Sophia Smith may be out with an injury, but so far nobody has come close to touching the Portland Thorns star in the NWSL Golden Boot race.

While it’s tight atop the table, with just four goals separating six players, Smith has retained the lead despite missing two consecutive matchweeks with an MCL sprain. She leads the way with 11 goals, while Ashley Hatch and Kerolin have nine, and neither of them found the back of the net this weekend.

So what makes the 23-year-old forward the front-runner for the Golden Boot, even with her injury keeping her off the pitch?

Simply put: Other players have failed to step up. Her Thorns teammate Morgan Weaver is the only player to have been consistent in her scoring over the last three weeks, tallying three goals in three games to bring herself within four goals of Smith. Weaver is tied with Debinha of the Kansas City Current and Lynn Williams of Gotham FC with seven on the season.

Yet with three games left in the regular season, the idea that Weaver, Debinha or Williams could tie or overcome Smith is a stretch.

Looking at the two players just two goals behind to Smith, Hatch has two goals in her last five games for the Washington Spirit. And while she had not gone more than one regular-season match without scoring since June, that changed in September, as she has not scored in each of Washington’s last two games.

While Hatch could get two goals in the next three games to close out the season, that would be a big ask against Kansas City, OL Reign and the North Carolina Courage. Both the Reign and the Courage have been defensively sound this season.

Additionally, Hatch hasn’t scored against Kansas City or OL Reign yet in the 2023 regular season, and she scored just once against North Carolina all the way back in April.

Kerolin’s output has been similar, with two goals in the last five games for the Courage. Her stats are buoyed by a hat trick scored against Chicago in June. And with games against OL Reign, the San Diego Wave and the Spirit coming up, it could be difficult for her to close the gap with Smith. The 23-year-old forward failed to score in North Carolina’s first game against the Reign and scored one each against San Diego and Washington.

And even if either Kerolin or Hatch were to match Smith’s 11 goals, Smith holds the edge in the tiebreaker with five assists, which sits second in the league behind teammate Sam Coffey. Kerolin has just three assists, while Hatch has two. So both players more than likely would need to surpass the 11-goal threshold to beat Smith, which would mean scoring at least a goal in each of their final three games.

While not statistically impossible, that does mean Smith still holds the best odds to take home the Golden Boot for the 2023 NWSL season. The reigning league MVP scored six goals in June ahead of the World Cup, and that surge could propel her to the trophy even as she remains sidelined week-to-week with her knee injury.

Sophia Smith is THAT girl.

A video to remind you 🌹⚽️#WePlayHere pic.twitter.com/r6z8w3KZYB

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) July 23, 2023

UCLA-bound high school senior Sienna Betts led the West team to a decisive 104-82 victory over the East in the McDonald's All-American Girls Game held last night at New York's Barclays Center.

The 6'4" forward contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, earning MVP honors for her performance. ​

Betts is currently the class of 2025's No. 2 overall recruit. Only Texas-based point guard Aaliyah Chavez, who recently committed to the Oklahoma Sooners, ranks above her.

Betts to join sister Lauren Betts at UCLA next year

Betts's performance is a good indicator of her potential impact at UCLA next year. There, she'll join forces with her sister Lauren Betts, the senior currently leading the Bruins to this season's NCAA Final Four after transferring in from Stanford.

The Betts sisters' arrival is highly anticipated, with Lauren opting to forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft in order to play out her final year of college eligibility alongside her little sister.

“For me, it [committing to UCLA] was a lot about how the coaches care about you off the court, and the coaches at UCLA, they really care about your mental health,” Betts told The Flagler College Gargoyle after committing last year. “Every team that I’ve ever been on, we’ve been a family… So, they really cared about that part of basketball for me, and they showed me that on my visits and when I called to talk to them.”

Betts in good company as McDonald's All-American Game MVP

In Brooklyn, Betts showcased her ability among the sport's best high school talent. Recent McDonald's All-American MVPs have all gone onto fuel prominent NCAA programs, including top-ranked recruits UConn's Sarah Strong, South Carolina's Joyce Edwards, USC's JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo, and UCLA's own Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez.

The McDonald's All-American Game has a storied history of highlighting promising players, with past MVPs subsequently laying the foundation for future superstars.

Less than a day after Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles shocked the women’s basketball world by opting to enter the transfer portal rather than declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Irish’s transfer fall-out has continued.

Sophomore guard Emma Risch and freshman forward Kate Koval have also entered the portal, with Koval — who started in 10 games this season — leading the Irish in blocks.

Between transfer moves and graduating seniors, sophomore guard Hannah Hidalgo remains Notre Dame’s only returning starter — a sharp turn for an Irish squad ranked No. 1 in the country just six weeks ago.

Other top NCAA programs see transfer portal movement

Notre Dame isn’t the only top-tier program experiencing a roster shakeup after exiting the 2025 NCAA tournament.

LSU sophomore forward Sa'myah Smith entered the transfer portal after the Tigers’ season ended in Sunday’s Elite Eight. USC sophomore guard Aaliyah Gayles subsequently followed suit after the Trojans fell to UConn on Monday.

Schools like TCU have become national contenders via the transfer portal, with the Horned Frogs recruiting both Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince ahead of their first-ever Elite Eight run. Former Kentucky center Clara Silva is the latest transfer to commit to TCU, as the team comes off their best tournament finish in school history.

The modern era of NCAA roster-building is upon us, with top players taking the reigns as ambitious teams scramble to fill offseason gaps.

The NWSL is looking to sign a new Sunday night TV deal, according to a Sports Business Journal report published this week.

The league is targeting a two-year deal starting in 2026, with both new and existing TV partners interested in picking up additional NWSL games.

NWSL looks to build on multimillion dollar TV deal

The NWSL is currently two years into a four-year, $240 million TV partnership with ESPN, Prime, ION, and CBS Sports. However, the current contract doesn’t cover the entire schedule. And with league expansion planned for 2026, even more inventory is on the way.

SBJ notes that the market for this season’s lineup has been strong. In fact, all four media partners have already sold out all their 2025 advertising slots.

“You cannot find a place to spend right now,” IMG’s Hillary Mandel said at a recent Business of Soccer event hosted by SBJ. “We know what’s motivating interest is the fact that there’s no place to invest. That’s a phenomenal story in such a short period of time."

ESPN spotlighted for TV network-owned Sunday lineup

ESPN could be a prime candidate for a Sunday package, with the network set to move on from Sunday Night Baseball after the 2025 MLB season.

The NWSL has traditionally leaned into network-owned nights, with Prime airing Friday night matchups and ION running Saturday double-headers.

The NWSL’s most recent contract subsequently added serious value to the league. And the returns have networks coming back for more, setting up a potential bidding war and easing growing pains as new teams join the fold.

UCLA will hit the court for their first-ever NCAA Final Four on Friday, but as they extend the most successful season in program history, the Bruins have looked anything but green.

“We said talent was going to be our floor,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said after Sunday’s Elite Eight win over LSU. “Our character, our chemistry, our habits were going to be our ceiling.”

With just two losses on the season, UCLA’s status as a first-rate NCAA title contender has actually been years in the making.

Roster-building paves the way to the Final Four

In 2022, the Bruins signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, stacking their roster with top high school standouts Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, and Londynn Jones.

UCLA then upped their game even further last year, when 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Lauren Betts transferred in from Stanford — a move that fueled the Bruins all the way to the Sweet 16 with the promise of even greater success.

“Everyone came to UCLA for this reason: to do something we haven't done in a really long time,” Jaquez said on Sunday. “[I’m] just really proud of my teammates, the staff, the coaches, just continuing to get better every day and grow from each season prior.

With Lauren Betts at center, UCLA leans on depth

As one of the most dominant post players in college basketball, Betts is at the literal center of every UCLA performance. But that doesn’t mean the Bruins lack the depth it takes to handle a team like Final Four opponent UConn.

“When we have a deep team, I don’t have to be in the game at all times,” Betts said. “I have a team full of players who are just amazing and talented in their own right, and they put in the work.”

All in all, UCLA is coming into their own after developing much of its squad from the ground-up. Now it's time to make the case that patient roster-building can pay off on NCAA basketball’s biggest stage.