are sky-high for Wednesday night's Cy-Hawk Series clash, as undefeated No. 10 Iowa State welcomes unbeaten No. 11 Iowa to Ames for the highest-ranked NCAA women's basketball matchup in the cross-state rivalry's history.

"[If] you grew up in the state, just there's nothing like it," Iowa head coach Jan Jensen said of the historic series. "You've dreamed, you've watched those big football matchups when you're little, you watched the basketball games when you were little, and to get to be in one — boy, it doesn't get much better."

"[It's] one of those things where it truly is a rivalry, because teams [go] back and forth and have their streaks and wins and losses," echoed Cyclones boss Bill Fennelly.

The red-hot Hawkeyes enter Wednesday's game with the head-to-head advantage having won three straight against the Cyclones — and eight of the last nine in the series.

That said, the Cyclones have the nation's leading scorer on their side, with junior center Audi Crooks's 27.6 points per game showcasing unmatched efficiency in the 2025/26 NCAA season.

"Audi's tough," Jensen said about the Iowa State star. "She's just really, really incredible…. When you let her get it, she's pretty accurate."

How to watch Iowa vs. Iowa State in the 2025 Cy-Hawk Series

The No. 11 Hawkeyes will visit the No. 10 Cyclones in the 2025 edition of the Cy-Hawk Series at 7 PM ET on Wednesday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.

The Washington Spirit are all in on forward Trinity Rodman, with club GM Nathan Minion telling reporters that the 2025 NWSL runners-up are working "pretty much daily" to re-sign the free agent despite salary cap concerns.

"I think everyone's trying to work together to get a deal in place," said Minion, acknowledging that the NWSL and the Spirit are actively working with each other to retain the 23-year-old star. "[We're] trying to figure this out and trying to get a resolution that can hopefully keep Trinity here with us for a long time."

"The reality is our current salary cap structure — it was built for a different era of women's soccer," said the DC club's recently hired president of soccer operations Haley Carter. "We're going to need mechanisms that allow NWSL clubs to compete for not only players from overseas, but our own players."

The NWSL vetoed the multi-million dollar offer from the Washington Spirit to keep Rodman last week, with the NWSLPA subsequently filing a grievance claiming the league violated the USWNT attacker's free agency rights by blocking the deal.

"These are nuanced conversations, and I would love to just toss the salary cap out the window and pay the players," said Carter. "But we also have to appreciate that, pragmatically, it isn't always payroll that's going to keep our athletes here. It's investment in other things as well."

"We are going to have to start getting creative, I believe, because it's bigger than just one team," continued Carter. "It's bigger than just one player. It's about the league's ability to keep its best players in this league as we continue to grow."

The NWSL transfer and hiring market is ramping up, with both the 14 existing clubs and two incoming expansion teams busy bolstering their 2026 ranks just weeks into the offseason.

Last week, Bay FC announced that England U-23 head coach Emma Coates will become the 2024 expansion club's second-ever manager, with fellow England youth national team and WSL staffer Gemma Davies joining Coates's NWSL crew as an assistant coach.

"I'm truly honored and super excited to build on the strong foundations that have already been established and to implement a clear identity both on and off the pitch," Coates said in Thursday's statement. "[Bay FC] shares my passion for people, performance, and culture, which I believe are fundamental to sustained success."

"Emma is not only an excellent coach, but she also has a proven track record of developing players to compete at the highest levels of both the domestic and international game," remarked Bay Collective CEO Kay Cossington. "Emma has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring players and teams to the next level with clarity, care and purpose. She understands what it takes to build environments where people thrive and perform at their best."

"Bay FC is gaining not only a great coach, but also someone that understands women's football and our athletes inside and out."

While Coates will wrap up her nearly three years at England's U-23 helm to join Bay FC in the coming days, three other NWSL teams are still searching for permanent sideline leaders this offseason, as the Kansas City Current, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns continue to conduct coaching searches.

The Thorns joined the leaderless ranks in late November, parting ways with manager Rob Gale following the team's NWSL semifinals exit.

Reigning WNBA champion A'ja Wilson picked up yet another honor this week, as TIME crowned the four-time league MVP its 2025 Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.

The Las Vegas Aces center became the first player in WNBA history to win a championship, Finals MVP, league MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, with the 29-year-old sweeping the league's awards this year.

"This year, I collected everything," Wilson said in her TIME interview. "I don't really talk much sh-t — I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it."

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Wilson described the Aces' midseason slump as a focusing agent in her 2025 TIME Athlete of the Year feature, with the skid launching the team on course to their third championship win in four years.

"I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can't be satisfied with anything," said Wilson. "There's somebody out there that's going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you're great at it, every single day."

Wilson also spoke to the strained relationship between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, whose leadership came under fire in October as CBA negotiations kicked into high gear.

"I only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies," Wilson said. "If that's her true self, thank you for showing that. Thank you for saying those things. Because now we see you for who you are, and now we're about to work even harder at this negotiation."

With the latest CBA extension expiring on January 9th, Wilson promised that the players are all-in on negotiations through the holiday season.

“All of us are going to be at the table, and we're not moving until we get exactly what we want."