The international break is here, and with it comes a pause in NWSL action. As we near the halfway point of the season, three frontrunners for NWSL MVP have emerged: Portland Thorns forward Sophia Smith, Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh, and San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan.

Smith, Pugh and Morgan were all recently named to the USWNT’s World Cup qualifying roster and are currently in camp with the national team.

Below, we break down each of their cases for NWSL MVP.

Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns

At just 21 years old, Sophia Smith has already cemented herself as one of the NWSL’s best players within just three seasons of playing. She finished second in the race for the Golden Boot last season with nine goals through 22 games and currently sits in second place once again, with eight goals through nine games. Alex Morgan sits in first with 11 goals.

“It’s always really exciting to have someone to chase after — and it’s Alex Morgan, of course,” Smith said. “It’s friendly competition. And obviously it’s great to score goals, but for my team to be doing well is even better. This league is just fun — it’s fun to have people scoring lots of goals.”

Two of Smith’s goals came this past weekend, when she notched her third career NWSL brace.

It's a bird! It's a plane!

No, it's a @beckysauerbrunn goal (‼️) and a @sophsssmith brace (‼️) pic.twitter.com/BME8xjZvcu

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 19, 2022

It marked back-to-back braces for Smith, who also had two goals earlier this season in Portland’s 4-0 win over Houston.

Smith has made such an impact in the NWSL that USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who has repeatedly cited NWSL play as a deciding factor in USWNT spots, said that both Smith and Mallory Pugh’s spots are decided for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t think it will be a surprise if I say that it will be extremely difficult for a player to come in and take their starting spots right now,” Andonovski said. “Those are two players that will enjoy a lot of minutes on the field — actually, will enjoy maximum minutes on the field.”

Of course, Smith has made an impact for the USWNT as well, with four goals and three assists through 15 appearances. Three of those have come this year, through multiple friendly appearances and the SheBelieves Cup — the second-most on the USWNT behind Pugh and Catarina Macario.

While Trinity Rodman topped ESPN’s list of best women’s players aged 21 or younger, Smith sat fourth and she’s slowly been making her case for higher on the list.

As the season goes on, Smith should only tally up more goals, as she currently ranks first in both shots and shots on goal, with 30 and 20, respectively. While she only has eight goals to show for it, as Portland continues to roll, having won three of their last five matches, so should Smith.

Mallory Pugh, Chicago Red Stars

Once again, Mallory Pugh has been putting on a show in Chicago. After finishing second in NWSL MVP voting last season with five goals and four assists, Pugh has already equalled her goals total this season. With five goals through seven games, Pugh is pretty much guaranteed to better her stats from last season.

She’s also been effective defensively, being named the NWSL Player of the Week by Just Women’s Sports for her performance against Orlando the week of June 5. Pugh has proven exceptional at creating chances, with an average of 2.1 per match, which ranks in the league’s top 10.

Pugh is also more effective in getting shots on goal, even if she doesn’t have the total to show for it. In just 22 shots this season, Pugh has put 19 of them on goal.

This past weekend, Pugh had a goal and an assist in the Red Stars’ draw with Kansas City, continuing her scoring streak to three straight games.

53' Assist 🅰️
59' Goal ⚽

Mallory Pugh is on fire 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xAqrrBeRWI

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) June 19, 2022

Named to the NWSL’s Second XI last season, the forward has returned to form with a vengeance and is continuing to capitalize on the momentum. And her NWSL dominance is paying off at the international level — USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski recently said Pugh is all but locked into a starting role with the national team.

Alex Morgan, San Diego Wave FC

Prior to the start of the season, many thought Alex Morgan was entering the tail end of her career. But at 32 years old, and over 10 years into her professional career, Morgan is having a renaissance season, putting together her best NWSL campaign to date in her first year with San Diego Wave FC.

On Sunday, she once again posted a multi-goal game, bringing her goal total to a league-leading 11 through 10 appearances.

A brace and an assist for @alexmorgan13 😈 pic.twitter.com/ouR9cfe9wS

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 19, 2022

Not only does that beat last season’s Golden Boot winner, Ashley Hatch, who won the award with 10 goals on the season, but it is also a career best (her previous best was 9 in 2017).

Morgan is on pace to break the 20-goal threshold, something no NWSL player has ever done in a season (Sam Kerr was the closest with 18 in 2019). Even crazier, Morgan could finish the season with nearly as many goals as she did during her entire time with Orlando (2016-2021, 23 goals through 66 appearances). She’s also on track to beat her goal total from her time in Portland — three seasons from 2013 through 2015, during which she scored 15 goals through 36 appearances.

To add to her MVP resume, Morgan put together one of the best goal scoring performances in NWSL history earlier this season, putting up four goals in one game to tie the NWSL record.

It's FOUR for @alexmorgan13! 😱

The forward becomes just the fourth player to tally 4️⃣ in an NWSL match!@sandiegowavefc | #WaveFC pic.twitter.com/WmNzJA48nm

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 8, 2022

The fact that Morgan has led San Diego to the top of the table in the franchise’s first year of playing only adds to her MVP case. Morgan is no stranger to leading first-year teams to the NWSL title. She did so in 2013 with Portland, winning the inaugural NWSL title. As of right now, San Diego sits two points ahead of Portland in the table and often looks the part as the team to beat.

If Morgan can keep up the pace of her goal scoring — and if San Diego can continue to win — not only is she the leading candidate for league MVP, but she might just be adding another NWSL title to her resume.

That’s not all that’s at stake: throughout her career, Morgan has twice been named to the NWSL’s Second XI but never the Best XI. Regardless of what happens the rest of the season, or who ends up winning NWSL MVP, that seems almost certain to change this year.

Rose Lavelle is hoping to return to the field soon. 

The 28-year-old midfielder has been sidelined with a lower leg injury since the Gold Cup in early march. Since then, she has yet to play for new club Gotham FC in the NWSL. She also missed a potential USWNT appearance at the SheBelieves Cup in April, where senior team newcomer Jaedyn Shaw saw success assuming Lavelle's role in the attacking midfield. 

At the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee media showcase on Monday, Lavelle told reporters that she’s doing well and hopes to be back soon.

"I’m doing good — I’m hoping I’ll be back in the next couple weeks," Lavelle said. "It’s frustrating to start the year off with an injury, just because I feel like you come off preseason and you’re revving to go, so it’s so annoying."

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Lavelle is still looking to compete for one of just 18 Olympic roster spots. When healthy, she ranks as one of the national team’s most trusted assets, but considering this most recent injury, her health is an obvious concern. Faced with an onslaught of experienced competitors and young talent, incoming USWNT coach Emma Hayes will have some big decisions to make when selecting the Paris-bound squad — a reality Lavelle seems to be taking in stride as she works to regain full fitness.

"We have so many special players, we have so much depth, and so many different weapons to utilize on and off the bench," Lavelle said. "Unfortunately that means really good players are going to get left off, too. And I think for all of us, it’s just about being ready for whatever role is given to us, embracing that, and looking to put it into a collective picture so that we can go into the Olympics ready to go."

Stanford has found its replacement for legendary head women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer in associate head coach Kate Paye.

The Cardinal confirmed the hiring on Tuesday via a press release. Paye was largely expected to replace the longtime head coach, as the college mentioned they were still negotiating Paye's contract when they announced VanDerveer's retirement.

In Tuesday's statement, Paye reported that she was "humbled" to have been tapped to lead the women’s program.

"Stanford University has been a central part of my life for as long as I can remember and I am humbled to have the opportunity to lead its women’s basketball program," Paye said. "I’d first like to thank Tara, who has played such a pivotal role in my career for her friendship and guidance. It’s not what she’s done, but how she’s done it, that has had such a profound impact upon me."

A Woodside, California native, Paye played under VanDerveer from 1992 to 1995, taking home a national title her freshman year. After graduation, Paye briefly joined San Diego State as an assistant coach before making her professional debut with the ABL's Seattle Reign in 1996. After finishing her playing career with the WNBA's Seattle Storm, she joined the team’s coaching staff in 2007 and has been with the organization ever since, picking up another national title win — this time as associate head coach — in 2021. Paye's brother John played quarterback for Stanford from 1983 to 1986, while also serving as a point guard on the basketball team.

In her own response, VanDerveer said that she was "grateful" that Stanford picked Paye to follow in her stead. Last week, the decorated coach stated that this year would be her last after 38 seasons at the helm and three national titles under her belt.

"She has long been ready for this opportunity and is the perfect leader for Stanford at this time of immense change in college athletics," VanDerveer noted. "Kate was the choice for this job and I am confident she will achieve great success as head coach."

The 2024 WNBA Draft has officially concluded, leaving the newly minted rookie class facing a tough road ahead.

Only 144 roster slots are available throughout the league’s 12 teams, the reason why the players are sometimes referred to as the “144.” And Monday’s draft picks are set to join a large group of established players competing for those same roster spots, from seasoned veterans to young athletes determined to prove their value on the court.

Last year, just 15 of the league’s 36 draftees made it onto their drafting team's opening-day squad.

In reality, there are oftentimes fewer than 144 spots available, as not every team maxes out their roster. Per the league's CBA, each team roster must maintain a minimum standard of 11 players, but those lists can include players out with injuries or on other forms of leave. Players can also be assigned to short-term hardship contracts, something waived players must be prepared for at any point during the season.

Earlier this week, Laeticia Amihere — a 2022 national champion with South Carolina who currently plays for the Atlanta Dream — took to TikTok to provide some insight into the WNBA training camp process. 

"You can either get drafted on Draft Night, or you can get signed by a team," she said. "Once that happens, you go to training camp literally like two weeks later... Basically everybody's got to try out. There's 12 roster spots, and there's like 18 people at the at the trial."

@laeticiaamihere Replying to @dantavius.washington #wnba #draft ♬ original sound - Laeticia Amihere

Amihere also had an important point to make: Getting cut does not signify a player’s abilities. 

"If you get cut after training camp, that does not mean you're not good," she said. "That does not mean that player sucks, don't stop supporting that player. Literally, there's so many reasons somebody can get cut."

"If you guys look at the best players in the league, most of them have bounced around teams," she added. "And I promise you it is not a bad thing, it's just how the league is."

Things, however gradually, are changing. With Golden State's WNBA team scheduled to launch in time for the 2025 season, league expansion is just around the corner. On Monday, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league is aiming to grow to 16 teams by 2028. But by then, it might be too little too late for the generation of talent emerging from an increasingly competitive NCAA system.

Monday night’s WNBA draft added to the nationwide uptick in record-breaking women's sports viewership, pulling in 2.45 million viewers throughout the nearly two-hour broadcast and peaking at 3.09 million, according to an ESPN release. 

That number shatters the previous draft viewership record — 601,000 in 2004 — which was fueled primarily by then-No. 1 pick Diana Taurasi entering the league after UConn's historic three-peat March Madness performance.  

The 2023 WNBA draft drew 572,000 viewers, the most for any televised WNBA event since 2.74 million tuned in to NBC for a Memorial Day matchup between the New York Liberty and Houston Comets back in 2000.

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While many came to watch Caitlin Clark get drafted No. 1 overall, it’s important to note that viewership didn’t take a massive dip after the superstar shooter left the stage. The numbers show that a bulk of the audience stuck around to watch the remainder of the show, making 2024's event not just the most-viewed WNBA draft in history, but also the most-viewed WNBA program to ever air on ESPN platforms.

Draft Day's popularity is yet another sign indicating an expected rise in WNBA regular season viewership. Clark and Iowa's NCAA tournament showdown with the Chicago Sky-bound Kamilla Cardoso's South Carolina side drew a record 18.7 million to ABC's Sunday afternoon broadcast. Banking on this trend, 36 of Indiana's upcoming 40 games are set to be shown on national television. In-person ticket sales are also soaring, leading the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces to re-home their matchup with the Fever to a venue that can accommodate some 6,000 more fans.