Sophia Smith made history when she was selected No. 1 in the 2020 NWSL Draft by Portland Thorns FC. She is the first teenager to be ever be selected in the NWSL Draft. Smith left Stanford University with two years of eligibility remaining after leading the Cardinal to the 2019 NCAA Championship, where she was named the College Cup’s Most Outstanding Player.

FIRST OFF, CONGRATULATIONS. WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD WHEN YOUR NAME WAS CALLED ON DRAFT DAY?

There were a lot of emotions going through my head. It was kind of surreal, and I was both excited and nervous. It was an amazing moment, and to have my parents there was awesome. Honestly, what I was thinking about most was that I was just nervous about the speech I had to give. After that, everything kind of hit me.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST CONSIDER LEAVING SCHOOL EARLY FOR THE DRAFT?

It’s something I’ve thought about for a while. It’s been an option since I got to Stanford, and it just became more realistic toward the end of this season.

WHAT MADE THIS MOMENT THE RIGHT TIME FOR YOU TO TRANSITION TO THE PRO GAME? DID WINNING A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HELP SEAL THAT DECISION?

It obviously helped coming off the season that we had. But in terms of timing, I just felt like I was ready. Not just physically, not just in terms of my skills with the game, but also emotionally and socially. I had a lot of confidence in myself and my abilities, which made me believe that I could fit into a professional environment now. It’s a decision I thought a lot about, and I had a lot of conversations with my parents and the people close to me. It’s going to be a very different lifestyle than here at school, and I’ll miss my friends, but I feel like I’m ready. I know it’ll be hard, but I’m really excited for it. It’s ultimately about getting better and doing anything I can to be the best soccer player that I can be, and I think being around older, more experienced women playing soccer will be very beneficial. Being in a professional environment and being integrated with professional players will help me get a lot better a lot quicker.

HOW MUCH DID PORTLAND HAVING THE NUMBER ONE PICK PLAY INTO YOUR DECISION? DID YOU TALK TO MANY TEAMS BEFORE THE DRAFT?

There were discussions here and there with numerous different people, but it was ultimately me just following my heart. I don’t think it was as much about what team I was going to. Obviously, it’s awesome that it happened to be Portland, and I’m really excited to be a part of that organization. But I think regardless of the team, it was still the best decision for me. How it all comes together, and how it’s determined who gets what pick, is beyond me. I didn’t have a say in any of that, so I’m just really excited and feel lucky that it happened to be Portland. But regardless of the team, it was just something I was ready to do.

LAST YEAR, YOU BROKE YOUR LEG EARLY IN THE SEASON. THIS YEAR, YOU SCORE A HAT TRICK IN THE SEMIFINAL, WIN A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP, AND GET DRAFTED NO. 1. CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT THAT JOURNEY HAS BEEN LIKE?

Breaking my leg was obviously not ideal. That was the first major injury that I’ve had, and, emotionally, I wasn’t sure how to handle it. It didn’t help that I was a freshman, and it was my first year at college. But I had a lot of people close to me who helped me get through it. And the resources here at Stanford in terms of rehab, and the doctors, and the people who did my surgery — the recovery really couldn’t have gone any better than it did. The biggest thing was just trying to stay positive through it, rather than letting it defeat me. It wasn’t an easy path back, and there were a lot of days when I was in pain, but I did a good job of staying positive and doing what I needed to do to get back. The biggest motivation was that I missed playing so much, and going to every practice and watching my teammates play just made me want to get back as soon as possible.

But then this season started, and I was a little bit frustrated, because I didn’t feel like I was 100% myself. I had thought that once my ankle and my leg felt good everything else would just fall into place. But that’s not how it goes. And it took a lot of games to get everything back together and feel normal again. Honestly, I don’t think I felt completely like myself until the Final Four. I didn’t expect it would take that long. It was hard, but I learned a lot from it about not taking things for granted.

I IMAGINE IT WAS FRUSTRATING TO NOT FEEL LIKE YOURSELF UNTIL THE END OF THE SEASON. HOW DID YOU REMAIN SO POSITIVE?

The biggest thing was just knowing what I was capable of. I know that a lot of times you can come back from an injury and just not be able to do the same things that you could do before. But I believed in myself. One thing that my dad always says is don’t let anyone take your confidence away. After a game where you don’t play well, it’s easy to lose confidence. Even the people around you might lose confidence in you. But the biggest thing for me was just to remain confident in myself and my abilities. I had to keep that with me, regardless of what happened on any given day.

WHAT’S YOUR MINDSET HEADING TO PORTLAND?

I’m really excited. I’ve had a lot of good conversations with Mark [Parsons, Thorns Coach] about the team and about where he sees me fitting in. I’m really excited for his plans, and I think the team has a lot of potential to be even better than they have been in the past. There’s a lot of really good players on that team who I look up to, and I’m really excited to play and train with them everyday. I think it’s going to be really good.

ANYONE IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU’RE REALLY PUMPED TO PLAY WITH?

Oh yeah. Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, Christine Sinclair. But I also think there’s a lot of good players on that team who don’t get as much attention because of those big name players, and I’m really looking forward to playing with all of them.

YOU PLAYED AGAINST MORGAN WEAVER WHEN SHE WAS AT WASHINGTON STATE. NOW SHE’S HEADING TO PORTLAND AS WELL AFTER BEING DRAFTED NO. 2. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT PLAYING WITH HER?

I know her a little bit from a few camps, but I’m really excited to play with her. She’s a really good player. She works really hard and has a good understanding of the game. I like her a lot. She also seems like a really nice, fun person and friend, so I’m excited that we’re both going to be in Portland together.

The 2025 College Cup locked in its finalists last Friday, with the NCAA soccer tournament's overall No. 1-seed Stanford and No. 3-seed Florida State advancing past the competition in the semifinals to book an all-ACC championship match for the third straight year.

Stanford kept to their winning ways by ousting No. 2-seed Duke 1-0 on Friday, with senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey burying a 10th-minute free kick to take down the Blue Devils with her 21st goal of the season.

Florida State similarly landed a single strike to end the championship run of No. 2-seed TCU in their semifinal, benefitting from a second-half breakthrough from sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson in the game's 73rd minute.

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A full half of the last 14 NCAA titles have gone to either the Seminoles or the Cardinal, with Florida State edging Stanford 4-3 in national trophies thus far.

On Monday, the Cardinal will hunt their first national title since their epic penalty shootout victory in 2019, when Stanford narrowly defeated NCAA women's soccer dynasty North Carolina 5-4 from the spot after a 0-0 draw.

Florida State, on the other hand, won the 2023 title with a 5-1 thrashing of the Cardinal.

Stanford arguably holds the advantage over their ACC rivals entering Monday's match, having handed FSU a 2-1 defeat on their own Tallahassee pitch less than two months ago.

How to watch the 2025 College Cup final

No. 1 Stanford will face No. 3 Florida State for the 2025 NCAA women's soccer championship at 7 PM ET on Monday, airing live on ESPNU.

The NWSL may be forcing Washington Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman to "look elsewhere" for her next contract, after the league vetoed a multi-million dollar offer from her current squad last week, Rodman's agent told CBS Mornings last Friday.

"We worked really hard to put together an agreement that we felt complied with the CBA and would keep Trinity in the league for the foreseeable future," said Rodman's rep Mike Senkowski.

"With no certain way to get her fair market value within the NWSL, naturally, that forces you and encourages you to look elsewhere," he continued.

While the fight to keep Rodman Stateside is not over, with the NWSLPA filing a grievance last week arguing that the league office's mandate to reject the Spirit's back-loaded contract — worth more than $1 million per year — is a free agency violation, the NWSL appears unwilling to budge.

In a weekend clarification to The Athletic, an NWSL source noted that commissioner Jessica Berman contests that the Spirit's offer to raise Rodman's compensation in the contract's later years would pull Washington out of salary cap compliance in 2028, with the league disagreeing with the club regarding the potential cap growth under a new broadcast deal.

The league source also noted that the offer has a built-in buyout clause, which the NWSL believes signals an admission of possible salary cap circumvention.

As the Washington Spirit and NWSL fans hope for a win from the union's grievance, the door to recruit Rodman elsewhere seems to be wide open for overseas clubs — particularly those with deep pockets.

The San Diego Wave are closing out 2025 with a title, defeating Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 3-0 to lift the World Sevens Football (W7F) trophy on Sunday.

Wave attacker Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring in the 7v7 venture's championship match, before forward Adriana Leon tacked on a second-half brace to put the game out of reach — and secure the $2 million winner's share of the $5 million prize pool for the NWSL side.

"I think in sevens it's a lot more emphasis on the individual, and so I think players who maybe don't play [as much in NWSL matches]...get to show their creative side," noted Robbe. "It was definitely an element to this, which was really fun."

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In a showcase of club talent across the Americas, the San Diego Wave finished the second-ever W7F tournament undefeated, scoring 14 goals while only conceding three en route to becoming the champion of the competition's first-ever North American iteration.

"It was so fun, and honestly, I would love to be back again," said San Diego goalkeeper and the tournament's golden Glove winner DiDi Haračić. "And we got the bag."

Wave midfielder Gia Corley took home the Breakout Player award, and while Tigres fell just short of the trophy, forward María Sánchez earned the competition's Golden Ball and Golden Boot with her six goals and two assists.

Club América of Liga MX Femenil earned a third-place finish, winning $700,000 in prize money as the bronze medal winners.

Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.

The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.

"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."

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Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.

Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.

"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic,"  said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.

How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week

Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.

The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.