The final weekend of the NWSL regular season is here, and with it comes high stakes — and not just in the races the playoffs and the NWSL Shield.

The league’s Golden Boot remains up for grabs.

Whoever wins already is assured to have more goals than last year’s winner. Washington Spirit forward Ashley Hatch claimed the 2021 prize with 10 goals. This year, four players have bested that number heading into the last weekend, and another has matched it.

.@alexmorgan13 has a 3 goal lead in the @NWSL Golden Boot Race with 1 week remaining. 👀 pic.twitter.com/pVhmpzsUhZ

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 26, 2022

Hatch sits tied for sixth this time around with nine goals on the season, alongside Houston Dash forward Ebony Salmon.

Ahead of them are Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh (10) in fifth, North Carolina Courage rookie forward Diana Ordóñez (11) in fourth and Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith (12) and North Carolina Courage forward Debinha (12) tied in second.

San Diego Wave striker Alex Morgan (15) leads the pack.

While Morgan sits atop the stat sheet, a knee injury has kept her off the USWNT roster for next week’s friendlies. She played in San Diego’s last contest, but her status remains unknown Friday’s match. Her most recent goals came in the form of a brace on Sept. 10.

Meanwhile, Debinha has been on a tear of late, scoring five goals in the last two games – including a hat trick in North Carolina’s win over NJ/NY Gotham FC last Saturday.

Friday night could prove the decider, as Morgan and the Wave will take on Debinha and the Courage in San Diego. In addition to the individual stakes, the Courage need the win in order to have a shot at the playoffs, while the Wave will be looking to bolster their case for a first-round bye.

Like Debinha, Smith would need at least a hat trick to tie Morgan, and her goal-scoring of late has not been as consistent as it was to begin the season. She has just one goal in Portland’s last five, while she had eight in the five games before that.

The final weekend of NWSL regular season action kicks off at 10 p.m. ET Friday.

The NWSL is adding fan fashion to matchday this season, teaming up with Washington, DC-based design label Dead Dirt to launch an exclusive preseason collection of jerseys this week.

Dead Dirt dropped the colorful knit merch for all 16 NWSL franchises, with initial jersey inventories for multiple clubs — including incoming 2026 expansion teams Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC — selling out within hours of the Thursday night release.

Showcasing a collared, V-necked, rugby shirt aesthetic, each kit includes nods to the club's color and crest throughout the design.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Named the Spirit's first-ever creative director in March 2024, Dead Dirt founder Domo Wells dropped multiple collections with the Washington club over the last two seasons — from 2024's "New Growth" collection to 2025's "Cherry Blossom" and "Fast Track" capsules — before the NWSL tapped Wells to expand her design footprint league-wide.

"You have to truly understand the team's culture and region. That's why my first full season with the Washington Spirit mattered," Wells told The Cut last month. "That's when the conversation shifted from one team to the entire league."

Additionally, this week's launch is the first of many future NWSL collaborations, with Wells detailing a "layered" plan for cohesive league-wide drops "with the option for teams to go deeper if they want more."

As for what NWSL fans can expect from upcoming Dead Dirt collections, Wells sees her role as "reframing merch as storytelling."

"My goal [is] always to design pieces that live outside the stadium," she explained. "If it doesn't live in [a fan's] closet after game day, it's not worth the spend."

How to buy NWSL x Dead Dirt knit jerseys

The entire NWSL x Dead Dirt jersey collection is available online now at the NWSL Shop and the Dead Dirt store.

Team USA will see 97 skiers and snowboarders representing the red, white, and blue in Milan next month, with US Ski & Snowboard tapping a wealth of veteran experience for the 2026 Winter Olympic roster on Thursday.

All-time winningest FIS World Cup skier Mikaela Shiffrin will compete in her fourth Winter Games, with the 30-year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist hunting hardware in her preferred slalom event after failing to medal in Beijing in 2022.

At the same time, 41-year-old skier Lindsey Vonn is also mounting a dramatic comeback, participating in her fifth Olympics after winning multiple downhill medals on this season's World Cup circuit.

Also returning to the Olympic stage will be 25-year-old halfpipe star Chloe Kim, who is officially clear to return to competition after a recent shoulder dislocation put her Milan plans to become the first snowboarder to win three straight Olympic gold medals in jeopardy.

Alongside the deep veteran talent on the roster, US Ski & Snowboard is sending 48 athletes to make their Olympic debuts next month, including 15-year-old halfpipe freestyle skiier Abby Winterberger and 20-year-old two-sport talent Sammy Smith.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Smith, a Stanford sophomore and starting defender for the 2025 College Cup runner-up Cardinal soccer team, will compete in cross-country skiing for Team USA in Milan.

Considering 15 of the 25 US Olympic medals at the 2022 Beijing Games came from ski and snowboarding, US snowboard program director Rick Bower noted that, "In many ways, making this team is even harder than [competing in] the Olympics themselves."

The next generation of tennis stars are on the rise, with youth-powered upsets rattling this week's third round of the 2026 Australian Open.

No. 8 Jasmine Paolini became the season's first fallen Top 10 contender, as the Italian standout fell 6-2, 7-6(3) to US 18-year-old and world No. 27 Iva Jović early Friday morning.

No. 14 Clara Tauson and No. 10 Belinda Bencic also bowed out of the Melbourne Grand Slam thanks to a pair of 19-year-olds, with Canada's No. 16 Victoria Mboko and Czechia's No. 126 Nikola Bartunkova ousting the Danish and Swiss stars, respectively, on Thursday to advance to this weekend's fourth round.

Even more, Mboko and Bartunkova were two of five teenagers featuring in the Grand Slam's third round, as the WTA establishment clashed with its future.

Meanwhile, 21-year-old star Coco Gauff survived a three-set scare against fellow US talent No. 70 Hailey Baptiste, with the world No. 3 eventually reaching her fourth straight Australian Open Round of 16 behind Thursday's 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 come-from-behind win.

"On the serve, I was just trying to be aggressive with my placement and not be too passive," Gauff said postmatch. "Honestly, I'm out there trying to figure out that balance along with everybody else."

How to watch the 2026 Australian Open

The third round of the 2026 Australian Open wraps on Friday night, with WTA stars like No. 2 Iga Świątek, No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, and No. 17 Naomi Osaka all aiming to advance.

Friday's action kicks off with defending champion No. 9 Madison Keys taking on Czechia's Karolína Plíšková while fellow US standout No. 6 Jessica Pegula faces No. 101 Oksana Selekhmeteva at 6:30 PM ET.

All matches from the Melbourne Slam air live across ESPN platforms.

One of the two remaining undefeated Division I basketball teams could steal the SEC spotlight on Sunday, when No. 5 Vanderbilt takes on a No. 2 South Carolina team reeling from Thursday night's loss — just the second of the Gamecocks' 2025/26 NCAA season.

South Carolina fell 94-82 in overtime to No. 16 Oklahoma, with freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez putting up a game-leading 26 points to fuel the Sooners' upset victory.

"We ran into a team that actually wanted to win more, and they made winning plays, and we didn't," Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley said afterwards.

South Carolina won't have much time to reflect, however, as they prepare to take on a surging Vanderbilt with more than just strong conference records on the line.

Sophomore Mikayla Blakes leads the Commodores with 25.0 points per game, with the standout guard sitting second-overall in DI scoring as Vanderbilt continues their best start in team history.

"I'm having to remind myself that this makes us 20-0 and that's a great thing, right?" Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph said after her squad's 81-53 win over Auburn on Thursday. "The other thing is that I like being in this place where I'm pissed off after a win because we didn't play well today, especially in the first half. I like it because it says that I know how good this team can be."

How to watch Vanderbilt vs. South Carolina this weekend

Barring any additional meteorological disruptions this weekend, the No. 2 Gamecocks will host the unbeaten No. 5 Commodores at 3 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on ESPN.