Kristie Mewis has recently enjoyed a career renaissance, winning the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup and earning a spot on the United States Women’s National Team 2020 Olympic roster. The 30-year-old’s journey to the top of her game hasn’t been a straight path, however, as she has weathered injury, trades, and positional changes en route to her much-celebrated comeback.

Here’s everything you need to know about the USWNT midfielder.

Early Success in Massachusetts

Born in 1991 in Massachusetts, Mewis grew up in Hanson, a town outside of Boston, with younger sister turned-eventual-teammate Sam Mewis. Mewis’ talent was apparent from a young age, as she made a name for herself at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School, shattering records and winning nearly every award available to a high school athlete.

It didn’t take long for Mewis to make history alongside sister Sam, becoming the first siblings to play on a U.S. World Cup team together when they took the pitch at the New Zealand Women’s U-17 World Cup. The Mewis sisters continued the magic, playing together again in the U-20 World Cup in Germany.

Staying close to home, Mewis attended Boston College after graduating high school, starting her collegiate career in 2009. The midfielder showed her versatility early, filling in on defense when needed while notching five goals and six assists in her rookie year. Continuing to shine in Boston, Mewis’s apex came in her senior year when she finished the season with 16 goals and 12 assists, earning a spot as a Herman Trophy Semifinalist.

NWSL debut and early USWNT career

Mewis was selected third overall in the 2013 NWSL Draft, the league’s first college draft, by FC Kansas City. In her debut season, the club finished second in the standings but was bounced from the playoffs by Portland in the semifinals.

In the same year as her NWSL debut, Mewis received her first senior national team call-up, earning her inaugural cap with the USWNT in February 2013 against Scotland. A few months later, in June of 2013, Mewis notched her first goal with the team, scoring in front of a hometown crowd against South Korea.

After receiving a series of caps with the USWNT, the Massachusetts-native fell out of the national team conversation in 2014 during the Jill Ellis era.

Mewis’ carer in the NWSL also took a turn after she was traded from Kansas City to the Boston Breakers in 2014. During her stint with the club, Mewis signed a three-month loan with Iga FC Kunoichi, a team in Japan’s Nadeshiko League, and then a one-year FC Bayern Munich in 2015.

After her two-year campaign in Boston, Mewis was traded to the Washington Spirit in exchange for Megan Oyster. During her 2017 season with the Spirit, Mewis appeared in 14 games, scoring two goals and one assist. That same year, Mewis was sent to Chicago, scoring a goal in the only game she played for the club.

Once a top NWSL draft pick, Mewis had strung together a series of consistent seasons despite moving around the league, but was perhaps falling short of the wunderkind expectations heaped onto her early in her career.

Houston Dash and ACL injury

Mewis’s career once again zagged when Chicago traded her to the Houston Dash midway through the 2017 season. Despite the midseason switch, the midfielder began to find her footing with the club, excelling with the Dash into the 2018 season. Things took a twist, however, when Mewis tore her ACL during the team’s May 2018 match against the Washington Spirit. Up until that point, Mewis had started in 11 games on the season, scoring two goals for Houston. The injury sidelined her for the remainder of the year, leaving Mewis in a precarious position.

With the benefit of hindsight, Mewis now credits her ACL tear with turning around her career. She told Jeff Kassouf on a 2020 episode of  The Equalizer’s Kickin’ Back podcast that her injury helped her find herself and reassess her career.

“I was just kind of sick of just being mediocre,” said Mewis. “I felt like I had so much more to give, but for some reason I couldn’t get in the mental and physical space to get there, and I was just like, what am I doing?”

In her return to the Dash in 2019, Mewis stepped up her game, starting in 20 matches, scoring four goals, and notching an assist in an impressive comeback season. Her compelling NWSL performance also earned Mewis her first USWNT call-up since 2013, with new coach Vlatko Andonovski inviting her to a December identification camp.

Challenge Cup and USWNT return

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the NWSL to improvise, putting on the inaugural Challenge Cup in 2020 in lieu of a regular season, allowing teams to compete in a bubble-style tournament in Utah. The Houston Dash, led by Mewis, made a surprising run to capture the Challenge Cup title, the club’s first trophy. Starting in seven matches, recording a goal and an assist, Mewis played a critical role in the team’s victory, earning herself a now-infamous Budweiser-aided celebration after the tournament.

Her dominance in the Challenge Cup also earned Mewis a call up to a full senior USWNT camp in the fall of 2020, ahead of the team’s friendly against the Netherlands. On that trip, Mewis recorded her first national team cap in six years, entering the team’s match against the Dutch in the second half. Her re-emergence into the USWNT fold would’ve been sweet enough, but Mewis wrote her name in the history books, scoring in the 70^th minute, 2,722 days since her last goal with the team.

It was the longest any player had ever gone in between goals for the USWNT.

Welcome back! Kristie Mewis scores in her first game with @USWNT in 6 years 😱 pic.twitter.com/axtVgrV0Yc

— espnW (@espnW) November 27, 2020

The 30-year-old’s triumph marked a full-circle moment for Mewis, who had committed herself to get back on the pitch with the U.S. following her ACL injury.

“I just was so motivated and so determined, and I knew that I just had to get back on the national team because that was obviously my ultimate goal,” Mewis told her sister Sam and teammate Lynn Williams on the Snacks podcast.

Mewis’ success with the USWNT continued through 2021, as she clinched a spot on Andonovski’s Tokyo Olympic roster alongside sister Sam Mewis.

What Comes Next

Mewis, left unprotected in the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft by Houston, was selected by the San Diego Wave before being traded to Gotham FC. The star midfielder will join a stacked NJ/NY roster, including MVP nominee Margaret Purce and Defender of the Year Caprice Dydasco. With the 2023 World Cup cycle on the horizon, Mewis will also look to make a case for her place in a competitive USWNT midfield pool.

After a dramatic 3-0 win over crosstown rival Manchester United on Saturday, Manchester City is now leading the WSL, sitting three points clear atop the 2025/26 league table while notably extending their advantage over second-place powerhouse Chelsea FC.

The home side scored all three of their goals in the first half, with defender Rebecca Knaak putting City ahead in the 26th minute before attacker Khadija "Bunny" Shaw added to the lead in the 43rd minute.

Returning from injury with a vengeance, forward Lauren Hemp sealed the deal for the Citizens with the final goal in first-half stoppage time.

"It's so nice to be back," Hemp said postgame. "Today we showed the mentality that I said at the start we needed to show."

While reigning six-time WSL champions Chelsea have yet to lose a match this WSL season, a trio of 2025/26 draws has the Blues now trailing the current eight-win, one-loss record held by Manchester City.

As for United, the WSL third-place Red Devils were without star goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce in Saturday's loss, after the USWNT net-minder suffered a fractured eye socket in November 8th's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa.

"She should be fine, it's just trying to make sure she doesn't get another knock in that area," said United manager Marc Skinner, noting that Tullis-Joyce could return as soon as the club's 2025/26 Champions League match against VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday.

One of this season's NWSL Coach of the Year finalists is moving on up, with Kansas City manager Vlatko Andonovski leaving his position as the Current's head coach to become the club's full-time global sporting director.

Andonovski has been juggling both jobs since joining the Current in October 2023, with the 49-year-old coming off what was arguably his most successful managerial season, leading Kansas City to a first-ever NWSL Shield amidst a record-shattering 2025 campaign.

In his new role, Andonovski will "implement the long-term vision for the club's technical and athletic success, as well as be responsible for player recruitment, roster strategy and scouting."

"It's vital to move into this role to keep growing this club with the aim of being a perennial contender on the global stage and a top developer of talent," Andonovski said in Friday's club announcement.

With the administrative switch in the works prior to last weekend's playoff upset, Andonovski will now join the hiring committee tasked with appointing his successor, while continuing his head coaching duties until Kansas City secures its new manager.

In another front office shift, the Current's head of soccer operations Ryan Dell will immediately take over as the club's GM, with former GM Caitlin Carducci departing the club after one year at the helm.

Michigan women's basketball is on the rise, as the then-No. 14 Wolverines avenged their early 2025 NCAA tournament exit with a stunning 93-54 blowout win over then-No. 18 Notre Dame on Saturday.

Michigan sophomore guard Olivia Olson led the game in scoring with 20 points as the Wolverines put together a true team effort, with six bench players combining for 38 points in the win.

The Big Ten team also dominated defensively, limiting the Fighting Irish bench to just two points while keeping Notre Dame star guard Hannah Hidalgo to a mere 12-point performance.

"We knew exactly what Michigan was going to do," said Notre Dame basketball head coach Niele Ivey afterwards. "We did not have any type of fight defensively, and that's where we have to start."

The Wolverines' victory was especially sweet after Notre Dame ousted Michigan from last season's national tournament with a 76-55 second-round Irish win.

Saturday's fallout also affected this week's AP Top 25 poll, with Notre Dame falling six ranks to No. 24 while Michigan earned an eight-spot bump to No. 6.

After quietly recruiting five-star talents like Olson and Syla Swords in 2024, Michigan — a program that has yet to earn a title at the NCAA or conference level — proved over the weekend that they are entering the 2025/26 season with added depth and experience.

"That's why I committed to Michigan," Swords told JWS at October's Big Ten Media Day. "That's why so many of us came there, because we wanted to be part of something new, part of something that's never been done."

Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman is back in action, subbing into her team's 2025 NWSL semifinal win in Saturday's 90th minute as she continues to rehab a sprained MCL — with questions still remaining surrounding her future with the club.

"It felt amazing," she said afterwards. "If I get 30 seconds, or if I get 90 minutes, it feels great to be out there."

Rodman will hope for more involvement in next weekend's NWSL Championship game, taking the pitch for the Spirit in her final match under contact before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

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The USWNT standout's extension negotiations have apparently made it all the way up to the NWSL commissioner, with Rodman garnering interest from multiple UK clubs willing to outspend the US league's salary cap restrictions.

The NWSL's most recent collective bargaining agreement sets each club's current salary cap at $3.3 million, which will titrate up to $5.1 million by 2030.

"Right now, my head's completely down. It's been so distracting being injured, and that's all I can really think about," Rodman said on Saturday, addressing the reports. "Once we get this championship, then I can start making decisions and figuring out what next year looks like for me."

With rumors swirling around Rodman and her future with the Spirit, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman defended the salary cap this week, telling CBS Sports that the parity the cap fosters is "the reason our league is the most competitive league in the world."