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Kelley O’Hara brings NWSL trophy home in first season with Spirit

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – NOVEMBER 20: Kelley O’Hara #5 of Washington Spirit celebrates after scoring during extra time against Chicago Red Stars during the NWSL Championship held at Lynn Family Stadium on November 20, 2021 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Chicago fans everywhere were hoping for a two-trophy summer after the city’s WNBA team won their first-ever championship earlier in October. With the Red Stars battling in the NWSL championship less than a month later, it was looking like the Windy City might become the temporary center of the women’s sports world.

But the Washington Spirit had other plans. After Candace Parker went home to Chicago to lead the Sky to the title, it was Washington’s Kelley O’Hara who did the same thing Saturday, bringing a title to her adopted hometown of D.C. in her first season with the Spirit.

Not only that, she even scored the winning goal, heading home the game-winner in extra time to propel the Spirit to a 2-1 win.

O’Hara, who grew up in Georgia and attended Stanford University, moved to Washington, D.C. while playing for the Utah Royals (now the Kansas City Current) in order to be with her partner. The nation’s capital has since become the city she calls “home.”

“Since moving here, I’ve loved every second of it,” O’Hara said in December. “I love the city. Love the energy it brings. Love what it has to offer.”

If the 33-year-old didn’t appreciate the city as much as she did, she says she never would made the move from the Royals to the Spirit — a trade that happened in December 2020 in which Utah received $75,000 in allocation money and a first-round draft pick if O’Hara played in half the Spirit’s games in 2021 (she played 17 of 24 during the regular season).

Almost a year later, after a season in which her leadership played a major role in her young team’s success, O’Hara’s headed home the golden goal in the 97th minute to win Washington their first-ever NWSL title.

The perfectly placed assist came from Rookie of the Year Trinity Rodman, who created numerous scoring chances for Washington throughout the second half of the game.

The 19-year-old would normally be dribbling further towards the goal, but the Red Stars had covered behind in those 1-v-1 situations. Instead, she looked for the cross.

“I saw runners near post were marked and I saw Kelly popping off the back, so she got her head on it. That recognition was amazing and her getting there was insane,” Rodman said after the game.

Sitting beside her at the podium, O’Hara laughed. Scoring goals isn’t something the right fullback does very often. This one, in fact, was her first of the season.

Usually, the script is flipped, with O’Hara sending the ball into the box and Rodman getting the final touch on it. But it’s hardly a surprise that O’Hara buried the difficult goal. At Stanford, she won the MAC Hermann Trophy as the best player in the country while playing forward — scoring 26 goals with 13 assists her senior year. Professionally and for the USWNT, she spends a large chunk of her time contributing to the attack by making deep runs up the wing.

Outside of her play, O’Hara’s unmatched energy has brought a winning mentality that the young Spirit team needed this year, especially after they forfeited two games late in the season due to a COVID-19 outbreak.

“That fired up Kelley O’Hara in a way that I’ve not seen before,” acting Spirit coach Kris Ward said after the team’s semifinal win over OL Reign. “Her entire mentality from that point was like, ‘All right’ — how do I phrase this politely? ‘Forget you guys. We’re going and we’re going to win anyways.’”

Through O’Hara’s first season with Washington, Ward has repeatedly praised her leadership with the team, her competitiveness on the field and her ability to motivate teammates to persevere through the off-field turmoil, which included former coach Richie Burke being dismissed for verbal abuse, the aforemention COVID outbreak, and an ongoing ownership struggle between Steve Baldwin and Michele Kang.

The Spirit had the NWSL’s youngest team this year, making O’Hara’s veteran leadership crucial. Despite the club’s behind-the-scenes mayhem, the Spirit went undefeated since mid-August outside their two forfeits.

Much of the credit for that went to O’Hara’s infectious “never-say-die” mentality, even if she deflects credit elsewhere.

“I don’t think it was just me. I think it was the whole group,” she said after the championship. “I think it was our ability to persevere, to be like, ‘This is what’s happened.’ We can’t change what the league chose to do, how [the outbreak] was handled, which a lot of it seems suspect in some areas, but there’s nothing we can do. You can’t control that…

“We’ve been in playoff mode since the end the September and we controlled what we could control and that was winning. And here we are.”

As a two-time FIFA World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist with the USWNT, O’Hara provided championship experience to a group of young players who have the potential to follow in her footsteps, with Rodman in particular seeming like a lock to be a future USWNT star.

“We do have a very young team, which is awesome. And they’re really good and really excited by the win and put on amazing performances,” said O’Hara. “I think it’s just the beginning for this club.”

Atlanta Dream Face Seattle Storm in 1st Regular-Season WNBA Canada Game

Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner defends as Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams drives to the basket during a 2025 WNBA game.
The Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm head to Vancouver for the first-ever in-season WNBA Canada Game on Saturday. (Scott Eklund/NBAE via Getty Images)

The WNBA is taking a weekend road trip, as the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 8 Seattle Storm head across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the league's first-ever in-season Canada Game on Friday night.

The game features a rematch of Atlanta's 85-75 win over the Storm on Wednesday, with the win propelling the Dream up the WNBA standings — and threatening to drop Seattle out of postseason contention entirely.

"Time is running out, and the team knows it," Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said earlier this week. "I didn't want to put so much pressure on them, but they know the situation, and they understand the urgency."

While Friday marks the first regular-season WNBA matchup played outside the US, the league has previously staged two preseason games in Canada, tipping off in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024 — both in front of sold-out crowds.

Toronto's 2023 exhibition appeared to serve as a trial run for expansion, with the league awarding the Canadian city its first franchise — the 2026-incoming Toronto Tempo — earlier this year.

While plans for a formal move to Vancouver hasn't yet surfaced, the WNBA's explosive popularity and rapid growth outlook provide plenty of room for new markets to enter the conversation.

How to watch the 2025 WNBA Canada Game

The No. 8 Seattle Storm and No. 2 Atlanta Dream will square off inside Vancouver's Rogers Arena at 10 PM ET on Friday night.

Live coverage of the WNBA Canada Game clash will air on ION.

Washington Mystics Shift 2025 Season Strategy as WNBA Playoffs Near

The Washington Mystics huddle and celebrate a 2025 WNBA win.
The Washington Mystics have won just three of their last 10 games following a series of strategic trades. (Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

Coming off a series of strategic transactions, the No. 10 Washington Mystics will forge ahead on Friday night, taking on the short-staffed No. 6 Indiana Fever with a chance to play spoiler as they reshape their 2025 expectations from below the postseason cutoff line.

"There's just so many different success stories with this group," Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson said following Washington's 88-83 loss to the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday.

The Mystics have lost five of their last six games, and will take the court on Friday without injured new addition Jacy Sheldon and starting center Shakira Austin.

While Washington exceeded this year's early-season projections — skyrocketing above the playoff line behind leading scorer Brittney Sykes and the dynamic rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron — the now-fading Mystics chose to shift gears at the trade deadline, sending Sykes to the No. 8 Seattle Storm and shipping second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards off to the No. 13 Connecticut Sun.

With their natural 2026 draft pick secured, Washington has a shot at adding a top first-round prospect should they play out the rest of the regular season at the bottom of the WNBA standings — in other words, by strategically tanking the final weeks of 2025 play.

On the other hand, the injury-laden Indiana enters Friday's action eyeing a win after falling to the No. 11 Dallas Wings by just one point on Tuesday.

How to watch the Washington Mystics vs. Indiana Fever on Friday

The No. 10 Mystics will take on the No. 6 Fever in Indianapolis at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on ION.

No. 1 Kansas City Current Battles No. 2 Orlando Pride in a Clash of the NWSL Titans

Orlando Pride forward Ally Watt slide tackles Kansas City Current forward Nichelle Prince during a 2025 NWSL match.
The No. 1 Kansas City Current will enter Saturday's match against No. 2 Orlando with a 12-point lead over the Pride. (Dustin Markland/NWSL via Getty Images)

A top-table battle headlines the NWSL this weekend, as the No. 1 Kansas City Current hosts the No. 2 Orlando Pride for a possible postseason rehearsal on Saturday.

Led by Golden Boot frontrunner Temwa Chawinga, the Current enter the weekend with a full 12-point lead over the rest of the league, as reigning NWSL Shield and Championship winners Orlando push to make a statement.

"We are resilient. That is part of our identity. We never give up and we are always playing to win, and we always believe in ourselves," Pride defender Kylie Nadaner said following last Saturday's 1-1 draw with Racing Louisville.

More than just a clash between the top two teams in the NWSL standings, history shows very little love lost between these perennial heavy-hitters.

Last season, Orlando snapped KC's NWSL-record 17-game unbeaten streak on the Current's home turf, then took Kansas City down again in the pair's 2024 semifinal playoff match.

"We will remember the way they acted after the cameras were off," Current forward Michelle Cooper posted to social media after their July 2024 loss.

Kansas City has already issued some regular-season revenge on their way up the table this year, defeating the Pride 1-0 back in May.

How to watch Kansas City vs. Orlando this NWSL weekend

The No. 1 Current will kick off against the No. 2 Pride at 4 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on CBS.

NBA 2K26 Adds WNBA Players to MyTEAM Mode

Avatars of WNBA star Angel Reese and former NBA icon Shaq play together in the NBA2K video game.
Video game NBA2K incorporated WNBA players into MyTEAM mode for the first time this week. (NBA 2K26)

NBA 2K is going all in on the WNBA, with the popular video game expanding its MyTEAM mode this week to allow athletes from both leagues to star on the same team when the 2K26 edition drops next month.

"MyTEAM is where competition meets a basketball fan's wildest imagination," explained Visual Concepts VP of NBA development Erick Boenisch. "By integrating the WNBA into one of our most popular modes, we're not only giving players the opportunity to customize their all-time dream rosters but shining a spotlight on some of the game's most iconic hoopers. We're looking forward to giving our players a new and deeper way to engage with the WNBA."

"Players can now mix and match current superstars and legends from both leagues, and compete with more dream lineup combinations than ever before," NBA 2K said in Thursday's release.

"Pair Paige Bueckers with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, throw a lob from Sheryl Swoopes to Shaquille O'Neal, or run a pick-and-roll with Angel Reese and Carmelo Anthony," the franchise continued.

NBA 2K has ramped up its WNBA integration significantly since the league's debut in the 2K20 edition, expanding from Play Now and Season modes to the upcoming 2K26 version's virtual press conferences, pre-draft interviews, social media refreshes, and Top-10 player ratings.

How to buy the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26

With Chicago Sky sophomore Angel Reese playing cover star, the WNBA Edition of NBA 2K26 will be sold exclusively in physical form at GameStop, dropping along with the other versions of the popular video game on September 5th.

Fans can purchase the WNBA version through the gaming retailer's presale now.

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