Now that the NWSL playoffs are underway — with Kansas City and San Diego winning Sunday’s quarterfinals to move onto semifinal matchups with OL Reign and the Portland Thorns, respectively — Just Women’s Sports is handing out 2022 end-of-season awards.

Based on the list of award nominees individual performances from the end of April to the beginning of October, here are our picks for the NWSL’s Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Drum roll, please …

MVP

Mallory Pugh, Chicago Red Stars

Mallory Pugh can do it all. Finishing the regular season just four goals behind Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan, she was the league’s fifth-top scorer with 11 goals, tied for the lead in assists with six, and in the upper ranks with an 80 percent tackle success rate. The chemistry she built with her Red Stars teammates was integral to their success, as they claimed the last playoff spot on the final day of the regular season and went toe-to-toe with the San Diego Wave in the quarterfinals.

In addition to setting up her teammates, Pugh showed that she could single-handedly carry the ball through walls of defenders and create scoring chances for herself when she needed to. Nominated for NWSL MVP last year as well, Pugh is continuing to play the best soccer of her career.

Defensive Player of the Year

Carson Pickett, North Carolina Courage

Named to four NWSL Teams of the Month this season, Carson Pickett has been the best fullback in the league. She finished the year tied for first in with six assists and in first with 52 chances created. Defensively, Pickett had a tackle success rate of 71 percent and registered 36 interceptions, six blocks and 32 clearances. She also scored a goal and helped the Courage emerge as one the most improved teams this season, rising to seventh place and one spot from a playoff berth after spending the first half of the year at the bottom of the standings.

Goalkeeper of the Year

AD Franch, Kansas City Current

AD Franch has been on her A game through all 1,800 minutes of the 20 matches she’s played this year. The highest-ranked goalkeeper in career playoff saves with 66, she recorded a league second-best five shutouts and a 72.5 percent save percentage in the regular season. Her ability to come up big in important moments, including penalty saves, helped Kansas City go on a 13-game unbeaten streak and reach the playoffs for the first time. After another dazzling performance in the quarterfinals on Sunday, Franch and the Current head to Seattle to play OL Reign in the semifinals.

Rookie of the Year

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave FC

The talent in the 2022 rookie pool runs deep, but leading the pack is Naomi Girma, one of the most consistent and reliable defenders in the league. Starting all 19 games for the Wave this season, she won 71 percent of her duels and registered 14 blocks and 24 interceptions. Her 95 clearances contributed to San Diego ranking second in the league in clearances per match. In possession, the No. 1 draft pick had an 83 percent passing accuracy and a 41 percent long-ball success rate, in addition to six key passes. She was named to four NWSL Teams of the Month and honored as Rookie of the Month twice, in May and September.

Coach of the Year

Laura Harvey, OL Reign

There’s not a lot the OL Reign haven’t accomplished this year under Laura Harvey, most notably coming from behind to win their third NWSL Shield and tie the North Carolina Courage for the most in the league. Their defense recorded the most clean sheets in the league (nine) and the fewest number of goals against (19). On the attack, the Reign ranked second in shots (265) and shots on goal (129), and third in big chances created (38). Not only has Harvey created a successful product on the field, but she has also fostered a team culture in which players of all ages and levels can thrive.

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

Arsenal advanced to their first UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) final in 18 years on Sunday, defeating eight-time tournament winners Lyon 4-1 to punch their ticket to next month's title matchup against reigning champs FC Barcelona.

The Gunners overcame a 2-1 first-leg deficit to beat Lyon, with the French side suffering their first Champions League semifinal ousting since 2009.

"We are very, very, very proud," said Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers. "I think this was the biggest challenge so far, coming back from a 2-1 loss at the [Arsenal Stadium] against this top team with so much quality, and then coming out here, so calm and composed, with so much belief in what we're doing and courage on the pitch."

Powerhouse Barcelona awaits Arsenal in Champions League final

Overcoming an opening loss has been a theme for Arsenal throughout their 2024/25 Champions League campaign. Other than the tournament's very first qualifying round, the Gunners have dropped the first match of every single round thus far, using high-octane offense to claim the wins needed to keep advancing.

There are no multiple matches in the next round, however, where Arsenal will play underdog to titans Barcelona in the competition's final match.

The decorated Spanish club handed WSL-leaders Chelsea back-to-back 4-1 thrashings to seal their place in the 2024/25 Champions League final, ending the Blues' historic quadruple quest in the process.

Barcelona has now reached five of the last six Champions League title matches, taking home the trophy in 2021, 2023, and 2024.

Arsenal, on the other hand, is the only English team to ever lift the European trophy — a feat the Gunners accomplished back in 2007.

The teams will have a little less than a month to prepare for the tournament's grand finale, as the 2024/25 UWCL championship match will kick off in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 24th.

Former South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley officially joined the Gamecocks' SEC rival LSU on Friday, putting the cherry on top of the Tigers' winning NCAA basketball transfer period.

According to multiple reports, the Columbia, South Carolina, product actually committed to LSU weeks ago — the same day she announced she'd be leaving her hometown school.

The rising junior won a national championship with South Carolina in 2024, but started only three of her 77 games with the talent-loaded Gamecocks — despite averaging 11.7 points per game and shooting 42.6% from the field.

Fulwiley's move only deepens one of the hottest rivalries of both the powerhouse SEC and the NCAA at-large, with either South Carolina or LSU featuring in each of the last four national championship games.

The guard won the SEC tournament's Most Outstanding Player award in 2024, after the Gamecocks beat the Tigers to secure last year's conference title.

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Transfers reshape NCAA landscape ahead of 2025/26 season

This year's transfer portal has profoundly impacted the women's college basketball field, with more than 1,500 athletes — almost 30% of all Division I players — looking to jump ship.

Even though the NCAA basketball portal closed last week, there are no deadlines for transfers to commit to a new program — or return to their original school, should an athlete's roster spot still be available.

While Fulwiley and other NCAA basketball stars have locked in their 2025/26 NCAA homes, talented transfers like former USC guard Kayleigh Heckel are reportedly still looking for the right fit.

As the dust finished settling on a highly competitive 2024/25 season, roster shakeups could transform some teams into bonafide championship contenders — though history proves that building a superteam doesn't always guarantee a national title.

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 PWHL action returned to the ice following the IIHF World Championship international break, the Toronto Sceptres booked their 2024/25 postseason berth this weekend, leaving just two spots left in this year's Walter Cup Playoffs.

Despite Toronto's 3-0 Saturday loss to the Boston Fleet, New York's 2-0 win over Minnesota on Sunday gave the second-place Sceptres enough of a point differential over the fifth-place Frost to solidify their postseason position.

Meanwhile, Saturday's games saw the Sirens suffer playoff elimination for the second straight year, with New York immediately banking Sunday's victory points toward securing yet another overall No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft under the league's Gold Plan.

Three teams hunt two remaining spots in 2024/25 PWHL Playoffs

With this weekend's results, the Sceptres join the league-leading Montréal Victoire in clinching a 2024/25 postseason berth, leaving three teams — the Fleet, the Frost, and the Ottawa Charge — battling for the final two spots.

Minnesota's Sunday loss, however, has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of elimination.

With both Boston and Ottawa holding a significant points advantage over the Frost, Minnesota needs to win both of the final regular-season games and have either the Fleet or the Charge lose their two last matchups to squeeze above the PWHL table's cutoff line.

Following the close of the regular season on May 3rd, the 2024/25 PWHL Playoffs — featuring a semifinals round before the Walter Cup final — will begin the week of May 5th.