All Scores

How OL Reign and Lyon forged a special soccer sisterhood

Eugénie Le Sommer reunited with Jess Fishlock on OL Reign last year after the two played together with Lyon. (Jane Gershovich/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Almost exactly a year ago, France’s top goal scorer, Eugénie Le Sommer of Olympique Lyonnais, was in Tacoma, Wash., blasting past the Houston Dash midfield and into the center of the park where she passed to Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock. The Wales national team player took the meters of free space in front of her, unleashed a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and sent the ball flying into the top left corner of the net to contribute to a dominant 5-1 win for OL Reign.

A play like that is nothing new to Fishlock and Le Sommer, who together and apart, have helped build two of the most dominant clubs in the world.

Le Sommer was on loan with the Reign in the NWSL at the time, burying eight goals during the 2021 season. With her were Lyon teammates Dzsenifer Marozsán and Sarah Bouhaddi.

On Friday, with the rest of their Lyon teammates from Division 1 Féminine, they’ll return to the state of Washington, where the Reign will host them at halftime of their match Sunday against Gotham FC. Lyon will then head to Portland, Ore. to play Chelsea FC in the first round of the Women’s International Champions Cup on Wednesday, while the Reign will go to Louisville, Ky. to compete in The Women’s Cup.

Players and coaches for both teams took time to reflect on the clubs’ intercontinental relationship before they come together in person this weekend, sitting down for interviews with Just Women’s Sports and for a three-part video series on OL Reign’s website.

“We miss you, Eug,” Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock told Le Sommer on one of those calls. “When you come over, when I see you, I’m going to steal you.”

Fishlock is a big reason why Le Sommer went to play for the Reign in 2021. They first met when Fishlock joined Lyon on loan from 2018-19.

“We had a really great time together,” said Le Sommer.

The friendship represents a bigger sisterhood between the two teams. The clubs are connected by the same owner, OL Groupe, who acquired the Reign in 2019. The visit on Sunday will be an opportunity not only for players like Fishlock and Le Sommer to reconnect with friends, but also for the athletes and coaches who have yet to meet their sister club counterparts.

“It’s important,” Lyon assistant coach Camille Abily said of the visit. “We can meet each other, and I think we can learn about the OL Reign team.”

Due to their busy schedules, Reign head coach Laura Harvey and Lyon coach Sonia Bompastor had never spoken before our three-way phone call, a mere two weeks ahead of Lyon’s visit to Lumen Field. But simply watching each other’s success has helped them grow in their own roles.

“The support is there from both sides, but I think there’s just always an appreciation and respect,” said Harvey. “I can only speak for me, but from my side, just who Sonia is and what she’s done in the game as a player and obviously now what she’s achieving as a coach speaks for itself, really.”

Before Sunday, members of the Reign and Lyon spent time discussing the three primary values that keep them connected and motivating each other from across the ocean: competitiveness, women’s empowerment and sustainability.

Both clubs have featured some of the most decorated players in women’s soccer. That includes Fishlock, the reigning NWSL MVP who joined the Reign in 2013, and Le Sommer, who has 178 goals in 213 appearances with Lyon since 2010. Reign midfielder Megan Rapinoe won the Ballon d’Or in 2019, the year after it was awarded to Lyon’s Ada Hegerberg.

Olympique Lyonnais could be considered the best women’s soccer club in the world, having won all 14 Division 1 Féminine championships between 2006 and 2020, seven Champions League titles and 11 Coupe de France Féminine trophies. Across the pond, the Reign have consistently been one of the strongest teams in the NWSL, with back-to-back NWSL Shields in 2014 and ’15 and five semifinal appearances in eight seasons.

Harvey and Bompastor partnered for a conversation about women empowerment in the video series. While Harvey won NWSL Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015 and 2021, Bompastor is the only woman to have won the UEFA Women’s Champions League as both a player (2011, 2012) and a coach (2022).

For her sake, Harvey said the Reign’s standard of success can be attributed in part to Fishlock, Rapinoe and Lauren Barnes sticking with the club since its inception in 2013.

“They’ve been able to enable us to build a culture of what’s expected,” she said. “And then new faces and standards that we set in training and around games every day, those three who’ve been here the whole time understand what that means. They can then help the new ones implement that.”

Retaining multiple talented players for years on end is difficult in the U.S. pro league because of salary caps and player movement via trades. The system isn’t necessarily set up to keep winning since the NWSL seeks parity.

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas, who is also chairman of the Reign, will often use branding from the men’s side to elevate the women’s club. That relationship is not as common in the U.S., where the NWSL is separate from Major League Soccer (MLS), the men’s professional league.

“We can take everything that’s good with the men’s part and try to do the same with the girls,” Bompastor said of Lyon.

The relationship between the clubs only gets stronger as they take advantage of loan and training opportunities. OL Reign’s Bethany Balcer and Sofia Huerta trained with Lyon in 2020, and Rapinoe played for Lyon in 2013 and ’14 before the partnership was even established.

Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce said acquiring Le Sommer, Marozsán and Boudhaddi on loan last season was “that little spark” the Reign needed to get into playoffs.

“I think that’s the interesting thing that you have now with this collaboration between the two teams, is that you could just keep increasing your forces with each side and flipping back and forth,” Tullis-Joyce said.

Fishlock and Le Sommer said the loans helped them learn new styles of soccer and broaden their skill sets.

“Also a different level of understanding your teammates, because Lyon works like a machine,” Fishlock said. “They’re just like a cog, and they really helped me have more awareness of how can I help my teammates.”

“It was really different than my time in Lyon,” Le Sommer said of playing for the Reign and the physicality of American soccer. “But it was something also, to me, to be more open and to see another [style of] football and another way to play and how you can also win in another way of thinking … It was amazing for me.”

The unity the Reign and OL are forging between American and European football also helps grow women’s soccer as a whole, even as the media and fans continue to debate which league is better.

“There are different ways to play, different ways to understand football,” said Le Sommer.

“The only thing that matters at the end of the day is, are you affected and do you win at what you do? That’s the most important thing,” Fishlock said. “I think that’s why it’s really good to have to keep this kind of relationship because it will kind of solidify the actual approach and allow us to be in the same space at the same time, which is what women’s football should be able to do and take up space.”

They’re also pushing each other to take up space off the field, using their platforms to fight for environmental sustainability. Tullis-Joyce and Camille Abily teamed up for a video last week. on that exact subject.

Last year, Lyon named an organization they’ve been working with for over a decade, Veolia, their official “environmental partner.” The sides meet every month to discuss environmental issues around the club and drive initiatives like using reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. Signing MG as their transportation partner last year, Lyon has also started using electric cars and installing charging stations at their training facility.

On the other side of the ocean, the Reign are striving to become one of the most sustainable clubs in America. With Barnes leading the way, they’re giving careful consideration to the everyday products they use, the merchandise they sell and the food they eat.

The Reign’s commitment to the environment made the decision to join the club a no-brainer for Tullis-Joyce, who scuba dives in her spare time.

“I just thought it was absolutely incredible, how forward this team was in their thinking of respecting the environment,” she said. “I wanted to be all about that. And now I’m kind of trying to wiggle my way into being like a little ocean girl. We’re saving the planet, and then I’ll just be like, ‘And the ocean, too.’”

While both teams are focused on the present and the future, the partnership doesn’t come without some nostalgia for the club that used to be: Seattle Reign. In 2019, the team relocated to Tacoma and was rebranded as Reign FC. In 2020, they changed their name to OL Reign.

“It was tough,” Fishlock said of the rebrand. “But it was something that we needed to do for our club.”

She fondly remembers the old footage and the crest on the jersey that the team and fans were so fond of.

“I don’t think we’ll ever forget about Seattle Reign and the badge and the history, and I don’t think you can because we had such a good history,” Fishlock said. “But obviously, we want to bring that kind of side of who we are into our new kind of brand, which I think is super important because you cannot forget our history.”

Harvey coached the Reign from 2013-17 before returning to the team in 2021. While she appreciates the club’s Seattle origins, she knows the rebrand hasn’t changed their identity. They’ve continued to foster the same competitive, empowering, sustainable and inclusive environment, just like their European sister club.

“What comes with OL,” Harvey said, “has elevated who the Reign wanted to be.”

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

Nike Spotlights Global Women’s Soccer Stars in New United Pack Cleats

Nike United cleats pack promotional image showing headshots of women's soccer stars flanked by neon lights.
Nike tapped six international women's soccer stars for their latest cleats. (Nike Football)

Nike put global women's soccer stars in the spotlight last week, debuting their new Nike United Pack cleats collection.

For the first time ever, the apparel giant is bringing together six athletes to launch a series of performance cleats. The subsequent United Pack was developed collaboration with some of the sport's biggest international names.

The United Pack hit shelves last week with three styles of boots: Tiempo, Mercurial, and Phantom. Each boot is paired with two top international footballers, whose names are emblazoned on the heels of their cleats.

Of course, the United Pack collection is one part of a larger Nike initiative. In recent weeks, the brand has bet big on women's sports via everything from Super Bowl ads to signature shoes.

Three nike united pack women's soccer cleats hover against a purple background.
The purple and Volt United Pack lineup pairs players with updated Nike mainstays. (Nike Football)

Spain and USWNT get top Nike United Pack billing

Spain midfielder Patricia Guijarro and USWNT center back Naomi Girma are backing the Tiempos, while forwards Lauren James of England and Spain's 2023 World Cup champion Salma Paralluelo feature on the Mercurials. The Phantoms showcase USWNT attacker Sophia Wilson (née Smith) and her Portland Thorns teammate, Venezuela's Deyna Castellanos,.

The collection honors all six players by emblazoning their names onto the cleat's sock liner.

A purple and Volt colorway also links the line. As does the upper surface, which is designed to look like shattered glass in a nod to the "new generation of athletes breaking through to the next era in football."

"What I like the most about this boot is that it was created with six different players who come from different backgrounds and play for different teams, but we all came together to create something special that we can share with the world," said Wilson in a Nike's press release.

"Being a part of this boom and just making people respect women's sports is exciting," added Girma. "It's going to be even better for the next generation."

Where to buy Nike United Pack cleats

Fans can now purchase the Nike United Pack cleats online and at select retail locations.

NCAA Softball Shows Growing Parity as Clearwater Invitational Kicks Off

Oklahoma State's Tallen Edwards scoops a grounder at the 2024 Women's College World Series.
No. 10 Oklahoma State stumbled twice in their 2025 NCAA softball opening weekend. (BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN/USA TODAY NETWORK)

The 2025 NCAA softball season is off to the races, with early season stumbles from perennial powerhouses illustrating the sport's growing parity.

No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Texas Tech, and No. 10 Oklahoma State all suffered weekend upsets. Tennessee fell 7-1 to No. 17 Nebraska while Texas Tech lost 3-1 to No. 19 Mississippi State in extra innings.

The Cowgirls, subsequently, turned heads during last weekend's Puerto Vallarta College Challenge.

After claiming a 9-6 victory over No. 9 Florida State on Thursday, Oklahoma State then stranded nine baserunners en route to a 6-1 loss to unranked Louisiana Tech on Friday.

After righting the ship with a mercy-rule blowout against Northern Colorado on Friday, the Cowgirls' bats fell short in a run-rule loss to the Seminoles on Saturday.

The 2-2 season start cost Oklahoma State six spots in the rankings, sending them sliding from their preseason No. 4 position.

Florida State catcher Michaela Edenfield looks up before the 2023 NCAA softball championship series.
Florida State will join other top NCAA softball teams at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational. (Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Top NCAA softball teams take aim at Clearwater's competition

The Cowgirls will have to get right back in the saddle. Oklahoma State will now join six other Top 25 programs in Florida for Thursday's Clearwater Invitational.

No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Texas A&M plus the Cowgirls and Seminoles lead the 16-team lineup. The SEC's No. 12 Alabama, No. 16 Missouri, and No. 24 Kentucky will also compete.

The annual event often serves as a postseason preview. This year's field includes three of last year's Women's College World Series contenders, with 14 represented in the 2024 NCAA tournament.

UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley winds up during a 2024 NCAA softball game.
No. 4 UCLA and No. 10 Oklahoma State will kick off the Top-10 tilts at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)

How to watch NCAA softball at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational

All 40 games at the 2025 Clearwater Invitational will stream live across ESPN platforms. This includes 19 nationally televised matchups.

Clearwater runs Thursday through Sunday, with Oklahoma State kicking off the Top 10 action against UCLA at 3 PM ET on Friday. Live coverage of the Cowgirls vs. the Bruins will air on ESPN2.

Unrivaled Sets 1v1 Semifinals After Two Rounds of Head-to-Head Action

Mist BC's Aaliyah Edwards looks on during an Unrivaled 3x3 basketball game.
Aaliyah Edwards advanced to Unrivaled's 1v1 semifinals on Tuesday. (Rich Storry/Getty Images)

Unrivaled Basketball's 1v1 tournament blew through two rounds of cutthroat action on Tuesday night, setting up fierce competition for Friday's semifinals.

Mist forward Aaliyah Edwards, Rose forward Azurá Stevens, Lunar Owls forward Napheesa Collier, and Vinyl guard Arike Ogunbowale all advanced past their head-to-head opponents.

Each of the four semifinalists will take home at least $25,000, with $50,000 on deck for the tournament's runner-up and $200,000 awaiting the champion.

Additionally, with one player from four of Unrivaled's six teams still standing, two-thirds of the offseason league are still in the running for a piece of the $350,000 purse. The rules dictate that each 3×3 teammate of the champion will receive their own $10,000 check.

Edwards's star 1v1 turn propels her through Unrivaled quarterfinals

In what's shaking out to be the contest's top storyline, No. 8 seed Edwards shut out No. 1 seed Breanna Stewart 12-0 in the first round to earn a second-round bye. She then went on to take down a surging No. 3 seed Allisha Gray to secure a slot in the semis.

"Shouldn't be surprised," the 22-year-old Mystics star said after downing Gray 12-6. "Played my first year in the league, now I'm tapping into myself, and the confidence is showing and the work is showing."

Elsewhere, height and offensive versatility proved a winning formula for both No. 6 seed Stevens and No. 1 seed Collier, while No. 1 seed Ogunbowale is the last guard still standing.

All three ousted WNBA teammates to advance, with Ogunbowale sending her former Dallas Wings compatriot Satou Sabally out 12-8 while Collier handed fellow Lunar Owl and Minnesota Lynx contender Courtney Williams a 12-4 defeat. Stevens dominated her LA Sparks teammate Rae Burrell, sending her packing with a 12-2 victory.

How to watch Friday's Unrivaled 1v1 semifinals

Notably, Friday's semifinals will be heavy on UConn grads, with Notre Dame alum Ogunbowale the lone non-Husky hitting the court.

Ogunbowale will try to halt Edwards's run, while Collier and Stevens — who played together on two of UConn's Final Four rosters — will go head-to-head in the other semifinal.

Unrivaled's 1v1 semifinals and subsequent best-of-three championship series will tip off on Friday at 7:30 PM ET, with live coverage on TNT.

WNBA Considers Former Franchise Cities as Expansion Team Bids Mount

Charlotte Sting guard Dawn Staley directs a play during a 2002 WNBA game.
A bid to revive the Charlotte Sting has been submitted to the WNBA. (Garrett Ellwood/WNBAE/Getty Images)

The WNBA faces no shortage of cities interested in securing the league's 16th team. But some recent expansion bids are tapping into old memories and new promises as historic markets aim to get back into the game.

According to reports, the owners behind NBA side Charlotte Hornets are part of a group trying to bring back a team to the home city of the Charlotte Sting. The Sting were one of the original WNBA franchises, helping launch the league in 1997 before eventually folding in 2007.

The bid to return professional women's basketball to North Carolina is led by CardWorks SVP Erica Berman. The Berman family are already investors in Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 basketball league that's currently stacked with WNBA stars.

Charlotte is far from the only vintage WNBA market hunting a return. The former hometowns of the Detroit Shock (1998-2009), Houston Comets (1997-2008), and Cleveland Rockers (1997-2003) have also entered the expansion ring, after all formally submitted bids to the league.

There's also new evidence that the WNBA is looking to revive some of the historic teams. Within days of the league's January 30th bid deadline, the WNBA filed trademark applications for the Sting, Shock, Rockers, Comets, and Miami Sol should any of those cities secure the newest franchise.

The Houston Comets' Roneeka Hodges, Sheryl Swoopes, and Dawn Staley discuss a play during a 2006 WNBA game.
Retro WNBA teams like the four-time champion Houston Comets could return to the league. (Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rookie expansion teams join historic WNBA heavyweights

Though some cities have history on their side, competition is fierce when it comes to WNBA expansion. The league has seen an explosion of interest from numerous ownership groups all vying to receive a franchise nod.

In addition to the throwback cities, new markets in Austin, Denver, Kansas City, Nashville, and Philadelphia have also expressed a desire to join the league.

The WNBA is currently on track for 16 total teams by 2028, with Golden State, Toronto, and Portland already claiming the 13th, 14th, and 15th franchises, respectively.

With just one slot still up for grabs, leadership faces tough decisions as the league must turn down — or, at least, table — multiple bids as it considers a healthy growth rate.

However, for many ownership groups, building a WNBA team is more a matter of when, not if.

When asked about the Shock's potential return during a recent Detroit Pistons game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver cut to the chase.

"I actually think it’s really just a question of when the Shock comes back.," he said. "Over time, there’s going to be a lot of expansion in the WNBA." 

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.