Savannah DeMelo will feature on the U.S. women’s national team roster for the 2023 World Cup, The Athletic reported Friday.

Who is the 25-year-old midfielder? And what can USWNT fans expect from the national team newbie? Just Women’s Sports introduces the world to the rising star.

Who does Savannah DeMelo play for?

Racing Louisville selected DeMelo with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. The midfielder is in the midst of her second season with the club.

Has she played for the USWNT before?

DeMelo received call-ups from the national team in September and October of last year. She joined the USWNT ahead of the September friendlies against Nigeria as a replacement for forward Trinity Rodman, who missed the camp due to a family commitment, and then she made the trip to the October friendlies in England and Spain.

While she has two training camps under her belt, though, she has yet to feature in a game for the USWNT.

What is DeMelo’s style of play?

DeMelo provides depth at the midfielder position as a player who can work both sides of the ball. In her second professional season, she also has shown her scoring touch. Since the beginning of May, she has been involved in eight goals (6 goals, 2 assists) across all NWSL competitions, which is two better than any other player in the league in that span, per OptaJack.

While she started the year outside of the national team pool, she kept herself on USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski’s radar with a ferocious start to the NWSL season. As Andonovski has stated, NWSL play is a big factor in his roster decisions. And there are few playing better in the league right now than DeMelo.

She has scored in three of her last four matches, including in Sunday’s 2-0 win against Gotham FC, and she has eight goals across all competitions this season. She finished the 2022 season with four goals total.

Savannah. DeMelo.

She just cannot stop scoring!! pic.twitter.com/wPBHvxoQ4L

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) June 18, 2023

On top of her goal-scoring abilities, DeMelo also brings a solid defensive presence. A good shot blocker, she also helps her team to win the ball back, averaging 4.38 interceptions per game in 2022. And as good as DeMelo looked in 2022, she’s even better in 2023, which has earned her a spot on her first World Cup roster.

Teen swimmer Summer McIntosh made a major splash at the 2025 Canadian Swimming Trials, shattering three world records in just five days of competition in Victoria, BC.

First on Saturday, the Toronto swimmer shaved 1.2 seconds off the Australian Ariarne Titmus's 400-meter freestyle mark to set a new world record time of 3:54.18.

Then on Monday, McIntosh took down a decade-old record in the 200-meter individual medley (IM), becoming the first woman swimmer to complete the race in less than 2:06.00.

Just two days later, the 18-year-old McIntosh broke her own 400-meter IM world record, besting her 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials time by 0.73 seconds with a 4:23.65 race Wednesday.

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With her unstoppable week-long performance, McIntosh became the first swimmer to set three new world records in different individual events at one meet since US legend Michael Phelps's historic run at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

"Going into tonight, I knew I could do something really special because this has probably been the best meet of my career," McIntosh told reporters after Wednesday's race.

That said, the young star is already eyeing new times — and new records.

"Overall, [I'm] happy with the time, but I know I can go faster," said McIntosh following her 400-meter IM performance. "The faster I swim, the happier I am."

The NWSL Championship is on its way back West, with the league announcing on Friday morning that the 2025 title match will kick off from PayPal Park in San Jose, California.

Hosted at the home pitch of 2024 expansion team Bay FC, the game will take place on Saturday, November 22nd.

In addition to the championship match, the 2025 NWSL season's final weekend will include a variety of supporting events like Fan Fest and the annual Skills Challenge competition.

"We're thrilled to bring the NWSL Championship back to the West Coast and to a region with as rich a history in women's soccer as the Bay Area," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a league statement.

Citing a long list of former USWNT stars with local ties, including Julie Foudy, Kelley O'Hara, and Alex Morgan, Bay FC co-founder Brandi Chastain — a US legend herself — called the Bay Area "the place women's soccer calls home."

"Our community's fabric is woven with the greatest the game has to offer," explained Chastain.

"This community's passion for the game, combined with the excitement surrounding one of our newest teams in Bay FC, makes it the perfect setting to celebrate the league's top talent and crown our next champion," said Berman.

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How to attend and watch the 2025 NWSL Championship

Like last year, the 2025 NWSL Championship will air in primetime, with CBS set to broadcast the match live at 8 PM ET on November 22nd.

Tickets to the game will be available for purchase beginning in August, though interested fans can sign up for presale access online now.

The NWSL and WNBA Players Associations teamed up to release a joint statement on Thursday, with the unions expressing their solidarity with "all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity" after the recent ICE raids and ensuing protests in Los Angeles.

The move comes after Angel City published their own social media post addressing the ICE raids last Saturday, with the Los Angeles NWSL club noting "We know that our city is stronger because of its diversity and the people and families who shape it, love it, and call it home."

ACFC also directed immigrants in need of assistance in the wake of the ICE raids to two community organizations: the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights and the LA County Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Calling the WNBA Players Association "leaders in this space," NWSL Players Association executive director Meghann Burke told The Athletic that the basketball union initiated their joint statement.

"It's important to stand together as workers' unions," she noted.

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NWSL and WNBA unions speak to families impacted by ICE raids

"It's not lost on us that this country and the world are in turmoil right now," wrote the NWSLPA and WNBPA. "Across the country, families are facing fear, hardship, and uncertainty tied to immigration."

The athlete unions then crystallized their position, saying, "We stand with all people seeking safety, dignity, and opportunity, no matter where they come from or where they hope to go."

"Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect," they continued. "We know not every situation is simple. But offering compassion should never be up for debate."

After making progress at practice this week, injured Indiana superstar Caitlin Clark is set to return to the WNBA court against the undefeated New York Liberty this Saturday.

The Fever hope her return from injury will provide a much-needed burst of energy to a skidding Indiana side.

Struggling to find results without their central playmaker, the seventh-place Fever has fallen to 4-5 on the season. This follows Tuesday's steep 77-58 loss to the third-place Atlanta Dream.

For Indiana, the opportunity for a high-profile win against the reigning WNBA champions looms on Saturday. With Clark, the Fever could flip the script on their recent struggles by beating the best of the best.

• No. 1 New York Liberty vs. No. 7 Indiana Fever, Saturday at 3 PM ET (ABC): The undefeated champs take on an early-season playoff favorite, with the key to Indiana's victory chances resting in large part on Clark's availability.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Golden State Valkyries, Saturday at 8:30 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): Both Seattle and Golden State enter the weekend on multi-game winning streaks, with each team looking to separate themselves from the pack as the race for the Western Conference spot in the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup narrows.

• No. 4 Phoenix Mercury vs. No. 6 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 6 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Mercury will meet their match in an Aces squad struggling to keep up with league's contenders — a task that could be even more difficult should reigning MVP A'ja Wilson be out due to a recent head injury.

Injury returns could define the next few weeks of WNBA play, with no team happier to see their roster whole again than the currently Clark-less Fever.