As the Portland Thorns cruised to the club’s third NWSL championship on Saturday, one could be forgiven for thinking they’d been in that position many times before. Despite it being the team’s first championship appearance since 2018, they appeared calm, well-drilled and cerebral as they contained the Kansas City Current for 90 minutes in a 2-0 win.

Any championship performance is a culmination of a year of work, and first-year coach Rhian Wilkinson added her own spin to the Thorns’ pre-established culture to guide them through a tumultuous month off the field. It could be hard to tell from the outside how the significance of the Yates report, which implicated a number of Thorns executives in perpetuating a culture of abuse in the NWSL, was affecting the players on the ground.

The response seen in primetime on CBS was a comprehensive performance by Portland and a result that was never in doubt. The Thorns’ back five — led by now three-time NWSL champion Becky Sauerbrunn, who only misplaced five passes all night — didn’t take a wrong step, and the Current finished the match without a single shot on goal. Portland sustained pressure throughout the match, winning the ball and possessing to recycle attacks and force the Current into exhausting themselves while chasing.

“Honestly, just a fun game to play,” Final MVP Sophia Smith said after the match, who provided her team with a signature moment just minutes after kickoff. One of the best players in the world with the ball at her feet, Smith wasted no time when given an opportunity, giving the neutral crowd of over 17,000 fans a reason to cheer early.

Benefitting from a slip by Kansas City center back Elizabeth Ball, the 22-year-old rounded AD Franch to tap the ball into the back of the net in the fourth minute. Smith isn’t always the most demonstrative goal celebrator, but in a match of this significance, even she had to give a little shrug to the camera before being mobbed by her teammates.

.@sophsssmith puts @ThornsFC up EARLY early 👀#NWSLChampionship | #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/AJsIsB9r5S

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 30, 2022

Smith said that her shrug seen across the country was in response to anyone who thought she didn’t deserve to be league MVP. In the stadium, the moment also represented a certain amount of inevitability. Early goals can open things up and signal that even more goals are coming. But while Kansas City quickly pushed for an equalizer, they had trouble finding one another, and the Thorns firmly controlled the run of play for the next 85 minutes.

The Thorns’ ability to dictate the terms of the match came from veterans and young talent alike. While Portland’s established leaders have a wealth of championship experience, the starting XI for Saturday’s game looked almost unrecognizable to the group that won the team’s last title in 2017. Rookie Sam Coffey held court in the defensive midfield, and second-year forward Yazmeen Ryan provided a spark throughout the match that gave Smith room to operate.

“What can I say? Unbelievable,” Wilkinson said of the way her young players stepped up. “Sam was a rookie for a day, and then took off. And Yaz has had … I think last year she was just trying to find her feet, and then you see her coming alive.”

While her name didn’t make it onto the scoresheet, it was Ryan’s cross into the box that the Kansas City defense mishandled into the back of the net and sealed the game in the second half.

Wilkinson did make one major change to her starting XI from last week’s semifinal, reintroducing Christine Sinclair into the starting midfield in place of Hina Sugita, after the longtime captain came off the bench against San Diego. The move was purely tactical, with Wilkinson wanting to lean into Sinclair’s experience at the tip of the midfield supporting two attackers.

She joked after the match that since her team won, her slight personnel adjustment must have been the right decision. Sugita has had an excellent season for Portland, but her manager wanted very clear roles against Kansas City’s packed midfield, and Sugita mostly thrives as a box-to-box midfielder who can also drift wide. Wilkinson also thought that Raquel Rodriguez was peaking at exactly the right time, which made the No. 8 hard to drop in favor of anybody else. The Thorns dominated the midfield, proving their manager right.

“What a privilege to have Hina Sugita on the bench,” Wilkinson said, noting that the Japanese international made a huge impact in the second half. That willingness to rotate has been one of Portland’s great strengths this season. Their ability to put fresh legs into the match as Kansas City grew tired put the match out of reach long before the final whistle blew.

The moment we worked all season for.

WE. ARE. THE. CHAMPIONS. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/oMaE3tQEOt

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) October 30, 2022

It’s clear that Wilkinson has more than earned her squad’s respect, with Smith telling reporters after the match that it was “bulls–t” Wilkinson wasn’t nominated for NWSL Coach of the Year.

“I think it’s easy to overlook, because historically, this is a successful club,” Portland goalkeeper Bella Bixby said. “But it’s not easy to come in and implement your style of play, how you want your players to play, get player buy-in from the start, all of those things.”

Guided by Wilkinson’s steady hand, the champion Thorns also served as a reminder of the lifeblood of the NWSL: the players. On the field Saturday, Portland’s players showed the same chemistry that has carried them through a difficult year. As a club, Portland has come to represent many different things, and the players were put under a level of pressure that Wilkinson acknowledged could have warranted a full collapse.

Instead, they played for each other and for the supporters that have been with them every step of the way.

“We all love soccer,” said Smith. “So for me personally, soccer was like an escape from all the things going on. I just looked forward to going to practice every day, seeing my teammates.”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins discusses the importance of the current international window for the USWNT and digs into the players who did and did not make head coach Emma Hayes's latest 24-athlete roster.

Watkins begins with those not invited to this week's senior team camp, with Hayes using the concurrent U23 camp as a "minor league" for athletes who "need a little bit more development or need to be in a different training situation or have different leadership structures."

Watkins specifically digs into the placement of midfielder Korbin Albert and forwards Jaedyn Shaw and Mia Fishel with the U23 squad, as well as the overall omission of goalkeeper Jane Campbell.

Honing in on Albert, Watkins calls her U23 spot a demotion, saying "It's wild to me that someone who started the [2024] Olympic gold-medal match for the USWNT is now playing for the U23s when the senior team is in session."

"I think we're stuck in this question of, 'is she good enough or is she not?'" explains Watkins, noting that "Albert isn't giving [Hayes] those all-around performances that validate that roster spot when there are other players that could be given a look."

In contrast, Watkins backs Hayes's decisions to place the versatile Shaw and Fishel — who's still regaining form from a 2024 ACL tear — with the youth team.

Calling her "the player truly out in the cold here," Watkins worries that 30-year-old Campbell might be facing an "always the bridesmaid, never the bride of the US goalkeeper cycle," with Hayes opting for a largely untested trio of Mandy McGlynn, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and Claudia Dickey as she continues seeking retired star Alyssa Naeher's replacement.

Top NWSL play fuels USWNT roster call-ups

The uncapped Dickey, says Watkins, is one of the players reaping the benefits of Hayes's developmental roster movements.

"She is statistically one of the highest performing goalkeepers in the NWSL this season," notes Watkins about the Seattle Reign starter. "The numbers do not lie. She is one of the best pure shot-stoppers in the league this year, if not the best."

Also snagging a shot at the senior team thanks to stellar NWSL play are Orlando Pride standout and "Swiss Army knife defender" Kerry Abello, Portland Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie, and Kansas City Current captain Lo'eau LaBonta.

LaBonta, who headlined this USWNT roster by earning her first-ever call-up at age 32, is a versatile midfielder with, according to Watkins, a "really, really strong" mentality as well as a "wonderful locker room presence."

Citing Hayes's previous comments about the age of certain players causing her to seek younger athletes, Watkins wonders if LaBonta's call-up isn't simply a long-overdue reward for years of top professional play, and instead, perhaps, a sign that Hayes is "learning that you need a little bit of both [youth and experience]."

"I think [LaBonta's] going to make herself hard to drop," states Watkins. "With 2027 only two years away, I'm not betting against LaBonta. She's going into this camp looking for more call-ups. This is not just a 'job well done' situation for her."

Finally, Watkins mentions that many younger players, like Kansas City's Michelle Cooper and Claire Hutton, and Utah's Ally Sentnor, are back in the mix "because they're playing too well for the U23s. They've been put into senior team camp and they've swam — they have not sunk."

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Summer friendlies serve as senior team try-outs

The stakes are high for the 24 athletes in this USWNT camp, with small windows to impress Hayes while facing two tough opponents in the upcoming days: May 31st's clash with China PR and a June 3rd date with Jamaica's Reggae Girlz.

"Who's going to be able to elevate their game even if they don't have a ton of experience?," asks Watkins. "It's up to the senior call-ups to make those players that are in the U23s harder to call back in. And those players in the U23s are going to probably have to show new sides of themselves to get back into the fold."

"This is the Emma Hayes system. And I cannot wait to say who says, 'Nope. This is not just a pat on the back. You're not dropping me.'"

About 'The Late Sub' with Claire Watkins

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes on the USWNT, NWSL, and all things women's soccer. Special guest appearances featuring the biggest names in women’s sports make TLS a must-listen for every soccer fan.

Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women's Sports newsletter for more.

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The world No. 1 USWNT is back in action on Saturday, taking on No. 17 China PR in the first of two early summer friendlies as head coach Emma Hayes continues evaluating talent across the 24-player roster.

"We have two different types of opponents ahead of us, so we'll have to be creative in breaking down those teams in different ways," Hayes told reporters earlier this month.

With an average of just 30.7 caps per player, this international window is an opportunity for NWSL favorites to prove their national team value — though the USWNT will be without one up-and-comer: Due to a minor hip injury, Angel City defender Gisele Thompson departed camp on Thursday, with Hayes opting not to replace the 19-year-old in the lineup.

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Fresh faces to take on a familiar foe

The US has faced China PR a total of 60 times — more than any country other than No. 7 Canada. China also boasts the second-most US defeats with nine, though they haven't upended the USWNT since 2015.

In total, the USWNT boasts a 38-9-13 all-time record against their longtime rival, including arguably the team's most famous victory: the history-making penalty-kick win in the 1999 World Cup final at the Rose Bowl.

That said, the teams haven't squared off since December 2023 — some six months before Hayes took the helm.

"We have new faces, we have experience, we have veterans, we have young players. I think we're a really amazing blend of all of the above," said midfielder Sam Coffey this week. "I think more than anything, the common denominator in everyone here is just a hunger to get better."

How to watch the USWNT vs. China PR friendly match

The USWNT kicks off against China PR at 5:30 PM ET on Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Live coverage of the match will air on TBS.

Friday's WNBA action promises to bring the heat, delivering a major homecoming for new LA star Kelsey Plum as well as strategic veteran moves and rookies looking to right the ship while newly revamped teams continue to gel.

In the wake of significant offseason movement, the 2025 WNBA season is all about striking a balance between developing young talent and leveraging seasoned stars as former franchise players take on very familiar opponents.

Veteran-heavy teams will shoot to manage workloads this weekend, as powerhouse squads juggle shifting lineups while those that trailed last year fight to rise up the WNBA standings.

Highlighting the Friday night slate are a trio of games, all airing on ION:

• No. 1 New York Liberty (5-0) vs. No. 7 Washington Mystics (3-3), 7:30 PM ET: The reigning champion Liberty managed to eke out an 82-77 win over 2025 expansion side Golden State without injured stars Jonquel Jones and Nyara Sabally on Thursday — but can they hold off a Mystics team punching above their weight behind standout rookie duo Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen?

• No. 10 Los Angeles Sparks (2-4) vs. No. 6 Las Vegas Aces (2-2), 10 PM ET: Sparks guard Kelsey Plum will face her former teammates for the first time on Friday, taking on a Las Vegas side searching for redemption after Seattle spoiled Aces guard Jewell Loyd's own homecoming in last weekend's WNBA action.

• No. 2 Minnesota Lynx (5-0) vs. No. 3 Phoenix Mercury (4-1), 10 PM ET: Two of the league's top performers will hit the court in Arizona, as perennial MVP candidates Napheesa Collier and Alyssa Thomas go head-to-head for the first time in 2025.

A few teams have already faced adversity this year, but even more have settled into the grind as the longest-ever WNBA season rolls into June.

WNBA legend Candace Parker is gearing up for a busy summer, as two of her former franchises — the Chicago Sky and LA Sparks — recently announced plans to retire her No. 3 jersey this year.

The Chicago Sky announced on Wednesday that they will raise Parker's jersey in the Wintrust Arena rafters in an August 25th ceremony, honoring the Chicagoland product who helped them win their first-ever WNBA championship in 2021.

"I never imagined one day my jersey would hang in the rafters of my hometown team," said Parker in a statement. "Coming home to Chicago and helping bring the city its first WNBA championship here — it was personal. I'm beyond grateful to the city, the fans, and everyone who's been part of my journey. Chicago raised me, and this will always be home."

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Also in on the action is Los Angeles, where Parker spent a 13-year stint that including earning her first league title in 2016. The Sparks previously stated in late March that they would retire Parker's jersey in a June 29th celebration — during LA's game against the Sky.

The Chicago ceremony also coincides with a game against another of Parker's squads: The Sky will face the Las Vegas Aces — the final team Parker led to a WNBA championship in 2023.

Parker is the first Chicago player to have her jersey number retired, as well as the Sparks' third behind Lisa Leslie and Penny Toler.

"Candace is the best all-around player that has ever played in the WNBA," said Sparks co-owner and NBA legend Magic Johnson.

With an impact that still radiates throughout the WNBA, fans and former teammates alike are jumping at the chance to pay their respects to Parker this summer.