NWSL playoff contention came down to the last game of the regular season on Oct. 2, proving just how competitive this year has been. Players’ exhilarating performances kept game results and league standings unpredictable all the way from May to October.

As the playoffs head into the semifinal round this Sunday, we recognize the NWSL talent that stood a head above the rest with Just Women’s Sports’ picks for the 2022 Best XI of the Year.

Goalkeeper

AD Franch, Kansas City Current

With 66 saves and a 72.5 percent save percentage this season, AD Franch helped her team reach the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Kansas City improved from last place in 2021 to fifth this year thanks in large part to a 13-game unbeaten streak that included five shutouts.

One of Franch’s most memorable plays came against the Washington Spirit in July, when she saved a penalty shot in stoppage time. Her efforts preserved a 1-0 win for the Current and extended their unbeaten streak to six at the time. The 31-year-old’s show-stopping performance in the quarterfinals on Sunday helped Kansas City pull off a 2-1 win and advance to a semifinal matchup with OL Reign.

AD had the last word.

Absolutely relentless. pic.twitter.com/oPV1512YgA

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) July 10, 2022

Defenders

Carson Pickett, North Carolina Courage

Carson Pickett makes an impact no matter where she is on the field. She finished the season as the league leader in chances created (52) and tied for the league lead in assists (six) while also recording a goal for the Courage. Defensively, Pickett had a 71 percent tackle success rate, 36 interceptions, six blocks and 32 clearances. Named to the NWSL Team of the Month three times this year, she helped the Courage rise from last in the league standings to seventh, one draw away from earning the final playoff spot.

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave FC

In an impressive first season in the NWSL, Naomi Girma was named to three NWSL Teams of the Month and earned Rookie of the Month in May and September. Playing every minute of every game she appeared in, the 2022 No. 1 draft pick recorded an 83 percent success rate in distribution and a 71 percent success rate in duels. She helped the semifinal-bound San Diego Wave concede just 21 goals, the second-best mark in the league this season.

Kristen Edmonds, Kansas City Current 

The first player to appear in 50 games across all competitions for her club, Kristen Edmonds has been a game-changer on the Current’s backline. Winning 69.3 percent of her duels, 50 percent of her aerial duels and 62.8 percent of her tackles, Edmonds has also been critical in possession, completing 81 percent of her passes and making 12 key passes. In September, she recorded a game-tying assist in stoppage time against the Portland Thorns to keep Kansas City one point ahead of the Thorns in the standings at the time.

Sofia Huerta, OL Reign

Starting 18 of 19 games without being subbed off, Sofia Huerta helped the OL Reign backline defense concede a league-best 19 goals this season. The tenacious wingback recorded 10 blocks, 20 interceptions and 18 clearances en route to the Reign’s NWSL Shield. She also applied pressure on the attack with 14 shots and one goal, while ranking third in the league with nine big chances created and registering four assists and 36 key passes.

Sofia Huerta with a ROCKET 🚀

What a way to get the equalizer 🍿 pic.twitter.com/5TLWQZCzyA

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 31, 2022

Midfielders

Rose Lavelle, OL Reign

Like many of her USWNT teammates, Rose Lavelle is having arguably the best season of her NWSL career. Ranked second in the league for possession won in the final third, she averaged a 60 percent tackle success rate across the field. The 27-year-old has been productive on the attack, with five goals, an assist and 25 key passes. She also successfully distributed 80.6 percent of her passes and hit her target on long balls 72.4 percent of the time.

Hina Sugita, Portland Thorns FC

Hina Sugita has been unstoppable in possession in her first season with the Thorns. With an 82 percent passing success rate, the patient midfielder completed nine successful crosses and a whopping 42 key passes. She directly contributed to nearly 20 percent of the Thorns’ 49 goals while scoring five of her own — including two game-winners — and recording four assists.

Sophie Schmidt, Houston Dash

Starting all 18 games she appeared in this season, Sophie Schmidt was the backbone of the Dash midfield that helped carry the team to its first NWSL playoff appearance in franchise history. The well-rounded defensive midfielder dominated in possession, tackles, duels, aerial duels and long passes, and she read the game exceptionally with 40 interceptions. Accumulating three goals and one assist, she demonstrated a knack for shooting from anywhere, including loose balls in front of net and one-timer rockets from outside the 18-yard box.

SOPHIE SCHMIDT MY GOODNESS. 🚀

Doesn't get much better than that. 💪 pic.twitter.com/aiJ5TnVwxm

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) July 31, 2022

Forwards

Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave FC

For the first time since joining the league in 2013, Alex Morgan won the NWSL Golden Boot with a career-high 15 goals in 17 games. Her three braces tied for second in the league in 2022, and she became the third player in league history to score four goals in one game. Her 11th goal this season was the 50th of her NWSL career, making her the fifth player to reach that milestone. Morgan’s efforts helped San Diego finish third in league play and become the first expansion team to reach the NWSL playoffs in its inaugural season.

Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns FC

The Player of the Month in June, Sophia Smith was a menace in the final third all season, leading the league with 76 shots and 48 shots on goal. She ranked second in the Golden Boot race with 14 goals, just one behind Morgan. From June 8 to Aug. 5, Smith scored in five straight games, a stretch that included three of her four braces this season. The USWNT star showed this season just how dominant she can be with both feet, scoring nine goals with her right and five with her left. Her three assists also tied her with Morgan and Mallory Pugh as the league leaders in combined goals and assists with 17.

Mallory Pugh, Chicago Red Stars

Mallory Pugh can orchestrate games with her dribbling, set-up plays, finishing and defending, recording an 80 percent success rate on tackles in 2022. She finished the season as a top-five scorer with 11 goals and tied with Pickett for the league lead in assists with six. To cap an impressive campaign in which she scored five game-winning goals, Pugh notched the goal that earned the Red Stars the final NWSL playoff spot in a 2-0 win over Angel City FC.

Sarah Luebbert sets it up, Mal Pugh puts it away✨@chicagoredstars | #MKOT pic.twitter.com/rJ6aIKTIzY

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) October 2, 2022

JWS’ Best XI Second Team

GK — Phallon Tullis-Joyce, OL Reign

D — Becky Sauerbrunn, Portland Thorns

D — Alana Cook, OL Reign

D — Tatumn Milazzo, Chicago Red Stars

D — Emily Fox, Racing Louisville FC

M — Debinha, North Carolina Courage

M — Sam Coffey, Portland Thorns

M — Lo’eau Labonta, Kansas City Current

F — Kerolin, North Carolina Courage

F — Megan Rapinoe, OL Reign

F — María Sánchez, Houston Dash

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the USWNT will play their last home game on July 16th in the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The 2024 Send-Off Match against Costa Rica will take place at Washington, DC’s Audi Field — home to both the Washington Spirit and DC United — at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 16th. The friendly rounds out a four-game Olympic run-up campaign under incoming head coach Emma Hayes’ side, with the last two set to feature the finalized 2024 U.S. Olympic Women’s Soccer Team roster.

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Hayes will appear on the USWNT sideline for the first time this June, helming the team as they embark on a two-game series against Korea Republic hosted by Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado on June 1st followed by Allianz Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota on June 4th. 

The team is then scheduled to meet a talented Mexico squad on July 13th at Gotham FC’s Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, where the Olympic-bound lineup will attempt to rewrite February’s shocking 2-0 loss to El Tri Femenil in the group stages of this year’s Concacaf W Gold Cup. And while clear roster favorites have emerged from both of this year’s Gold Cup and SheBelives Cup rosters, a spate of recent and recurring injuries means making it to the Olympics is still largely anyone’s game.

Broadcast and streaming channels for the USWNT's final July 16th friendly at Audi Field include TNT, truTV, Universo, Max, and Peacock.

The USA Basketball Women's National Team is still considering Caitlin Clark for a spot on the Paris Olympics squad, says selection committee chair Jennifer Rizzotti. 

On Monday, Rizzotti told the AP that the committee will be evaluating the college phenom’s Olympic prospects by keeping a close eye on her first few weeks of WNBA play with Indiana.

The move is somewhat unconventional. While Clark was invited to participate in the 14-player national team training camp held earlier this month — the last camp before Team USA’s roster drops — she was unable to attend due to it coinciding with Iowa’s trip to the NCAA Women’s Final Four.

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Judging by the immense talent spread throughout the league in what might be their most hyped season to date, competition for a piece of the Olympic pie could be fiercer than ever before.

"You always want to introduce new players into the pool whether it's for now or the future," said Rizzotti. "We stick to our principles of talent, obviously, positional fit, loyalty and experience. It's got to be a combination of an entire body of work. It's still not going to be fair to some people."

Of course, Clark isn’t the first rookie the committee has made exceptions for. Coming off an exceptional college season that saw her averaging 19.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 4 assists per game for UConn, Breanna Stewart was tapped to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil less than two weeks after being drafted No. 1 overall by the Seattle Storm. Eight years prior, fellow No. 1 pick Candace Parker punched her ticket to the 2008 Games in Beijing just two weeks after making her first appearance for the L.A. Sparks.

In the lead-up to Paris’ Opening Ceremony on July 26th, USA Basketball Women’s National Team is scheduled to play a pair of exhibition games. They'll first go up against the WNBA's finest at the July 20th WNBA All-Star Game in Phoenix before facing Germany in London on July 23rd.

While an official roster announcement date hasn’t yet been issued, players won’t find out if they’ve made this year’s Olympic cut until at least June 1st.

For the first time in history, three different WNBA teams have completely sold out of season ticket plans well before the league's May 14th kick-off.

Call it the Caitlin Clark effect, attribute it to this year’s tenacious rookie class, or look to the skyrocketing visibility of veteran players across the board. But no matter the cause, facts are facts: Tickets to the 2024 WNBA season are selling like never before. 

On Monday, the Dallas Wings became the third team to sell out of season ticket memberships in the league’s 27-year history. The announcement from Arlington came shortly after the Atlanta Dream issued their own season ticket sell-out statement, also on Monday, and almost seven weeks after the back-to-back WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces made headlines by becoming the first-ever WNBA team to sell out their season ticket allotment.   

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According to the Wings, season ticket memberships will fill nearly 40% of the 6,251 seats inside their home arena, College Park Center. The club also said that their overall ticket revenue has ballooned to the tune of 220% this year, spanning not just season tickets but also a 1,200% increase in single ticket sales. There’s currently a waitlist to become a Dallas season ticket holder, a status that comes with extra incentives like playoff presale access and discounts on additional single-game tickets. 

In Atlanta, season tickets aren't the only thing flying off the shelves. The Dream also announced that they broke their own record for single-game ticket sales during a recent limited presale campaign. Sunday was reportedly their most lucrative day, with five different games totally selling out Gateway Center Arena. Individual tickets for all upcoming matchups will hit the market this Thursday at 8 a.m., while a waitlist for season ticket memberships will open up next Tuesday at 10 a.m.

"Excitement around women's sports, particularly basketball, is at an all-time high and nowhere is that felt more than here in Atlanta," Dream president and COO Morgan Shaw Parker said in the team’s statement. "We’ve continued a record-setting growth trajectory over the past three years under new ownership — both on and off the court — and 2024 is shaping up to be our best season yet."

As of Tuesday, season ticket sales revenue for Caitlin Clark’s hotly anticipated Indiana Fever debut haven’t yet been announced by the club. But if these numbers are any indication — not to mention the explosive demand for Fever away games felt by teams around the country — it won’t be long before we see some scale-tipping figures coming out of Indianapolis.

25-year-old American pro golfer Nelly Korda secured her spot in LPGA history on Sunday, notching her fifth-straight title at this weekend's Chevron Championship in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ranked No. 1 in the world by Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sörenstam (2005) as just the third LPGA player to rack up five consecutive tour wins. She is also the third No. 1-ranked player to capture The Chevron Championship victory since the rankings debuted in 2006, accompanied by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko.

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The Florida native shot three-under 69 in Sunday's final, besting Sweden's Maja Stark despite Stark's valiant come-from-behind attempt in the 18th. Korda finished with a four-day total of 13-under 275, celebrating her two-stroke win by cannonballing into Poppie's Pond, much to the crowd's delight. She left The Club at Carlton Woods with $1.2 million from an overall purse of $7.9 million.

It wasn't long ago that the two-time major champion's current winning streak seemed unimaginable. After maintaining her No. 1 position for 29 weeks, Korda underwent surgery to remove a blood clot from her left arm in 2022. She returned to the course not long after, but failed to win a single tournament in 2023 before seeing a surge in form during the first four months of 2024. As of today, she hasn't lost a tournament since January.

Korda will attempt a record sixth-straight win at next week's JM Eagle LA Championship at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, where she'll vie for a cut of the $3.75 million purse.