The NWSL’s first full month of regular-season play has come to an end, not without a whole host of surprises since the North Carolina Courage were crowned Challenge Cup champions.

Just Women’s Sports puts a bow on the NWSL in May with the first monthly Best XI of the season. The first-place San Diego Wave FC and second-place OL Reign each earned three roster spots, while Angel City FC, tied for second in the standings, has two. Overall, five of the league’s 12 clubs are represented.

Alex Morgan, F, San Diego Wave FC

The Diamond Bar, Calif. native, in her first season with the Wave, has reached a new peak in her career. Leading the league in scoring with six goals, Morgan became the second player in league history to record six goals in the first six matches of the season, joining Christen Press. She’s recorded 15 shots and nine shots on goal — both the third most in the league this season.

Mallory Pugh, F, Chicago Red Stars

Pugh played only two games in May, but in this case, quality trumps quantity. She returned from a concussion on May 22 to tally three goals and an assist in just two games. Her speed and ball movement are the difference-maker in Chicago’s dangerous attack, with Pugh directly affecting nearly half of their nine goals.

Christen Press, F, Angel City FC

The action shot of Press jumping over a frazzled Trinity Rodman while the Washington forward is lying on the ground basically sums up the Angel City striker’s month. The threat she poses to opposing backlines in one-on-three situations with her speed and shot placement consistently leaves defenders wondering what they can possibly to do to stop her.

👀 pic.twitter.com/aOczMQc0HB

— Krystina (@kb_202_) May 16, 2022

Taylor Kornieck, M, San Diego Wave FC

Kornieck has been a key playmaker for the breakout Wave, who are second in the NWSL with eight goals so far this season. A standout on headers and long through-balls, the former Pride player is also a box-to-box midfielder who creates chances of her own in front of the net (she’s currently ranked second in the league with 16 shots).

Sam Coffey, M, Portland Thorns FC

In five starts through five games, the rookie has logged an impressive 86.1 percent passing success rate, and her distribution has been key to the Thorns’ strategy to spread the field. Used to more of an attacking role, Coffey has been a quick learner in the six position.

Rose Lavelle, M, OL Reign

Lavelle has successfully carried out her roles in both distribution and in the attacking third, recording two goals and a 93.3 percent success rate in long passes. She leads the league in shots (21) and shots on goal (12). Her dribbles up the middle continue to set the Reign up for dangerous chances in the box.

Sofia Huerta, D, OL Reign

Huerta was one of the most notable chance creators in the NWSL this past month, assisting on header goals by Lavelle and Bethany Balcer. With five chances created on Wednesday against the Kansas City Current, she is now the top creator in the NWSL since 2016, tied with Lynn Williams at 188. And since Sunday, she is just one assist away from tying Jessica McDonald as the league’s all-time assists leader.

❌➡️⭕Just like it was drawn up at practice! @RoseLavelle leads her squad in the 75th minute!#BoldTogether | @OLReign pic.twitter.com/tEouWjEesl

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 29, 2022

Katie Naughton, D, Houston Dash

The Dash have recorded two shutouts and only three goals against on their current four-game unbeaten streak, and Naughton is a big reason why. A highly underrated defender, the 28-year-old has put up unbelievable numbers since the season started, including a 100-percent tackle success rate, an 88.9 aerial duels winning percentage, an 82.2 percent success rate in passes and a 73.7 success rate in duels.

Naomi Girma, D, San Diego Wave FC

It’s easy to forget that Girma is only a rookie since she has transitioned so seamlessly into San Diego’s starting lineup. The 2022 No. 1 draft pick has played every minute of the Wave’s six matches and recorded an exceptional 85 percent passing success rate. Her calmness and composure are paramount to a backline that has conceded only three goals this season.

Jasmyne Spencer, D, Angel City FC

Having played for five NWSL teams since 2013, Spencer has found consistency with Angel City, starting all five games on a backline that’s allowed just two goals in May. Her hustle stood out in the Challenge Cup and hasn’t slowed down since. The former attacker shuts down the top forwards in the league, while also putting her own attacking skills to use on the flank.

Phallon Tullis-Joyce, GK, OL Reign

With four clean sheets, the Reign’s new starting goalkeeper now leads the NWSL in shutouts. Tullis-Joyce is also second in saves with 24, two behind the Kansas City Current’s Adrianna Franch, helping the Reign move into a tie for second place in the standings with just four goals against.

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

The PWHL is continuing to break records, as Sunday's 2025/26 Takeover Tour stop in Washington, DC, saw 17,228 fans pack into Capital One Arena to see the No. 2 New York Sirens top the No. 4 Montréal Victoire 2-1 — setting a new US women's hockey attendance record in the process.

The benchmark surpasses the previous US record set this past November, when the Seattle Torrent welcomed 16,014 fans to their inaugural home opener.

Sunday's DC crowd also sees the US mark inch closer to the overall professional women's hockey attendance record, set in April 2024 when 21,105 PWHL fans sold out Montréal's Bell Centre to watch the Victoire take on the Toronto Sceptres.

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"Washington, DC, showed up in such a big way, and the energy our fans brought into the arena turned this game into something truly special," PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer said of the first-ever PWHL game in the nation's capital. "Moments like this capture the joy of our sport and the momentum behind the league."

The third-year league is currently racing through its best-attended month on record, drawing more than 154,000 fans across the last 16 games while averaging crowds of 8,726 across all 49 games so far this season.

The Kansas City Current delivered some concerning news this week, with the NWSL club revealing that star striker Temwa Chawinga remains sidelined with an hip adductor injury while the league's 2026 preseason gets underway.

The team currently lists the reigning back-to-back NWSL MVP under a season-ending injury (SEI) designation, a category earned after Chawinga picked up the injury in mid-October, leaving the Kansas City attacker benched for the Current's quarterfinal loss to eventual 2025 NWSL champions Gotham FC.

"It's hard because of the nature of the injury," incoming Kansas City head coach Chris Armas told The Athletic last week. "With Temwa, we've got to be very careful, but she's looking great and doing lots of good work on the return to play."

Also on the Current's SEI list is standout winger Michelle Cooper, with the 23-year-old rising USWNT star suffering a foot injury in Kansas City's final regular-season match of 2025.

"It was a little bit of a tough ending here after, honestly, an amazing historic season," said Armas. "Hopefully they are back as soon as possible, but it's still unclear."

Both Chawinga and Cooper will have some time to recover before Kansas City kicks off their 2026 NWSL regular season against the Utah Royals on March 14th — with teams allowed to lift a player's SEI status any time once the season begins.

The world's top tennis stars are rolling in Melbourne, as the first round of the 2026 Australian Open wrapped early Tuesday morning with only a few ranked seeds suffering early defeats.

World No. 15 Emma Navarro was the highest-ranked US player to fall in the first round, with the 24-year-old exiting the season's first Grand Slam in a 6-3, 3-6, 3-6 loss to Poland's No. 50 Magda Linette on Sunday.

No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova also stumbled in the first round, with her Melbourne run ending in a three-set loss to Turkey's No. 112 Zeynep Sönmez on Saturday before No. 68 Peyton Stearns ousted fellow US star and 2020 Australian Open champion No. 30 Sofia Kenin in straight sets on Sunday.

Many contenders still remain in the hunt, however, as the entire WTA Top 10 cruised through their opening matchups to advance to the Slam's second round.

That said, fans will miss out on one highly anticipated showdown, as wild card entry Venus Williams's first-round loss ended the 45-year-old tennis icon's path to a second-round clash with US favorite No. 3 Coco Gauff.

How to watch the second round of the 2026 Australian Open

The 2026 Australian Open continues when the Slam's second round kicks off with a Tuesday night slate that features stars like No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 3 Coco Gauff, and No. 7 Jasmine Paolini.

Tuesday's action begins at 7 PM ET, with all Melbourne matches airing live across ESPN platforms.

The ongoing dominance of UConn basketball has started to break records, as the top-ranked Huskies humbled unranked Notre Dame 85-47 on Monday — keeping their perfect 2025/26 NCAA season intact.

Monday's 38-point margin of victory marked the largest in the teams' 20-year rivalry, with the win also snapping the Huskies' three-game head-to-head losing streak against the Fighting Irish.

"UConn showed why they're the best team in the country," Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey said postgame.

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Even more, UConn sophomore forward Sarah Strong added her own individual history to Monday's tally, becoming the third-fastest Husky to reach 1,000 career points, with the 19-year-old trailing only program legends Maya Moore and Paige Bueckers — who each did so in 55 games to Strong's 59 — in the race to reach that stat.

"I would love to see if anybody has scored 1,000 points by taking less shots than she's taking," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. "She's so efficient."

"It means a lot to me I guess, but I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates," Strong said after leading the Huskies with an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double on Monday night.

How to watch UConn basketball this week

UConn now returns to Big East play, with the No. 1 Huskies taking on unranked Georgetown at 7:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on TNT.