The North Carolina Courage have made an unlikely playoff push, surging from last place in the NWSL standings and into playoff position in just five weeks.

The stark turnaround has the Courage in sixth place and in control of their own destiny. With a win Friday against the San Diego Wave, they would clinch a spot in the six-team bracket.

🎶 Alexa, play “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus 🎶

In 5️⃣ weeks, the Courage have gone from bottom of the table to setting their own for the last day of the season 🍽 pic.twitter.com/A8FojKB0xE

— NC Courage (@TheNCCourage) September 26, 2022

Just Women’s Sports takes a look at three of the players who have helped power North Carolina’s playoff push as we enter the final weekend of the NWSL regular season.

Debinha

The 30-year-old Brazilian star has gone on a tear, scoring five goals in the last two games to help propel North Carolina to their current position.

Debinha would not be denied in Orlando on Sept. 21, scoring two of the Courage’s three goals. Then, against NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday, she scored all three of the goals in their 3-0 win to secure the hat trick and continue to rocket North Carolina up the standings.

Her hat trick was the first for the Courage since 2019.

IT'S THE DEBINHA SHOW!

SHE HAS HER HAT-TRICK. 💥 pic.twitter.com/ZeGH28thDf

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) September 25, 2022

Her performance has earned praise from the likes of Carli Lloyd, who called her “world class.” She also now sits tied for second in the race for the Golden Boot with 12 goals, just three behind San Diego’s Alex Morgan (15).

Diana Ordóñez

Diana Ordóñez has had a rookie season to remember. In August, she broke the NWSL rookie record for most goals in a season, and she has since added four more to bring her total to 11. The 21-year-old currently sits fourth behind Morgan, Debinha, and Sophia Smith.

All her goals have come from inside the penalty area, an impressive feat for a rookie. Yet just one has come from the penalty spot. Five of Morgan’s 15 have come from the spot — take those away, and she and Ordóñez are tied at 10.

MAKE THAT 10 ‼️ The rookie Diana Ordonez is 3rd in the golden boot race and is not slowing down pic.twitter.com/gzYX8vzwHy

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) August 21, 2022

After being selected sixth overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft, Ordóñez has put herself firmly in Rookie of the Year position.

“I think the response from the team this half of the season has been nothing short of extremely impressive,” Ordóñez told On Her Turf. “Everyone’s really bought in and wants to give ourselves the best chance to make the playoffs… At this point, we’re just worried about controlling what we can control.”

Carson Pickett

Defender Carson Pickett has been dangerous this season, providing a league-leading six assists while scoring a goal of her own. A key piece of the Courage’s resurgence, she’s earned three straight NWSL Best XI monthly honors while juggling time with the U.S. women’s national team.

During Sunday’s match, she provided a key assist on one of Debinha’s goals with a pass that proved just how skilled she is.

Debinha gets her goal!

She rounds the keeper and calmly finishes for 10th of the season. 💫 pic.twitter.com/EthW8Jm3mj

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) September 24, 2022

Her success rate on passes this season sits at 77.2 percent, with a 43.9 percent success rate on long passes. With a total of 153 crosses completed, Pickett leads the league.

The road to the College Cup begins this weekend, as the 2025 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament kicks off with a stacked first-round field on Friday.

The strength of the ACC again leads the charge with three of the 64-team bracket's four top seeds hailing from the conference.

Snagging the overall No. 1 seed is Stanford, with the Cardinal outlasting fellow NCAA top-seed Notre Dame in a penalty shootout to claim their first-ever ACC tournament title last weekend.

Joining the Cardinal and Fighting Irish in the remaining No. 1 spots are the ACC's Virginia Cavaliers and the SEC-leading Vanderbilt Commodores.

Meanwhile, the 2025 tournament's No. 2 seeds — Michigan State, TCU, Duke, and Georgetown — are gearing up to play spoiler, with other underdogs also lurking throughout the bracket.

Already eyeing future upsets are four-time national champions and No. 3-seed Florida State, No. 4-seed and Big Ten champion Washington, and undefeated mid-major dark horse Memphis, who enters the 2025 field as a No. 7 seed.

The ACC's on-pitch dominance also sees defending champion North Carolina in an unfamiliar position, entering the 2025 NCAA tournament unseeded after the 22-time title-winners finished seventh in the conference behind a 12-6 overall and 6-4 ACC season record.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer tournament

The 2025 NCAA women's soccer tournament kicks off with 32 first-round matches across Friday and Saturday, all on ESPN+.

The action begins with unseeded Ohio State taking on No. 8-seed Georgia at 3 PM ET, live on ESPN+.

Two USWNT legends are seeing their legacies cemented, as the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced on Thursday that retired forwards Tobin Heath and Heather O'Reilly are first-ballot inductees as members of the Class of 2026.

Both Heath and O'Reilly retired as World Cup champions and Olympic medalists, winning their 2008 and 2012 Olympic golds as well as their 2015 World Cup title as teammates.

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The USWNT icons led all voting on the Hall of Fame's Player Ballot of 20 finalists, which only allots two to three athletes per annual class for induction.

O'Reilly snagged 47 of the 48-person selection committee's votes, with Heath earning 45 nods for inclusion.

Fellow former USWNT star Sam Mewis finished fifth on the ballot with 32 votes in her first year of eligibility, while longtime NWSL and USWNT player Amy Rodriguez came in seventh with 28 votes.

Longtime Seattle Reign defender Stephanie Cox — a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT — also snagged votes, ranking 15th on the Class of 2026 Player Ballot.

Though they fell short of making the cut, a trio of former USWNT stars also earned votes on the 10-finalist Veteran Ballot, with longtime midfielder-turned-broadcaster Aly Wagner as well as legendary '99ers Tiffany Roberts and Lorrie Fair all snagging tallies.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame will induct Heath and O'Reilly as part of its six-person Class of 2026 in a ceremony at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on May 1st.

Orlando Pride captain and Brazil legend Marta is back in the spotlight, topping the 2025 shortlist for the second-annual FIFA Marta Award — the women's goal-of-the-year prize established in her honor in 2024.

The 39-year-old attacking midfielder took home the inaugural trophy at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony last December, earning the title for a stellar long-range shot that helped lift Brazil over Jamaica 4-0 in a June 2024 friendly.

Marta's 2025 nomination, however, comes from an iconic goal in club play, with the FIFA Award spotlighting the Orlando game-winner against Kansas City in the 2024 NWSL semifinals — a goal that saw the Pride star force four Current players to the ground with her footwork.

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Marta has steep competition for this year's trophy, however, with 10 other goal nominees including a viral scorpion kick by former Tigres UANL star Lizbeth Ovalle, Seattle Reign defender Jordyn Bugg's long-range missile against the North Carolina Courage, forward Ally Sentnor's first-ever USWNT goal at the 2025 SheBelieves Cup, and more.

How to vote for the 2025 FIFA Marta Award

Holding 50% of the vote, fans can view and rank their top three goals of 2025 until voting closes on December 3rd.

Voting for the second-ever Marta Award winner is now open at FIFA.com.

South Carolina and USC are bringing fireworks to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball court this weekend, as the No. 2 Gamecocks take on the No. 8 Trojans in "The Real SC" showdown on Saturday.

Both standout programs enter the matchup undefeated in early-season play, with the Trojans touting a Top-10 win after narrowly edging out No. 10 NC State 69-68 last weekend.

"You don't know exactly what you have until you're put in these situations, which is why we schedule them," USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said about the upcoming clash. "And I think it's a chance for us to redefine our identity a little bit."

South Carolina's depth will likely test the new-look Trojans, as USC aims to solidify their identity with star JuJu Watkins sidelined with injury for the season.

That said, freshman Jazzy Davidson is giving the Trojans new life, with the No. 1 high school recruit co-leading the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game.

South Carolina, however, has seen early dividends from familiar faces, as sophomore Joyce Edwards leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 18.3 points per game, with high-profile transfer Ta'Niya Latson close behind with a 16.3 point average.

How to watch USC vs. South Carolina in the "The Real SC" NCAA game

No. 8 USC will welcome No. 2 South Carolina to LA's Crypto.com Arena for the inaugural "Real SC" game on Saturday.

The clash will tip off at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.