The 2023 Golden Boot race is nearing the finish line, with Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith holding a one-goal lead over her nearest competitor.

Still, North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin (10 goals) would need a brace to overtake Smith (11 goals), as the reigning league MVP holds the tiebreaker. The final day of the 2023 regular season will decide the playoff and Golden Boot races.

Ahead of decision day, Just Women’s Sports takes a look back at the history of NWSL Golden Boot winners.

2022: Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave, 15 goals

In San Diego’s inaugural season in the NWSL, Morgan put on a show, tallying 15 goals in 17 games. A career-best for the star forward, the total included three braces, plus four goals in one game to tie an NWSL record.

2021: Ashley Hatch, Washington Spirit, 10 goals

Hatch earned the 2021 Golden Boot with just 10 goals in 20 games, the lowest total needed to earn the award in league history. Her 10 goals were a career best, which Hatch has nearly matched with nine goals in 2023.

2019: Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars, 18 goals

In 2019, Kerr broke her own single-season goal scoring record with 18 goals, a mark that still stands. She also won her third consecutive scoring title; no other player has won more than once. Kerr still stands alone atop the NWSL with 77 career goals, despite departing for the Women’s Super League after the 2019 season.

2018: Sam Kerr, Chicago Red Stars, 16 goals

Kerr also won the scoring title in 2018, along the way becoming the first player to reach 50 goals in NWSL history. She finished the season with 59.

2017: Sam Kerr, Sky Blue FC, 17 goals

For Kerr’s first of three scoring titles, the Australian phenom set a single-season record that she broke herself two years later. Kerr scored 17 goals in 22 games, none of them on penalty kicks. She also became the first player in NWSL history to reach 50 career points.

2016: Lynn Williams, Western New York Flash, 11 goals

Lynn Williams capped her second NWSL season with the Golden Boot. For the first time in league history, two players atop the goals leaderboard, as Williams and Kealia Ohai Watt both finished with 11. But Williams held the tiebreaker, with five assists to Watt’s four.

2015: Crystal Dunn, Washington Spirit, 15 goals

Dunn had a standout 2015 season, scoring 15 goals to take home the Golden Boot. At 23 years old, she also became the youngest player in league history to take home the league MVP award, a milestone eclipsed by Smith in 2022.

2014: Kim Little, Seattle Reign FC, 16 goals

With 16 goals in 23 games, Little went on scoring tear. From May through June, Little scored a goal in six consecutive games. She had a goal against each NWSL team that season, including five against the Dash.

 

2013: Lauren Holiday, FC Kansas City, 12 goals

The future Hall of Famer won the inaugural NWSL scoring title with 12 goals for FC Kansas City. She also ranked fourth in shots and shots on goal, registering a goal or an assist in 10 consecutive games. Holiday also was named league MVP in 2013.

The 2025 WNBA season is finally here, with Friday's official tip-off leading an opening weekend full of tough competition and simmering storylines.

The reigning champion New York Liberty enter as odds-on favorites, but results are nearly impossible to predict after a very active offseason across the league.

This weekend's slate features new builds, regional rivalries, and plenty of fresh faces as top 2025 draft picks log their first pro minutes.

• Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): This year's No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers makes her official WNBA debut as revamped Dallas tests itself against a Minnesota team still stinging over last year's title loss.

• Los Angeles Sparks vs. Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Valkyries play their first-ever regular-season game, looking to form an identity against downstate rivals LA, led by new Sparks addition Kelsey Plum.

• Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty, Saturday at 1 PM ET (ABC): The 2023 champs meet the 2024 title-winners in a heavyweight clash that sees 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson take on a confident New York team led by guard Sabrina Ionescu.

• Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever, Saturday at 3 PM ET (ABC): Last year's rookie headliners Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese meet again in Indiana, with the regional rivals relying on both incoming vets and young cores to write their next chapters.

Packed with great matchups, this weekend is the ideal tip-off for a 2025 season that promises to be a wild ride — no matter which WNBA team you follow.

The NWSL is back in action this weekend with a top-table match, a bicoastal battle, and some middle-of-the-pack clashes as the 2025 season enters its ninth matchday.

Parity is riding high these days, with just three points dividing the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 3 Washington Spirit in the NWSL standings — while only three more separate the No. 4 San Diego Wave from the No. 8 Seattle Reign.

With competition remaining tough as nails, don't expect much more daylight between teams following this weekend's tense lineup:

• No. 7 Gotham FC vs. No. 4 San Diego Wave, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): Coming off a two-game winless streak, Gotham is still searching for consistency as they take on a confident San Diego side that hasn't lost in four games.

• No. 9 Racing Louisville vs. No. 8 Seattle Reign, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): All tied up with 11 points each, Seattle will look to hold off Louisville as Racing continues to hunt the club's first-ever playoff berth.

• No. 2 Orlando Pride vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): There's little love lost between these NWSL titans, as the reigning champion Pride takes on hosting duties in an attempt to leapfrog current top-dog Kansas City in Friday's marquee match.

In a season dominated by topsy-turvy results, the pressure to secure points week-over-week weighs heaviest on the teams who know they have the talent to rise above the rest.

This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.

After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.

The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.

"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."

Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.

González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.

Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.

Following a dominant 2024/25 campaign, Chelsea FC will look to cap their historic run by completing a domestic treble on Sunday, when they'll battle Manchester United for a third season trophy in the 2025 FA Cup final.

After securing the 2024/25 League Cup in March amidst an unbeaten run to a sixth-straight WSL title, the Blues will close out their season against the league's third-place finishers, the Red Devils, in London's iconic Wembley Stadium.

Should Chelsea secure the 2025 FA Cup, they will add a second domestic treble to their resume after clinching their first trio of trophies in the 2020/21 season. This time, however, they could do so in undefeated fashion.

"We are in a really good place, just the fact that we won the league being unbeaten," said first-year Blues manager Sonia Bompastor. "To end the season with an FA Cup final at Wembley against Man United is maybe the perfect way to end the season."

Manchester United hunts second straight FA Cup trophy

Standing between Chelsea and the treble are 2024 FA Cup champions Manchester United, who will take aim at their only trophy of the season partly behind the play of 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Man United enter as the game's undisputed underdogs, having dropped both their WSL regular-season matches against Chelsea in narrow 1-0 defeats.

Even more, the Red Devils must overcome a particular tough stretch of play, facing more than a month without a victory on their schedule.

Man United's last win was their 2-0 FA Cup semifinal victory over Manchester City on April 13th, with the Red Devils suffering a pair of losses and recording two draws to close out WSL play.

That said, United has experience downing the Blues on the FA Cup stage, ousting Chelsea from last year's semifinals en route to a club-first FA title.

Remarking that Manchester United "are a really strong team," Bompastor pointed out that the Red Devils "don't concede a lot of goals, and we need to remember that."

"You only get the trophy if you win, so we need to make sure going into the game we have the best preparation and we perform on the day."

How to watch Chelsea play Manchester United at the FA Cup final

The 2025 FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester United will kick off at 8:30 AM ET on Sunday.

Live coverage of the match will begin at 8:20 AM ET on ESPN+.