In the same game U.S. legend Carli Lloyd concluded her final NWSL regular season, young Racing Louisville FC attacker Cece Kizer put the finishing touches on a breakout year.

Both scored in Sunday’s 1-1 draw between Racing Louisville and NJ/NY Gotham FC. Lloyd buried a header to give Gotham the lead in the 53rd minute, only to be matched by Kizer’s penalty kick 16 minutes later for her seventh career goal in lavender.

Kizer, a 2019 second-round draft pick of the Houston Dash, joined Racing Louisville last year through the NWSL Expansion Draft. The 24-year-old has been a bright spot in the club’s first year, finishing the regular season tied for sixth on the NWSL scoring list with five goals.

“I look to Cece as a potential national team player and I’ve told her that, hands down, so I’m looking forward to her future,” said Louisville interim coach Mario Sanchez.

Kizer hears the praise and is channeling it into her play.

“I’ve heard it from a variety of the coaching staff, and it’s just a pleasure to know that they have that confidence in me and that they can see that for me in my career,” she said.

“Obviously it’s a goal to make the national team and be in the pool, in the talks and all that. I’m going to keep working, take a couple weeks off here and then get ready and get back at it in the offseason and get ready to come out here and keep my name in the loop next year.”

Kizer has been in the mix for the United States women’s national team. In August 2019, she was named to the U23 team for the Nordic Cup; prior to that, she attended a U23 training camp in 2017 and again in 2018.

She’s only helped her case by showcasing her versatility for Louisville this season. After playing as the high nine earlier in the year, she moved out wide and later shifted back to the center as an attacking midfielder. Taking on a variety of roles has helped the former Ole Miss star develop different sides of her game. Ultimately, she prefers her current central midfield position.

“I like to find those pockets and get assists, finding people through and also to keep working on finishing,” she said.

With her penalty-kick goal on Sunday, Kizer passed Ebony Salmon as Racing Louisville’s leading scorer through its first season.

“I wasn’t surprised as she stepped up and buried it,” Sanchez said of Sunday’s goal. “I mean, there’s no question you know that that ball is going in.”

.@cecekizer from the spot 🎯#NJNYvLOU | https://t.co/bONPZnnmCJ | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/OyMhvIbvVl

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 31, 2021

Even with Kizer’s success in front of net this season, the Louisville coaching staff thinks she can become a more polished finisher.

“It’s good to know that the coaching staff and Mario see potential in me,” Kizer said. “I’m just going to keep working and improve different areas of my game.”

Kizer has taken major steps in the last month, not only because she’s had the opportunity to settle into the central midfield but also because the expansion team has finally clicked. Louisville, despite missing the playoffs as the second-to-last team in the league, went unbeaten in their final three matches — a record streak for the new franchise.

If Kizer and the team can maintain that rate of improvement through the offseason, she will be one of the top attackers to watch in 2022.

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern for Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can find her on Twitter @jessabraun.

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."