The Portland Thorns have announced Karina LeBlanc as their next General Manager, after Gavin Wilkinson was placed on administrative leave in early October.

LeBlanc joins the team from her current role as Head of Women’s Football for Concacaf. With the Thorns, she will be responsible for the overall management of the soccer operations of the club. According to a release, LeBlanc will also have “an integral voice on key business decisions related to the club, helping to create, cultivate and manage the culture of Thorns FC.”

Formerly, LeBlanc served as a goalkeeper for the Thorns when they won the 2013 NWSL Championship.

“I could not be more excited to welcome Karina back to Portland,” said Thorns FC owner and CEO Merritt Paulson. “The global soccer network she has fostered during her career has perfectly positioned her to lead the Thorns, and it is hard to think of anyone with a more innate leadership ability and unique blend of skills than Karina.

“She will make an impact in the Portland community and help push the NWSL forward, as well as strengthen our influence and standard in the international game. Lastly, I am grateful to Victor Montagliani and Concacaf for fully supporting Karina in making this change.”

LeBlanc has been Head of Women’s Football for Concacaf since 2018. In her role, she was focused on developing women’s soccer throughout North America, Central America and the Caribbean Islands by increasing opportunities for women in soccer. In 2019, she launched the Women’s Football strategy.

“When I left in 2014, I felt there was unfinished business for me here. The way the community, the club and the team made me feel, was something that I would never forget. I thought I might come back as a player, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be coming back as the general manager of what is for me, the greatest club in the world. My experience as a Thorn helped shape me into the woman I am today,” said LeBlanc.

“It is hard to leave my Concacaf family. I’d like to thank Victor [Montagliani] for creating a role for myself that allowed me to learn and grow. I know women’s football will continue to be a major priority at Concacaf. I am proud of how we were able to move the game forward. I loved the work I did there, but I missed being around the game, players and the energy of Portland. This is an opportunity to do something that truly matters for a city, a club and a league that’s given me so much. To have the belief of Merritt, the players, and the staff made me realize that this was an opportunity I had to lean into.”

LeBlanc also has extensive experience as a player, having played in all three women’s professional soccer leagues in the United States. She also had an extensive career with Canada’s Women’s National Team, playing in five FIFA Women’s World Cups and two Summer Olympics, including winning a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

“It starts with the why.”@karinaleblanc details the process to her becoming the Thorns GM, and her vision on how the club and league can grow. #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/yc6X8H37rd

— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) November 1, 2021

“With Karina the sky is the limit. I’ve never met someone more passionate and set on growing the game,” said former teammate and current Thorns FC captain Christine Sinclair. “To have her back in Portland for me is a dream come true because she is going to take this club to places I don’t think people think are possible. She’s going to help this club be the benchmark for women’s football around the world and I just can’t wait to get started.”

The move comes after sources told Just Women’s Sports that players around the NWSL were upset that Wilkinson had not been fired in the wake of The Athletic’s report of allegations of abuse by former coach Paul Riley during his time with the Thorns.

Wilkinson has long served as the GM of both the Thorns and the Portland Timbers of the MLS. The Thorns have come under fire in the wake of the Riley scandal for admitting that they withheld an investigation into Riley which resulted in his contract not being extended. When Riley left the club, no mention of the investigation was made. Paulson has since apologized for the organization’s role in the scandal.

The organization has not indicated whether Wilkinson will remain General Manager of the Portland Timbers.

Portland is set to continue their season in the playoffs, hosting a semifinal game on Nov. 14.

The 2025 College Cup locked in its finalists last Friday, with the NCAA soccer tournament's overall No. 1-seed Stanford and No. 3-seed Florida State advancing past the competition in the semifinals to book an all-ACC championship match for the third straight year.

Stanford kept to their winning ways by ousting No. 2-seed Duke 1-0 on Friday, with senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey burying a 10th-minute free kick to take down the Blue Devils with her 21st goal of the season.

Florida State similarly landed a single strike to end the championship run of No. 2-seed TCU in their semifinal, benefitting from a second-half breakthrough from sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson in the game's 73rd minute.

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A full half of the last 14 NCAA titles have gone to either the Seminoles or the Cardinal, with Florida State edging Stanford 4-3 in national trophies thus far.

On Monday, the Cardinal will hunt their first national title since their epic penalty shootout victory in 2019, when Stanford narrowly defeated NCAA women's soccer dynasty North Carolina 5-4 from the spot after a 0-0 draw.

Florida State, on the other hand, won the 2023 title with a 5-1 thrashing of the Cardinal.

Stanford arguably holds the advantage over their ACC rivals entering Monday's match, having handed FSU a 2-1 defeat on their own Tallahassee pitch less than two months ago.

How to watch the 2025 College Cup final

No. 1 Stanford will face No. 3 Florida State for the 2025 NCAA women's soccer championship at 7 PM ET on Monday, airing live on ESPNU.

The NWSL may be forcing Washington Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman to "look elsewhere" for her next contract, after the league vetoed a multi-million dollar offer from her current squad last week, Rodman's agent told CBS Mornings last Friday.

"We worked really hard to put together an agreement that we felt complied with the CBA and would keep Trinity in the league for the foreseeable future," said Rodman's rep Mike Senkowski.

"With no certain way to get her fair market value within the NWSL, naturally, that forces you and encourages you to look elsewhere," he continued.

While the fight to keep Rodman Stateside is not over, with the NWSLPA filing a grievance last week arguing that the league office's mandate to reject the Spirit's back-loaded contract — worth more than $1 million per year — is a free agency violation, the NWSL appears unwilling to budge.

In a weekend clarification to The Athletic, an NWSL source noted that commissioner Jessica Berman contests that the Spirit's offer to raise Rodman's compensation in the contract's later years would pull Washington out of salary cap compliance in 2028, with the league disagreeing with the club regarding the potential cap growth under a new broadcast deal.

The league source also noted that the offer has a built-in buyout clause, which the NWSL believes signals an admission of possible salary cap circumvention.

As the Washington Spirit and NWSL fans hope for a win from the union's grievance, the door to recruit Rodman elsewhere seems to be wide open for overseas clubs — particularly those with deep pockets.

The San Diego Wave are closing out 2025 with a title, defeating Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 3-0 to lift the World Sevens Football (W7F) trophy on Sunday.

Wave attacker Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring in the 7v7 venture's championship match, before forward Adriana Leon tacked on a second-half brace to put the game out of reach — and secure the $2 million winner's share of the $5 million prize pool for the NWSL side.

"I think in sevens it's a lot more emphasis on the individual, and so I think players who maybe don't play [as much in NWSL matches]...get to show their creative side," noted Robbe. "It was definitely an element to this, which was really fun."

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In a showcase of club talent across the Americas, the San Diego Wave finished the second-ever W7F tournament undefeated, scoring 14 goals while only conceding three en route to becoming the champion of the competition's first-ever North American iteration.

"It was so fun, and honestly, I would love to be back again," said San Diego goalkeeper and the tournament's golden Glove winner DiDi Haračić. "And we got the bag."

Wave midfielder Gia Corley took home the Breakout Player award, and while Tigres fell just short of the trophy, forward María Sánchez earned the competition's Golden Ball and Golden Boot with her six goals and two assists.

Club América of Liga MX Femenil earned a third-place finish, winning $700,000 in prize money as the bronze medal winners.

Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.

The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.

"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."

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Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.

Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.

"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic,"  said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.

How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week

Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.

The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.