When the OL Reign clinched the top seed for the 2022 Challenge Cup playoffs, their “reward” wasn’t enviable by any standards. After opening their regular season against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, the Reign will play three games in one week without home-field advantage.

Three days after the Spirit defeated the Reign 2-1, the teams meet again Wednesday night in the Challenge Cup semifinals in Washington, D.C. Both sides will also take the field again this weekend, either in the Challenge Cup final or their second regular season game. Whichever team makes the championship game on Saturday will need to reschedule its regular season match. The Reign are currently slated to play Racing Louisville FC at home, and the Spirit are supposed to visit the Chicago Red Stars.

Based on the current format, the scheduling conflicts and travel adventures are inevitable for the teams that advance to the Challenge Cup knockout stage.

“The crossover is something a lot of us were feeling is unfair, and we’re just wondering why anyone thought this was a great idea,” Reign attacker Ally Watt told Just Women’s Sports on Friday. “[Louisville’s] like, ‘OK, so are we coming this weekend, or are you guys busy?’ Why is this a conversation we have to run into? It’s just really bad. We’ll take it game by game, but it just sucks to be put in that position.”

Maybe! 🤷‍♀️

If OL Reign wins its midweek Challenge Cup semifinal, Sunday’s game will be rescheduled to a later date. Stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/fGPL0UeQp0

— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) May 2, 2022

While the Challenge Cup gives teams an opportunity to test formations and try out players in different positions, each club also sets out to win the preseason tournament.

“That’s a goal we have, and we worked really hard for it and we were in a good position to possibly do it, but now we’re put in another position where we’re not in a great position to do it because we have to play all these other games,” Watt said.

The Reign will also have to get through the Spirit in front of an opposing crowd to have a chance at the Challenge Cup trophy. Lumen Field, the Reign’s home stadium, is unavailable for the game because the MLS’ Seattle Sounders are hosting the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League final on the same night.

“We worked so hard to get the No. 1 seed, and now we don’t even get to [host] it,” Watt said.

Even Audi Field, the stadium the Spirit and D.C. United share, was originally unavailable because of a scheduling conflict with the Project Play Summit, pushing the semifinal game to the 5,000-seat Segra Field. In collaboration with the Aspen Institute and the teams, the NWSL announced last week that the game would be relocated to Audi Field, which can seat 20,000, with the summit taking place in the lead-up to kickoff. NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is scheduled to speak at the event.

Now hours away from the match, the Reign have put their frustrations behind them.

“At the end of the day, I think there are so many things out of your control, and scheduling just is not in our control unfortunately,” said defender Sofia Huerta. “Everyone at one point probably has to deal with an unfortunate few games … The only thing we have on our minds is tomorrow’s game and winning the semifinals so we can bring the trophy back to Lumen.”

The Reign, who lost to the Spirit 2-1 in last year’s NWSL semifinal, will be hungry for vengeance. Despite consistently being one of the top teams in the league, they haven’t defeated Washington since 2018.

But when the Spirit are in the right mindset, they’re unbeatable. Since head coach Kris Ward took the helm on Aug. 7, Washington hasn’t lost, including in the NWSL championship last year and in Sunday’s regular season opener against the Reign.

The Reign nearly took an early lead when the Spirit conceded a penalty kick in the ninth minute. Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe then saved Rose Lavelle’s shot, kickstarting the Spirit, who scored five minutes later on their way to winning 2-1.

“It’s just a testament to the players and that mentality that they have,” said Ward. “Any situation, whether they’ve been up or down in score, up or down a player on the field, dealing with difficult decisions, whatever it is, they’ve always responded so well.”

The other semifinal will feature the North Carolina Courage and the Kansas City Current on Wednesday at Children’s Mercy Park. The Courage and Current didn’t have to deal with the same scheduling headaches, but they are also mixed up in the regular-season crossover. If the Courage advance to the final, they would have to reschedule their Saturday game against the Portland Thorns, while the Current would need to move their game Sunday against the Houston Dash.

The teams also head into the semifinal on short rest after playing their regular season openers on the West Coast. The Courage had just two full days in North Carolina between returning from their match Friday night against Angel City and leaving for Kansas City on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day it’s the situation that we earned, to be in this spot,” said Courage head coach Sean Nahas. “Whether or not I agree with how it’s scheduled, that’s not for me to debate.”

Washington and OL Reign play in the first semifinal at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday on CBS Sports Network, followed by Kansas City and North Carolina at 8:30 p.m. ET on Paramount+ and Twitch.

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

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.