The NWSL is no stranger to rivalries. And the one between the Portland Thorns and OL Reign rules them all.

Sure, the bad blood between the Southern California expansion clubs has all the makings of a classic. But Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave don’t have the history of the Thorns and the Reign, two franchises that date back to the start of the league.

One of the drivers of the Cascadia rivalry is Portland captain Christine Sinclair, who punctuated the Thorns’ championship celebration last November with a hearty: “F–k Seattle!”

“I would definitely say my hatred for Seattle started with Christine Sinclair,” Emily Menges told Goal in June. “She, more than anybody, did a good job of just kind of spreading that to the players who would come to the team and everybody who has come since. That’s kind of how I first realized that I should be hating Seattle.”

The Thorns have won three NWSL titles, while the Reign have yet to get over the hump, which adds another layer to the animosity between the clubs. Even as OL Reign veteran Megan Rapinoe enters her final regular-season match against the Portland Thorns at 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Portland players know the best way to honor her legacy.

“I think the greatest compliment that I, and we, could give her as the Thorns is to kick her ass when she comes to Providence Park,” Thorns defender Meghan Klingenberg said.

Make no mistake, the feeling is mutual. OL Reign head coach Laura Harvey told Goal – without prompting – that they “hate Portland.” At the end of last season, while celebrating the 2022 Shield with fans, Harvey went to her team’s supporters’ section, grabbed the mic and chanted to the tune of “When the Saints Go Marching In”: “We won the shield, we won the league, we won the league at Lumen Field, we won the league and smashed f—ing Portland!”

Meanwhile, Rapinoe is constantly needling the Portland crowd.

“Obviously the Thorns fans need no introduction — they’re incredible,” Rapinoe said after beating Portland in May 2021. “They have one big problem, though. They love me, so it’s really difficult for them to cheer against me. So when I scored, I had to go right over and talk my s—.”

The rivalry even predates the NWSL, tracing its beginnings to the established Cascadia rivalry between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer. So from the very first season, the teams treated each meeting as a grudge match.

“In the first year, it was fun. You kind of could feel it,” said Jess Fishlock, who has spent every NWSL season with OL Reign. “The games are just electric. They are so intense. It’s just a different level of game, you know?”

Since 2013, the two teams have played 37 times across the last 11 years. OL Reign holds the edge in the head-to-head battle, with 15 wins compared to 13 for Portland. Nine of the matches were draws.

Each team has a win against the other this year, with Portland winning 2-0 on June 3, then falling 1-0 on June 28. The most recent meeting, though, ended in a 0-0 draw on Aug. 6. The latter two games were part of the 2023 Challenge Cup.

The most recent regular-season rivalry game took place in Seattle. The 2-0 victory for the Thorns marked their first road win in the series since 2017.

“Every time we play them it’s a battle,” Menges said after that game. “The messaging before the game from (head coach) Mike (Norris) was, ‘Yep, come for the battle, but don’t make it a street fight, make it a boxing match.’ … I think we rose to that occasion and I think that’s what we did.”

Even without injured Thorns star Sophia Smith, who scored a goal in that game, tension and expectations will be high. Expect Rapinoe’s final regular-season match in the Cascadia rivalry to come with fireworks.

Notre Dame standout Olivia Miles will forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft, instead opting to stay in the NCAA for her final year of college eligibility. But she reportedly will not for the Fighting Irish.

Miles is set to enter the transfer portal, posted ESPN’s Shams Chariana on Monday, moving on from Notre Dame after back-to-back Sweet 16 exits.

"Notre Dame's Olivia Miles — the projected No. 2 pick in the WNBA draft this month — will forgo the draft and enter NCAA's transfer portal, sources tell ESPN," the journalist posted on X. "The 22-year-old top prospect makes unprecedented decision to use her one year remaining of college instead of the draft."

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Miles shakes up the 2025 WNBA draft

Miles will certainly have her choice of top-ranked NCAA programs. But the projected No. 2 draft pick’s decision also has major implications on both the 2025 WNBA Draft and the 2026 draft lottery.

The junior started all 34 games this season for Notre Dame. She averaged a career-high 15.4 points per game while maintaining 48.3% effectiveness from the field.

"I love college. I think I've outgrown it a little bit, though, so that makes my decision tougher to stay. It's comfortable, a place where you have security," the star guard told ESPN after Saturday's loss.

With UConn’s Paige Bueckers sitting comfortably at No. 1, expected Top 5 pro recruits USC’s Kiki Iriafen, South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao, and fellow Irish Sonia Citron could all see a rankings boost.

As South Carolina women's basketball returns to the Final Four, the 2024 NCAA champions’ March Madness journey hasn’t exactly mirrored last year’s dominance. But their resilience has kept them very much in contention.

The Gamecocks bounced back from third-quarter deficits in their last two tournament games, relying on tight defense and smart positional rotations to wear opponents down.

“It is that type of year, that for us, there’s not any blowouts,” head coach Dawn Staley said after her team’s Elite Eight win over Duke. “We have to grind for every single win that we can get.”

South Carolina taps into depth after WNBA departures

After losing center Kamilla Cardoso to the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Gamecocks harnessed their depth, relying on strict minute restrictions to disrupt game flow and launch second-half runs.

Sophomore standout MiLaysia Fulwiley has popped off the bench, complementing leading scorer Joyce Edwards and inside show-runner Chloe Kitts.

One of the team’s key veteran leaders, senior Te-Hina PaoPao has been a grounding force as the only player averaging 25+ minutes per game.

Defense is key to Gamecocks victory

For the Gamecocks to become back-to-back champs, they’ll have to lean hard on their time-honored calling card: defense.

"Look, I mean, at this point it's not going to look pretty. Okay? It's not," Staley said after South Carolina narrowly escaped Sweet 16 opponent Duke. "There are stretches in each game that is not going to look pretty… Some of it's not going to look as smoothly as us coaches and players envision or how you practice, but you certainly have to get down and play the kind of game that's presented in front of you, and we'll do that."

“If we’re not scoring a whole lot of points, then we gotta up our defense,” she continued. “If we’re scoring a lot of points, we gotta up our defense.”

The USWNT announced their final match of the summer’s three-game international window yesterday, with the team set to take on northern neighbors Canada in Washington, DC on July 2nd.

The friendly rounds out a bill that also includes two previously announced clashes with the Republic of Ireland scheduled for June 26th (Commerce City, Colorado) and 29th (Cincinnati, Ohio).

Canada coach Casey Stoney has an edge on the US

With much of Europe focused on the 2025 Euros, July’s bout with Canada will mark the North American nations’ 67th meet-up — but the first under Canada’s new boss.

Coach Casey Stoney arrived in Canada after parting ways with the San Diego Wave last June, her two years of NWSL experience providing extra familiarity with many USWNT stars.

Stoney previously led WSL side Manchester United for four seasons, giving her further insight into current USWNT manager — and ex-Chelsea head coach — Emma Hayes’s style.

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USWNT faces Brazil without injured defender Tierna Davidson

Yesterday, the US posted a major roster change ahead of this month’s friendlies against Brazil, with Gotham center-back Tierna Davidson officially sidelined due to a knee injury suffered last weekend.

Davidson will be replaced by 19-year-old Angel City defender Gisele Thompson, who earned her first two senior caps during February’s SheBelieves Cup.

While Hayes’s USWNT is all about fierce competition and roster experimentation, mounting injuries could force the team into thinner lineups than expected — and up the competition across the board.

No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed UConn punched their tickets to Tampa last night, joining No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four after two tight matchups closed out the NCAA tournament’s fourth round.

Texas got the best of in-state foe TCU 58-47, behind a game-high 18-point performance from SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.

UConn then handled USC 78-64, holding off the JuJu Watkins-less Trojans as superstar guard Paige Bueckers followed up her career-high 40-point Sweet 16 performance by dropping 31 points on the night.

"We're just so grateful, but we know like the journey isn't done," Bueckers said after the game. "We want our story to continue as long as possible, and we have business to finish."

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Texas books first Final Four appearance since 2003

After four Elite Eight appearances in five years, the Longhorns finally punched their ticket to the Final Four — their first time back since 2003 — behind a tenacious defense that forced 21 TCU turnovers.

“Anybody that watched that game today, when they turned the TV off, they had to go, ‘Wow, that freaking team plays their ass off,’” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after the game.

"I'm having fun with it now," Booker told reporters. "March Madness — you’re supposed to have fun."

"I’m so proud of myself and proud of my team to get to this moment," Harmon said after registering 13 points against TCU.

"Rori Harmon is still that girl," echoed Booker.

Bueckers leads UConn to the NCAA Final Four

The Huskies are headed to their fourth Final Four in the last five years. They advanced on a balanced scoring strategy that saw three different players put double-digit points on the board.

In addition to Bueckers’s 30-piece, freshman phenom Sarah Strong ran the frontcourt. Strong paired 22 points with 17 rebounds and four assists for her fifth postseason double-double. Additionally, Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen bolstered the backcourt with 15 points of her own.

"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."

All four remaining teams have the potential to win a national championship. Now it’s a matter of who can deliver when the going gets tough.