The NWSL underwent massive change in 2022. The league ratified its first-ever collective bargaining agreement, reeled from the findings of two massive investigations into wrongdoing and put on one of the largest championship weekends in NWSL history.

To call it an eventful year would be an understatement. Let’s take a look at a few of the moments we’ll never forget.

The year of the union

The year began with the NWSL in a precarious position. Collective bargaining agreement negotiations had slowed, and multiple investigations into misconduct were ongoing after bombshell reporting revealed cases of abuse throughout the league. With every day that passed, the possibility of a player strike became more likely as the league neared the preseason CBA deadline of Feb. 1.

What happened next shaped not only the NWSL for the next five years, but also women’s soccer forever. The league’s first CBA guaranteed new player rights, including free agency, maternity leave and a doubled league minimum salary. Preseason began on time, and years of work by the NWSL Players Association culminated in a new foundation upon which the league could build.

The NWSLPA’s work, though, didn’t end after the ratification of the CBA. Questions like whether players with team-first contract options can be considered free agents and whether new avenues should be created for teenage players to enter the league were debated and partially resolved. The PA has emphasized that CBAs are valuable only if they are being enforced, and constant vigilance in the face of the Sally Q. Yates report provided a sense of stability.

At the end of the year, the NWSL and NWSLPA finally released their joint investigation into wrongdoing and misconduct, in what is hopefully the final page of a volatile chapter in the league’s history. Even if more challenges lie ahead, the strength of the union gives players a reliable advocate.

The calamity of the Challenge Cup

The year marked the beginning of the end of the Challenge Cup as a preseason tournament. Originally placed between preseason and the regular season as a pandemic safeguard, the scheduling of the Challenge Cup in 2022 arguably altered a number of clubs’ entire seasons.

The North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit in the third Challenge Cup final on May 7, in a game on CBS that overlapped with the beginning of the regular season. Both teams had to reschedule their regular-season games that had been slated for the same weekend after picking up an additional knockout game the Wednesday prior. The match itself was ugly, and neither team rode their success into a playoff appearance. The Spirit struggled through a dire early schedule to finish the season in 11th, a far cry from winning their first NWSL Championship in 2021. The Courage fared slightly better, making a late surge but falling just short of a playoff spot in the final week of the season.

With a new name sponsor and prize money attached, the Challenge Cup has a place in the NWSL’s calendar, but it became very clear that something had to change in the name of player safety. In 2023, the Cup will become a mid-season tournament, played throughout the year during other breaks in the regular season.

The Challenge Cup clearly needed to evolve, or the NWSL needed to move on from the format entirely. With a new system in 2023, the tournament has a chance to reach its full potential.

California dreamin’

The year 2022 will likely always be remembered as the one the NWSL went all-in on the beaches of California. Angel City’s regular-season opener at the Banc of California Stadium marked a season of record attendances, and San Diego’s mid-season debut at Snapdragon Stadium showed what was possible for an expansion club in its first year.

San Diego, in particular, crushed expansion expectations on the field. Alex Morgan won the Golden Boot, Naomi Girma won both Rookie and Defender of the Year, Kailen Sheridan won Goalkeeper of the Year, and Casey Stone won Coach of the Year. The Wave became the first expansion club to qualify for the NWSL playoffs in their first year, and for much of the season, they were in legitimate contention for the Shield at the top of the table.

NWSL expansion was once seen as a risky proposition, with teams struggling to find local attendance footholds while slowly developing on the pitch. Angel City showed that women’s soccer can be big business, and San Diego backed it all up on the field. The next teams to join the league in 2024 have large shoes to fill.

Portland Thorns’ triumph, uneasy future

On the field, the Portland Thorns were one of the best clubs in the NWSL in 2022. They finished second in the league table, won their semifinal and looked like they were in cruise control on their way to the franchise’s third NWSL Championship over Kansas City. League MVP Sophia Smith ended the best year of her young professional career with a championship goal (and shrug celebration) that entered the annals of NWSL legend. For one moment, it seemed like the Thorns might be able to put their off-field troubles behind them.

But the offseason brought more radical change. Owner Merritt Paulson finally announced his intention to sell the club after being named in the Yates report for allowing former coach Paul Riley’s misconduct to be covered up for years. Paulson intends to divest the Thorns from the Portland Timbers, changing both the club’s relationship to their home in Providence Park and the infrastructure of the front office.

Paulson’s decision to sell felt somewhat inevitable with the NWSLPA report looming, but Portland’s upheaval had only begun. The same week as Paulson’s announcement, head coach Rhian Wilkinson abruptly resigned from her position after developing feelings for a player that went beyond friendship.

Suddenly, Portland’s championship win became a story not of mere triumph over adversity, but the last image of the club as it existed for the first 10 years of the league’s existence. Now, the Thorns enter 2023 without a manager and with more questions than ever despite their clear talent advantages.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Arsenal advanced to their first UEFA Women's Champions League (UWCL) final in 18 years on Sunday, defeating eight-time tournament winners Lyon 4-1 to punch their ticket to next month's title matchup against reigning champs FC Barcelona.

The Gunners overcame a 2-1 first-leg deficit to beat Lyon, with the French side suffering their first Champions League semifinal ousting since 2009.

"We are very, very, very proud," said Arsenal head coach Renee Slegers. "I think this was the biggest challenge so far, coming back from a 2-1 loss at the [Arsenal Stadium] against this top team with so much quality, and then coming out here, so calm and composed, with so much belief in what we're doing and courage on the pitch."

Powerhouse Barcelona awaits Arsenal in Champions League final

Overcoming an opening loss has been a theme for Arsenal throughout their 2024/25 Champions League campaign. Other than the tournament's very first qualifying round, the Gunners have dropped the first match of every single round thus far, using high-octane offense to claim the wins needed to keep advancing.

There are no multiple matches in the next round, however, where Arsenal will play underdog to titans Barcelona in the competition's final match.

The decorated Spanish club handed WSL-leaders Chelsea back-to-back 4-1 thrashings to seal their place in the 2024/25 Champions League final, ending the Blues' historic quadruple quest in the process.

Barcelona has now reached five of the last six Champions League title matches, taking home the trophy in 2021, 2023, and 2024.

Arsenal, on the other hand, is the only English team to ever lift the European trophy — a feat the Gunners accomplished back in 2007.

The teams will have a little less than a month to prepare for the tournament's grand finale, as the 2024/25 UWCL championship match will kick off in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 24th.

Former South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley officially joined the Gamecocks' SEC rival LSU on Friday, putting the cherry on top of the Tigers' winning NCAA basketball transfer period.

According to multiple reports, the Columbia, South Carolina, product actually committed to LSU weeks ago — the same day she announced she'd be leaving her hometown school.

The rising junior won a national championship with South Carolina in 2024, but started only three of her 77 games with the talent-loaded Gamecocks — despite averaging 11.7 points per game and shooting 42.6% from the field.

Fulwiley's move only deepens one of the hottest rivalries of both the powerhouse SEC and the NCAA at-large, with either South Carolina or LSU featuring in each of the last four national championship games.

The guard won the SEC tournament's Most Outstanding Player award in 2024, after the Gamecocks beat the Tigers to secure last year's conference title.

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Transfers reshape NCAA landscape ahead of 2025/26 season

This year's transfer portal has profoundly impacted the women's college basketball field, with more than 1,500 athletes — almost 30% of all Division I players — looking to jump ship.

Even though the NCAA basketball portal closed last week, there are no deadlines for transfers to commit to a new program — or return to their original school, should an athlete's roster spot still be available.

While Fulwiley and other NCAA basketball stars have locked in their 2025/26 NCAA homes, talented transfers like former USC guard Kayleigh Heckel are reportedly still looking for the right fit.

As the dust finished settling on a highly competitive 2024/25 season, roster shakeups could transform some teams into bonafide championship contenders — though history proves that building a superteam doesn't always guarantee a national title.

The North Carolina Courage earned their first winning results of the 2025 NWSL season in high-scoring style, when a last-gasp goal by attacker Ashley Sanchez handed the previously undefeated Kansas City Current their first loss on Saturday.

The Courage trailed Kansas City 2-1 just before the end of regulation, after goals from Haley Hopkins and Bia Zaneratto put the Current in the lead.

Center back Kaleigh Kurtz's 90th-minute equalizer flipped the script for the Courage, before Sanchez buried the closer three minutes later in second-half stoppage time.

The comeback victory boosted the formerly last-place Courage to No. 11 in the standings, while the league-leading Current's grip on No. 1 is loosening as they pull level in points with No. 2 Orlando.

Gotham caps roller-coaster week with win over Washington

Elsewhere on Saturday, No. 4 Gotham downed East Coast rivals No. 3 Washington 3-0, solidifying their spot in the NWSL's top five.

The victory was buoyed by a brace from Golden Boot-leader Esther González, whose seven season goals have all come in the last four matches — tying the NWSL record for most goals scored in a four-game span.

Still at the start of her third season with the NJ/NY side, the 32-year-old has already become the team's second all-time leading scorer, passing both Carli Lloyd and Midge Purce with her 18th Gotham goal on Saturday.

That weekend win capped off a crowded three-match week for the Bats. Before securing their multi-goal victory over DC, Gotham first beat Angel City 4-0 the previous Friday, then fell 4-1 to Portland last Tuesday.

"This was one of the proudest moments for us as a team and as a club," Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said after Saturday's match. "I couldn't be prouder of the players. I think they've been outstanding the whole week."

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As for injury-ridden Washington, their performance wasn't a total loss, as 2024 Rookie of the Year Croix Bethune returned to the pitch for the first time since tearing her meniscus shortly after winning Olympic gold with the USWNT last summer.

"I do feel like I'm about 90%," Bethune told reporters after the match. "I had a hip/quad situation — I feel like that gave me a little bit more time to get stronger for my knee and just make sure I'm overall 100%."

While the Spirit continue dealing with an onslaught of injuries, Gotham — now just one point behind Washington in the standings — is steadily creeping in on the 2024 NWSL Championship runners-up's third-place spot.

Sixth NWSL matchday fueled by high-scoring results

Saturday's high-scoring tally fit right in with the rest of the NWSL, with the league's weekend slate delivering a high-octane 24 goals across its seven matches.

Defending champion Orlando secured a three-point result with a 3-2 comeback win over the visiting No. 9 Angel City, while the last-place Chicago Stars suffered a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of No. 5 San Diego.

However, it was No. 6 Portland and No. 12 Louisville that produced the most dramatic scoreline of the season's sixth matchday, settling for a 3-3 Sunday draw after the Thorns converted two penalty kicks.

"This is just another example of how good this league is, and how you literally cannot relax even for a second regardless of who you play and where you play them," said Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski, summing up a strong showing across the NWSL.

As PWHL action returned to the ice following the IIHF World Championship international break, the Toronto Sceptres booked their 2024/25 postseason berth this weekend, leaving just two spots left in this year's Walter Cup Playoffs.

Despite Toronto's 3-0 Saturday loss to the Boston Fleet, New York's 2-0 win over Minnesota on Sunday gave the second-place Sceptres enough of a point differential over the fifth-place Frost to solidify their postseason position.

Meanwhile, Saturday's games saw the Sirens suffer playoff elimination for the second straight year, with New York immediately banking Sunday's victory points toward securing yet another overall No. 1 pick in June's 2025 PWHL Draft under the league's Gold Plan.

Three teams hunt two remaining spots in 2024/25 PWHL Playoffs

With this weekend's results, the Sceptres join the league-leading Montréal Victoire in clinching a 2024/25 postseason berth, leaving three teams — the Fleet, the Frost, and the Ottawa Charge — battling for the final two spots.

Minnesota's Sunday loss, however, has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of elimination.

With both Boston and Ottawa holding a significant points advantage over the Frost, Minnesota needs to win both of the final regular-season games and have either the Fleet or the Charge lose their two last matchups to squeeze above the PWHL table's cutoff line.

Following the close of the regular season on May 3rd, the 2024/25 PWHL Playoffs — featuring a semifinals round before the Walter Cup final — will begin the week of May 5th.