The race to the NWSL postseason is heating up, with only two weeks of competition remaining in the regular season.

U.S. women’s national team stars Megan Rapinoe and Mallory Pugh and recent call-up Hailie Mace all provided needed boosts for their NWSL clubs in the midst of the playoff race, in which just four points separate the top six teams.

NWSL Plays of the Week

Megan Rapinoe’s long-range stunner

OL Reign eked out a critical 2-1 victory Saturday over the North Carolina Courage, with Rapinoe and Rose Lavelle scoring the club’s two goals.

Rapinoe’s go-ahead finish came in the game’s 26th minute, with the OL Reign forward striking a long-range free kick past the Courage line and into the near post.

“Shooters shoot,” Rapinoe told reporters of her set-piece stunner, adding that she went for goal when she saw North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy was slightly off her line.

The 37-year-old now has five goals and four assists through 11 matches played.

“Well, it was pretty ugly, but we got three points on the road and that’s great,” Rapinoe added. OL Reign are in fifth place in the league with 31 points, three back of the San Diego Wave at the top of the table.

4th of the year for @mPinoe and the @OLReign of the @NWSL pic.twitter.com/6dYxybvr57

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 18, 2022

Mallory Pugh’s fast break

Mallory Pugh put on a show Wednesday night, notching a brace and an assist to help the Chicago Red Stars to a 4-0 shutout over the Kansas Current.

The USWNT forward’s first goal came in the eighth minute, as she nutmegged two defenders while going on a fast break the length of the field. Dribbling around the Current keeper, Pugh finished off her stunning effort with a low shot into an open net.

90 YARDS, 2 NUTMEGS, 1 GOAL 🤯
Take a bow, @MalPugh 👏

JWS x @Delta

Official Airline of the National Women’s Soccer League pic.twitter.com/vJ33CLw1Ys

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 15, 2022

Pugh stamped her name on the scoresheet again in the 60th minute, picking up the ball at midfield before beating her defender and letting off a low shot from the top of the box.

The 24-year-old capped off her dominant outing with an assist in the 72nd minute, finding Amanda Kowalski at the back post to convert a Red Stars corner kick into the team’s fourth goal of the night.

Pugh now has 10 goals and six assists through 14 matches played, putting her front and center in the NWSL’s MVP conversation.

Hailie Mace’s stoppage time rocket

Hailie Mace played hero for the Kansas City Current on Sunday night, salvaging a point for her team with a stoppage-time equalizer against the Portland Thorns.

The Current midfield lined up at the top of the box before striking a top-shelf rocket past the Thorns keeper to pull level with Portland.

Mace’s late-game banger marks her fourth goal of the NWSL regular season.

🚨 STOPPAGE TIME EQUALIZER FROM @hailiemace 🚨

JWS x @Delta

Official Airline of the National Women’s Soccer League pic.twitter.com/CM0AQSKSBd

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) September 18, 2022

“The fight, the mentality of the group as a whole, how much they care about each other, how much they care about the people in the stands, they just want to continually drive themselves forward,” Current coach Matt Potter said after the game.

After Sunday’s draw, the Current sit third in the NWSL standings, one point back from the league-leading Wave.

The New York Liberty will open the 2025 WNBA season at the top of the league's power rankings, drumming up high expectations despite a short-staffed roster.

Trailing the reigning champions at No. 2 are 2024 runners-up Minnesota, followed by 2023 champs Las Vegas at No. 3.

Fueled by this year's overall No. 2 draft pick Dominique Malonga, the Seattle Storm claimed No. 4 in the WNBA rankings, with the revamped Indiana Fever eyeing a 2025 turnaround at No. 5.

The betting market similarly reflects the league's latest forecast, with sportsbook FanDuel setting the Liberty's title odds at +210, followed by the Aces at +360, and the Lynx at +370.

The lines also support Indiana's promise, giving the Fever the fourth-best championship odds at +390 — far higher than the fifth-best Phoenix Mercury at +1,300.

On the other hand, the Dallas Wings, LA Sparks, Washington Mystics, Connecticut Sun, and Golden State Valkyries occupy the rankings' bottom half, as 2025's potential lottery teams prepare to prove themselves against top-line squads this season.

The up-for-sale Sun and brand-new Valkyries have the longest title odds on FanDuel, clocking in at +50,000 each.

While preseason action has provided some quality sneak peeks, Friday's opening tip-off represents a fresh start for the league, one where anything can — and likely will — happen.

European WNBA stars drop out of 2025 EuroBasket

Several European WNBA standouts announced they will skip out on this summer's FIBA EuroBasket, opting to prioritize league play following a pivotal 2024 Olympics.

Reigning Olympic silver medalists Gabby Williams and Dominique Malonga both confirmed they will not represent France at the European tournament in June, opting to remain with the Seattle Storm.

The duo's France teammate Carla Leite is also forgoing the trip, instead remaining with the Golden State Valkyries for the entirety of the expansion side's debut season.

As a major international tournament, the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket is exempt from the WNBA's prioritization rule, meaning eligible players can miss regular-season league play to compete in the overseas contest without being in violation of WNBA protocols.

The 2025 regional FIBA competition between Europe's top national teams will tip off on June 18th.

US soccer legend Alex Morgan is back in the game, becoming a minority owner of her former NWSL club by investing in the San Diego Wave FC on Tuesday.

One of the 2022 expansion side's first signings, Morgan captained the Wave to their 2023 NWSL Shield win before retiring in September 2024 as the team's all-time leader in both goals (28) and assists (11).

"San Diego is where I've built my home, where I am raising my children, and found a purpose beyond my playing career," Morgan said in a club statement. "I believed in Wave FC before a single match was played, and I still believe this club has the power to change the future of women's sports."

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Morgan joins an ownership group led by the Leichtman-Levine family. The Leichtmans purchased the team from founding owner Ron Burkle at a reported $113 million valuation last year.

"Alex has always fought to positively impact this game beyond the pitch," said Wave FC controlling owner Lauren Leichtman. "Her decision to invest is not only a continuation of her leadership but also a reflection of her belief in what we are building."

The two-time World Cup champion appears to be making good on her desire to shape the women's sports landscape after hanging up her boots, also buying into Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball ahead of the league's early 2025 debut.

"I was on board [with Unrivaled] from day one," Morgan told Boardroom in January. "Fans want to see what a player's personality is and who they vibe with, what drives them, and I think that being able to mesh that with competition, it already [is] a home run here with Unrivaled. So it would be really exciting to do something with other women's sports as well."

The Minnesota Frost offense is ruling the ice, as record-setting scoring has the reigning PWHL champions on the brink of returning to the Walter Cup finals, entering Wednesday's Game 4 on a 2-1 series lead over the Toronto Sceptres in the best-of-five semifinals. 

Just two days after No. 4-seed Minnesota leveled the series with a 5-3 Friday win — recording the most combined goals ever scored in a PWHL Playoff game — the Frost found yet another gear, winning the highest scoring game in the second-year league's history in Sunday’s 7-5 Game 3 defeat of No. 2-seed Toronto.

In Sunday's barnburner, 21 players earned points across the two teams, but it was Minnesota who claimed victory, never relinquishing their early lead after netting a trio of goals in the game's first eight minutes.

"Minnesota's a great team," Sceptres head coach Troy Ryan said after the loss. "If you're putting yourself in a situation where you've got to chase them, it's an uphill battle."

"I think it’s a fan's dream and a coach's nightmare, a 7-5 playoff game," said Minnesota boss Ken Klee. "We found a way to win and that's the most important thing."

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, Minnesota skaters now own the league's 2025 Playoffs stat sheet, with four Frost players topping the points race.

More eyebrow-raising, however, is that the league's postseason offensive leader is a defender, as the Frost's Lee Stecklein has burned up the ice with three goals and three assists in the playoffs so far.

Calling her "outstanding" and "world-class," Klee sang Stecklein's praises while acknowledging that the postseason means Minnesota must "find different ways to score goals and different people have to contribute."

"[Stecklein] knows that, she exemplifies that, and that's why she's one of our leaders and one of our best players."

How to watch Minnesota vs. Toronto in the PWHL Semifinals

The defending champion Frost will hope to secure their spot in the 2025 PWHL Finals while the Sceptres aim to stave off elimination in the pair's next semifinals game on Wednesday.

The puck drops on Game 4 of the best-of-five series at 7 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on the PWHL YouTube channel.

Soccer legend Marta is officially returning to the canary yellow kit, earning a Brazil national team call-up just over nine months after her planned retirement from international duty.

Brazil head coach Arthur Elias named Marta to the world No. 8 Seleção's roster on Tuesday, with the 39-year-old icon returning for the team's upcoming home friendlies against No. 5 Japan on May 30th and June 2nd.

"I was with Marta recently and spoke with her," Elias told reporters on Tuesday. "She said she is available to help the team while she is playing at a high level, as she is now."

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Stellar club form fuels Marta's Brazil return

Marta, who hung up her international boots after snagging a third silver Olympic medal at the 2024 Paris Games, hasn't missed a beat since, captaining the Orlando Pride to the club's first-ever NWSL Shield and Championship last fall.

In the process, the scoring phenom claimed the league's Best XI First Team honors, as well as finalist nods for both the 2024 NWSL MVP and Midfielder of the Year awards.

Unsurprisingly, the Pride inked Marta to a two-year contract extension in January.

While Marta's consistently impressive form fueled Elias's request to lure her out of retirement, the manager is also hoping her unmatched leadership will bolster younger athletes as Brazil takes aim at a record-extending ninth Copa América title this summer — and, as the host nation, a deep 2027 World Cup run.

Joining the legend on Tuesday's roster are fellow Brazil veterans Lorena and Debinha, from the NWSL-leading Kansas City Current, and Marta's Orlando teammate Angelina.

"[Marta's] presence in some call-ups is very important for the younger players, for the renewal that is taking place in the national team," explained Elias. "We really want expectations to rise for the women's national team and for football in our country."