The North Carolina Courage earned their first winning results of the 2025 NWSL season in high-scoring style, when a last-gasp goal by attacker Ashley Sanchez handed the previously undefeated Kansas City Current their first loss on Saturday.

The Courage trailed Kansas City 2-1 just before the end of regulation, after goals from Haley Hopkins and Bia Zaneratto put the Current in the lead.

Center back Kaleigh Kurtz's 90th-minute equalizer flipped the script for the Courage, before Sanchez buried the closer three minutes later in second-half stoppage time.

The comeback victory boosted the formerly last-place Courage to No. 11 in the standings, while the league-leading Current's grip on No. 1 is loosening as they pull level in points with No. 2 Orlando.

Gotham caps roller-coaster week with win over Washington

Elsewhere on Saturday, No. 4 Gotham downed East Coast rivals No. 3 Washington 3-0, solidifying their spot in the NWSL's top five.

The victory was buoyed by a brace from Golden Boot-leader Esther González, whose seven season goals have all come in the last four matches — tying the NWSL record for most goals scored in a four-game span.

Still at the start of her third season with the NJ/NY side, the 32-year-old has already become the team's second all-time leading scorer, passing both Carli Lloyd and Midge Purce with her 18th Gotham goal on Saturday.

That weekend win capped off a crowded three-match week for the Bats. Before securing their multi-goal victory over DC, Gotham first beat Angel City 4-0 the previous Friday, then fell 4-1 to Portland last Tuesday.

"This was one of the proudest moments for us as a team and as a club," Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after Saturday's match. "I couldn't be prouder of the players. I think they've been outstanding the whole week."

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As for injury-ridden Washington, their performance wasn't a total loss, as 2024 Rookie of the Year Croix Bethune returned to the pitch for the first time since tearing her meniscus shortly after winning Olympic gold with the USWNT last summer.

"I do feel like I'm about 90%," Bethune told reporters after the match. "I had a hip/quad situation — I feel like that gave me a little bit more time to get stronger for my knee and just make sure I'm overall 100%."

While the Spirit continue dealing with an onslaught of injuries, Gotham — now just one point behind Washington in the standings — is steadily creeping in on the 2024 NWSL Championship runners-up's third-place spot.

Sixth NWSL matchday fueled by high-scoring results

Saturday's high-scoring tally fit right in with the rest of the NWSL, with the league's weekend slate delivering a high-octane 24 goals across its seven matches.

Defending champion Orlando secured a three-point result with a 3-2 comeback win over the visiting No. 9 Angel City, while the last-place Chicago Stars suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of No. 5 San Diego.

However, it was No. 6 Portland and No. 12 Louisville that produced the most dramatic scoreline of the season's sixth matchday, settling for a 3-3 Sunday draw after the Thorns converted two penalty kicks.

"This is just another example of how good this league is, and how you literally cannot relax even for a second regardless of who you play and where you play them," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski, summing up a strong showing across the NWSL.

As the NWSL returns from the international break, powerhouse clubs below the playoff line are preparing for a midseason push that could make — or break — the 2025 regular season.

With just three matchdays left before the league's extended summer break, which begins June 23rd and ends on August 1st, clubs will look to shore up their spots on the NWSL table before pressing pause on regular-season play.

Hovering just outside the 2025 postseason line in a 12-point tie are a trio of NWSL clubs, all hunting midseason weekend wins to boost them back into contention:

• No. 9 Gotham FC vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Saturday at 1 PM ET (CBS): Having slipped under the playoff line while off hoisting the first-ever Concacaf W Champions Cup, the Bats have their work cut out for them against the league-leading Current on Saturday — though Gotham could see their midfield bolstered by the return of star Rose Lavelle from her 2024 ankle injury.

• No. 11 Bay FC vs. No. 5 Portland Thorns, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Bay FC's bid to jump into the league's Top 8 runs through the second-hottest club in the NWSL right now, with the Thorns looking to add to their five-match regular-season unbeaten streak this weekend.

• No. 4 Washington Spirit vs. No. 10 North Carolina Courage, Sunday at 4 PM ET (Paramount+): The Courage have dropped just one of their last five matches after a winless season start, but they'll face a Washington side hungry for a win in DC. Despite holding a league-record 5-0-0 road tally this season, the Spirit have stumbled on the home front, earning just one 2025 victory in Washington.

The NWSL outlined new rules for expansion roster building and intra-league loans on Thursday, as two new franchises prepare to enter the league in 2026 without the benefit of an expansion draft.

"With the introduction of free agency and the elimination of the NWSL Draft and Expansion Draft, it was important for us to establish alternative player acquisition assets that support incoming teams while maintaining competitive balance across the league," said NWSL VP of player affairs Stephanie Lee in a league announcement.

Incoming clubs Boston Legacy FC and NWSL Denver will each have access to over $1 million in allocation funds to spend on players beginning on July 1st through the end of 2027.

Both teams can also sign players without being held to a salary cap until the secondary transfer window in 2025, providing players can be loaned out, put on Season Ending Injury designation, or acquired with allocation money used toward the salary cap.

Once the secondary transfer window opens this year, both Boston and Denver will have a $250,000 cap under which they can ink college athletes or international players not under contract.

In addition, the NWSL declared open season on intra-league loans on Thursday, allowing all teams to add athletes to their rosters from other league entities — provided both the player and the league approve the loan.

Each team can have no more than 12 players either in or out on loan at a time, and clubs can only bring in or send out a maximum of three athletes to/from any other single squad.

Overall, the NWSL intends these moves to bolster competition for both its current and future clubs.

"The introduction of intra-league loans — available to all teams — adds greater flexibility and opportunity for player development and strategic roster management league-wide," noted Lee.

World No. 2 Coco Gauff earned a ticket to her third career Grand Slam final on Thursday, advancing to the 2025 French Open championship match by ending French wild-card No. 361 Loïs Boisson's Cinderella story with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 semifinal victory.

"This is my first time playing a French player here. I was mentally prepared that [the crowd] was to be 99% for her, so I was trying to block it out," said the 21-year-old US star. "When [the crowd was] saying her name, I was saying my name to myself just to psyche myself up."

"[Loïs has] shown she's one of the best players in the world," Gauff added about her opponent's remarkable tournament run following their clash. "I hope we have many more battles in the future, especially here. Today it was just my day."

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The player standing between the 2023 US Open champ and her second Grand Slam trophy is none other than world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, who looked at ease taking down four-time French Open winner No. 5 Iga Świątek 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 in the tournament's other semifinal on Thursday.

Notably, the three-set defeat was Świątek's first Roland-Garros loss in an astounding 1,457 days — a 26-match winning streak that dated back to 2021.

The 2025 French Open will now be the third straight Slam in which Sabalenka has reached the final, with the top-ranked tennis star making six WTA title-match appearances in 2025 alone.

Head-to-head, Sabalenka and Gauff have an evenly split 5-5 record.

While Gauff earned her US Open title with a Sabalenka defeat, Sabalenka has the recent edge, snagging wins over Gauff in three of the pair's last four meetings — including May's clay battle in the 2025 Madrid Open final.

How to watch the 2025 French Open final

The world's top two tennis players will square off at the 2025 French Open championship match at 9 AM ET on Saturday, airing live on TNT.

The 2025 Women's College World Series (WCWS) are headed to a winner-take-all Game 3, as Texas Tech evened this week's best-of-three championship series with a 4-3 victory over Texas on Thursday.

Anchored by another gutsy performance from star pitcher NiJaree Canady, the Red Raiders capitalized on missteps by the Longhorns, plating their four runs thanks to a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, and a fielding error.

Down but not out, Texas broke through with a sixth-inning home run from star senior Mia Scott before plating two more in the game's final frame.

With the tying run just 60 feet away, Canady locked in, ending the Longhorns' threat with a strike-out to claim Texas Tech's first season win over their state rivals at just the right time, keeping the Red Raiders' national title hopes alive.

"NiJa was huge," said Texas Tech head coach Gerry Glasco about his ace's Game 2 performance. "She went out there and pitched her tail off."

Canady likely to toss every Texas Tech pitch at WCWS

After Wednesday's botched intentional walk put Texas within one win of the NCAA trophy, Canady bounced back by again assuming control in the circle, tossing every Texas Tech pitch for the seventh postseason games in a row — a streak dating back to the Red Raiders' first Super Regional game.

"Obviously [Wednesday] night wasn't my best game. I feel like this game wasn't my best game, either," said Canady, despite stifling Texas's late surge. "I was just leaving it out on the field."

Glasco will undoubtedly tap Canady to throw Friday's decisive clash as well, with Texas Tech's championship hopes resting on their $1 million player.

Should she complete Game 3 and secure a program-first national championship in the process, Canady will become the first pitcher since 2012 Alabama ace Jackie Traina to toss every WCWS pitch for a title-winning team.

On the other hand, Texas's four-pitcher bullpen game means sophomore ace Teagan Kavan — who threw just two outs on Thursday night — should be fresh and ready to test the Red Raiders in the final game of the 2025 NCAA softball season.

How to watch the 2025 WCWS championship game

The decisive Game 3 of the 2025 WCWS championship series will take the field in Oklahoma City at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on ESPN.