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.

Picture-perfect first goal of the season from @kelleymohara 🔥#WASvCHI | @CBS | #NWSL21 pic.twitter.com/89ohWFr9Dl

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 20, 2021

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.’”

Damn near every Spirit person I've talked to has brought up how much Kelley O'Hara has been a driving force late this season, & how much she wants this win.

Did not think that would mean a goal, tbh, but: O'Hara scores!

— Jason Anderson (@JasonDCsoccer) November 20, 2021

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.”

LOL. I LOVE THIS TEAM SO MUCH!!!!! District of CHAMPIONS!!!! @WashSpirit #sendit

— Kelley O'Hara (@kelleymohara) November 20, 2021

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.”

Team USA's U-20 World Cup​ run has come to an end after Wednesday's 1-0 semifinal loss to tournament favorites North Korea (DPRK).

The result marks the U-20 USWNT's best showing since their 2016's fourth-place finish, when they similarly fell to DPRK in the semis before the North Korean side advanced to win the Cup.

DPRK outshot the US 18-7 last night, but 17-year-old Choe Il-Son was the lone player to find the back of the net, securing the eventual game-winner in the 22nd minute. With five goals on the tournament so far, Choe is now in a three-way tie atop the competition's Golden Boot race.

Japan tops the Netherlands in second semifinal

While the US gave DPRK arguably their toughest match of the World Cup, Japan overwhelmed the Dutch with their attacking prowess last night, outshooting the Netherlands' 24-1 to notch the 2-0 win.

Notably, both goals by "the Young Nadeshiko" were scored by North Carolina Courage midfielder Manaka Matsukubo, the only NWSL player on Japan's roster.

Where to watch the U-20 World Cup final and third-place match

On Saturday, the US will battle the Netherlands for third-place hardware, with live coverage on Fox Soccer Plus.

Then on Sunday, the World Cup championship match will mirror March's U-20 Asian Cup final, where DPRK forced six-time champs Japan to relinquish the title for the first time since 2013. The final will air live on FS2.

Should DPRK emerge victorious on Sunday, they'll join the US and Germany as the only nations with three U-20 World Championships.

San Diego attacker María Sánchez lit up Snapdragon Stadium last night, leading the Wave to a 3-2 home victory over Portland in Concacaf W Champions Cup play. 

Goals from Sophia Smith​ and rookie Reilyn Turner gave Portland a 2-0 lead entering the 67th minute, but Sánchez’s hat trick — which included two converted penalty kicks — secured San Diego's dramatic comeback win.

Calling Sánchez "an incredible human being...[who's] a pleasure to coach," Wave boss Landon Donovan told the post-match press corps that his entire team was "awesome" last night. "To go down two goals and just continue to believe and keep playing and putting them under pressure was awesome. I'm just really proud of them."

Portland Thorns' team woes continue

Last night's result — though not counted toward the NWSL season — marked Portland's fifth straight loss against league opponents. The sixth-place Thorns have yet to earn a point on the NWSL table since returning from the Olympic break.

When asked about the usually dominant Thorns’ recent downfall, Portland's new permanent head coach Rob Gale said "We need to get healthy bodies available for 90 minutes."

With forward Morgan Weaver on limited minutes as she works back to full form following a May knee surgery, and Smith joining her in being pulled at halftime last night with what Gale called "some lower body problems," Portland's attack suffered in the tilt.

That said, the lopsided affair also saw mental errors, with the Thorns scrambling for possession and excessively fouling — mistakes Portland hopes to eliminate before hosting San Diego in NWSL play in nine days.

Where to watch Concacaf W Champions Cup group play tonight

Halfway through the international club tournament’s four-match group stage, the Wave now leads Group B while Portland sits in third. The top two teams in each group will advance to May’s semifinals.

As for the third NWSL team competing for the inaugural Cup, Group A's Gotham FC will host Liga MX club Monterrey in their second group match at 7 PM ET tonight, with live coverage on the CBS Golazo Network.

"Let's just say A'ja has been in her bag all season, like there's really not a player that can stop her," WNBA icon Lisa Leslie said in the debut episode of Just Women's Sports' weekly digital series Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie.

"This is what I love about A'ja Wilson: A'ja has gotten better, significantly better, every single season."

Coming off the success of JWS's Olympic commentary show The Gold Standard, Fast Friends features two legendary athletes serving up insider insights and unique takes on the biggest stories in women's sports.

In today's episode, O'Hara and Leslie cover A'ja Wilson's historic season, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese's rookie campaigns, Alex Morgan's recent retirement, and the NWSL MVP race.

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

On Wednesday morning, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the WNBA would be adding a 15th team to its roster, with the league awarding Portland, Oregon its own expansion franchise.

Portland joins Golden State and Toronto as the latest WNBA additions, as the league capitalizes on this season's surging popularity. Golden State will begin play next season, with Toronto and Portland set to tip off in 2026.

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The Rose City was an obvious choice to WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who said, "Portland has been an epicenter of the women’s sports movement and is home to a passionate community of basketball fans."

Notably, this is not Portland's first WNBA team. The city originally hosted the Fire, which competed for three seasons before folding in 2002.

The expansion team will be primarily owned by the Bhathal family, who also recently purchased the NWSL's Portland Thorns.

A'ja Wilson adds WNBA rebound record to 2024 stats

Aces superstar A'ja Wilson added yet another feat to her 2024 WNBA MVP campaign on Tuesday, breaking sidelined Chicago rookie Angel Reese's single-season rebounds record in Las Vegas's 85-72 win over Seattle.

Wilson, who didn't know she'd claimed the record until asked about it in the post-game press conference, reacted with nonchalance. "That's cool," she told reporters. "I don't hunt rebounds, so it's not something that's always on my mind... I'm focused on putting the ball in the hoop."

Her explanation had head coach Becky Hammon visibly rolling her eyes, saying she's had to remind Wilson that "the other half of [her] job is to freaking rebound."

Ultimately, Wilson acknowledged that the record is "a blessing," saying "this league is tough, so if my name can be in the record books in some sort of way, it's a blessing."

Rebound record is Wilson's third WNBA feat in one week

Wilson's written her name in the WNBA record books three times in the last six days. Her latest rebound accomplishment comes just two days after Wilson became the first-ever WNBA player to score 1,000+ points in one season, and less than one week after she shattered the league's single-season scoring record.

Tuesday's win also handed the defending back-to-back champion Aces at least the fourth playoff seed. That top-four spot secures them home court advantage for their first postseason round.