The Washington Spirit’s controversial 1-0 win against Angel City headlined this week’s NWSL action.

The lone goal in the match came on a penalty kick during stoppage time. After a handball was called against Angel City defender M.A. Vignola — and then confirmed by VAR — Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch converted the penalty.

Following the game, the referee addressed the handball, noting that “although the ball struck the body of the defender first, there was a secondary motion of the arm.” The referee also noted that Vignola’s body was “unnaturally bigger” because of her arm being raised “at/above the shoulder,” which gave her an advantage.

Angel City head coach Freya Coombe, though, took issue with the call.

“I’m still confused as to why that that would be a penalty shout and, yeah, the positioning of the arm,” Coombe said. “I don’t know where we are expected to put one’s arm when the elbow’s tucked into the sides and you’re turning your back as you’re clearing a ball.”

Spirit head coach Mark Parsons, on the other hand, defended the referee’s decision.

“We just saw one replay in the stadium, and I mean the hand was up,” Parsons said. “I haven’t seen a great look. They missed some handballs around the middle of the pitch, kept bouncing off hands and they weren’t calling it. … We’ve been educated on the rules. It’s hard for defenders to defend with their hands by their side, you can’t run as well. But we know, we know the rules.”

With the win, the Spirit moved into first place in the NWSL standings. Check out the complete NWSL standings here, and the results from all six of this week’s NWSL games below.

A breathless back-and-forth battle, with a late winner sending Washington to the top!#LAvWAS presented by @Nationwide pic.twitter.com/9gjqSMWqJA

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 14, 2023

NWSL Results and Scores: Friday, May 12

Racing Louisville 3, Chicago Red Stars 0

Racing Louisville won its first game of the 2023 NWSL regular season Friday night, defeating the Chicago Red Stars at Lynn Family Stadium. Savannah DeMelo and Wang Shuang both converted penalties in the first half, while Parker Goins added a third tally in the 89th minute. The 3-0 victory is Racing Louisville’s largest margin of victory since joining the NWSL in 2021.

Houston Dash 2, Portland Thorns 1

The Portland Thorns lost their first game of the regular season Friday night, falling 2-1 to the Houston Dash. Portland got on the board first with a goal in the 34th minute from Rocky Rodríguez, but the Dash came back with two goals of their own in the second half (Joelle Anderson, Ebony Salmon).

NWSL Results: Saturday, May 13

Angel City FC 0,  Washington Spirit 1

The Washington Spirit kept their undefeated streak alive with their 1-0 win against Angel City FC. The Spirit have four wins and three draws so far in the regular season, good for 15 points in the standings.

NWSL Results: Sunday, May 14

North Carolina Courage 1, OL Reign 0

The Courage were bolstered by Tyler Lussi’s lone goal of the game Sunday to take a 1-0 win over OL Reign and move up to sixth place in league standings.

NJ/NY Gotham FC 0, Orlando Pride 0

There wasn’t a goal to be found Sunday in the match between Gotham and Orlando.  Gotham FC now sits third in the standings, while Orlando remains in 10th.

Kansas City Current 0, San Diego Wave FC 2

An AD Franch own goal (assisted by Alex Morgan) and a tally by Belle Briede helped lift San Diego Wave over the Current. San Diego now sits fifth in the league, while 2022 NWSL runner-up Kansas City has slipped to 11th.

Reigning WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson had herself a weekend, adding 2025 All-WNBA First Team honors to her stacked resume mere hours before winning her third league title on Friday.

Joining the Las Vegas Aces star was fellow unanimous First Team selectee Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), as the pair logged their fourth and third straight years, respectively, on the list.

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, and Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell also earned spots on the elite roster.

Headlining the 2025 Second Team is Seattle Storm forward and eight-time All-WNBA selectee Nneka Ogwumike alongside Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and a trio of standout guards: the Aces' Jackie Young, the New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu, and the Dallas Wings' Paige Bueckers.

The 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year isn't the only All-WNBA debutant, with Gray, Mitchell, and Boston joining Bueckers in earning their first-ever league-wide nods.

All WNBA athletes, regardless of their position, are eligible for All-WNBA selection, and voting media members determine the honorary squads.

Players earn five points for each First Team vote and three for every Second Team tally, with the league's top five players via points snagging the First roster and the next five featuring as the Second squad.

Along with the All-WNBA titles, this year's honorees are also cashing in, with each member of the 2025 First Team snagging a $10,300 bonus while the Second Team players take home checks for $5,150 each.

Seattle Reign captain Lauren Barnes is calling it a career, as one of the last remaining original members of the NWSL announced plans to retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2025 season.

"From day one, Seattle has been home," the 13-year Reign alum said in Monday's club statement. "I've grown up here — as a player, a leader, and a person. I'm incredibly proud of what we've built and the culture we've created.... This chapter of my life has been a dream."

"Lu has been the heartbeat of this club since the very beginning," added Reign head coach Laura Harvey. "She has been the glue that has held us together through the ups and the downs. Everything about who we are, whether it's our standards, our values or our resilience, Lu has her fingerprints on it all."

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Barnes exits the pitch with more caps and minutes played than any other athlete in league history, with the standout defender also helping to anchor the Reign's backline to the tune of three NWSL Shields (2014, 2015, and 2022).

Those accolades, however, are the least of what makes Barnes exceptional, according to Seattle GM Lesle Gallimore.

"What makes Lu so rare isn't just her longevity or her records, it's her humanity," said Gallimore. "She's been a leader, a role model, and a constant source of strength for this club and the community. You simply don't see players spend their entire career in one city anymore, and that loyalty speaks volumes about who she is and what Seattle means to her."

The 36-year-old isn't the only league veteran hanging up her NWSL boots this year, with Kansas City Current forward Kristen Hamilton, Angel City defender Ali Riley, Orlando Pride midfielder Morgan Gautrat, and Barnes' Seattle teammate Veronica Latsko also set to retire.

World No. 3 Coco Gauff won her 11th career WTA title over the weekend, taking down fellow US star No. 5 Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to become the 2025 Wuhan Open champion on Sunday.

With the victory, Gauff also is the first US player to lift the Wuhan Open trophy since Venus Williams in 2015.

Gauff now holds a perfect 9-0 record in hardcourt tournament finals, lifting her first WTA 1000 trophy of 2025 and claiming her second title of the year alongside her French Open victory in June — all without needing a single third set throughout her five-match run in Wuhan.

"Winning every match in straight sets, I don't know if I've done that before on a title run," the 21-year-old said afterwards. "I just felt like I was really proud of what I accomplished this week, regardless of the result today."

Despite the Sunday stumble, Pegula also saw significant success at the tournament, handing world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka — who won the last three editions of the competition — her first-ever loss in Wuhan on Saturday.

Even more, Pegula clinched the three-set semifinal by snapping Sabalenka's dominant streak of winning 19 straight tiebreaks.

Overall, the weekend furthered a dominant 2025 WTA campaign for US tennis stars, with a US-based athlete featuring in every Grand Slam final this year.

US women also top the current WTA rankings, with Gauff and Pegula joined by No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and No. 7 Madison Keys in the sport's Top 10.

Additionally, those four contenders have all booked spots in the 2025 WTA Finals, guaranteeing that half of the eight-player field will hail from the States when the tennis season's finale kicks off next month.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are officially without their star Chloe Kitts, with the university announcing Monday that the forward will miss the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season after sustaining an ACL tear to her right knee.

"We hate this for Chloe, who has worked incredibly hard to become the best version of herself on the court this season," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a team statement.

"While this isn't how I hoped my senior season would go, I'm trusting God's timing and purpose," Kitts wrote in a social media post on Monday. "I'll continue to lead, support, and push my team from the sidelines. We have big things ahead!"

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A starter for the the Gamecocks since the 2023/24 NCAA season, Kitts helped South Carolina bring home a national championship in 2024.

Last season, the then-junior earned an All-America honorable mention for a season in which she averaged 10.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game — both career highs.

Kitts was particularly potent in the 2025 postseason, snagging the MVP title at both the SEC tournament and in South Carolina's NCAA regional en route to a national runner-up finish for the Gamecocks.

Though South Carolina is now gearing up for the 2025/26 NCAA season without their leader in the paint, the Gamecocks are perhaps uniquely capable of overcoming a big-name loss like Kitts, with the team boasting a full 10-player rotation and one of the deepest collegiate benches in recent years.

"[Kitts's] teammates are capable of stepping up, and I know that her competitive fire and tenacity will be felt from the sidelines as she pours what she can into them to ensure our team's success," said Staley.