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The constant in Sam Coffey’s breakout year with Thorns, USWNT

Sam Coffey is a Rookie of the Year candidate for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns. (Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Sam Coffey was sitting in front of a blank, white wall in the little house she had moved into in Portland last month after leaving the Thorns’ team housing. She was reflecting back on January, when she had no idea what to expect for her rookie NWSL season with the club.

The 2021 No. 12 overall draft pick admits that if she had been told at the beginning of 2022 that the next 11 months would go the way they did — including an NWSL championship, a league Best XI honor, her first cap with the U.S. women’s national team and a Concacaf W title that secured the USWNT’s spot in the 2023 World Cup — she would have laughed.

Coffey had arguably the most exciting year of any professional soccer player in the United States. One of the biggest reasons for that is a picture that hangs on her mirror.

Hardly anything is organized yet in her new house, she says, besides a photo of a young, grinning Sam with shin pads that were as big as her love was for soccer. A small kid from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., Coffey used to spend her spare time practicing volleys in school yards or going down to her basement to work on first touches.

Nowadays, Coffey peeks at that picture before she heads off to practices and games.

“Looking at that photo of myself, I’m like, you’re the same kid,” she says. “You have the same love for it, you have the same joy for it. Don’t lose that … I think a lot of people lose that love as they go higher and higher in levels of soccer with more pressure.

“I can’t ever let that become a reason that I don’t love it or don’t do it every day.”

Before arriving at Thorns preseason in February, Coffey made a commitment that she would bring a fun spirit and the best of herself to training every day, taking in each moment as an exciting adventure. The way she’s preserved her joy for the game is what her father, Wayne Coffey, says he and Sam’s mother are most grateful for.

“It’s so easy to lose that, and she never has,” he says. “She loves the game more today at age 23 than she did when she was in first grade.”

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Coffey earned her first four caps with the USWNT in 2022 and impressed coach Vlatko Andonovski. (Erin Chang/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

Besides her personal goal, Coffey went into the first preseason of her pro career with no expectations. The former Boston College and Penn State midfielder was joining one of the best women’s soccer teams in the world and wasn’t anticipating much playing time at all. The club was stacked with legends, like World Cup champions Becky Sauerbrunn, Meghan Klingenberg and Crystal Dunn, and Olympic gold medalist Christine Sinclair.

True to her word, Coffey kept showing up, soaking up every little bit of knowledge and applying it to her game. The team captain noticed. After one of the Thorns’ preseason scrimmages, Sinclair, the world’s all-time leading goal scorer, walked up to Coffey and told her, “You’re f–king good.”

At the time, Coffey wasn’t even playing a position she was comfortable with. Right after Coffey’s fifth college season ended with the Nittany Lions, one in which she thrived as an attacking midfielder, then-Thorns head coach Rhian Wilkinson called her to tell her she was going to play at the six or the eight in the NWSL.

Coffey had stepped in at the six before, when a college teammate was injured, but she preferred to be in a position where she could create and attack opposing defenses. Defensive midfield felt like dirty work.

She wasn’t about to express that to her first pro coach, though. In fact, she didn’t hesitate at all. Whatever the team needed, she was ready to embrace. Coffey would have inflated balls and set up cones if that’s what they’d asked her to do.

It was the same when she was asked to play defensive midfield at Penn State. She went into her coach’s office with a notepad, seeking game film that would help her prepare. She knows every teammate and coach in her path has something to offer, and so she wants to learn it.

Penn State coach Erica Dambach instills that growth mindset into her players, and especially those who have the potential to continue their soccer careers beyond college.

“Those players that come in wanting to learn, wanting to get better, knowing that you never stop learning — you just saw them continue to grow and invest in themselves and build their own house,” she says.

Watching those game clips, Coffey found ways to have fun even when she messed up. She’d notice a mistake, laugh at herself and say, “What am I doing? Why am I doing that?” But she could also acknowledge when she did something well.

Coffey’s passion for learning has carried into her pro career, where she adjusted to the quick pace of the NWSL and started to make plays in two touches instead of trying to dribble around her opponents, just as her college coaches had warned her.

By the second month of her first NWSL regular season, Coffey’s contributions at the six earned her the league’s June Rookie of the Month honor. That same month, she received her first call-up to the USWNT, where she also played as a defensive midfielder.

It was shocking to her when she realized how much she had grown to love the position. She didn’t know if it was because she was getting more acclimated to it or because she enjoyed a new challenge. All Coffey knew was that she was fully coming into her own as a player. Wilkinson said all season that she wanted Coffey to get a doctorate in the six, and Coffey fully embraced the challenge. (Wilkinson resigned as Thorns coach on Dec. 2 following an investigation into personal communications with a player.)

“I felt like I could help be the quarterback of the team,” Coffey says. “I could help instill rhythm into the team. I could slow the game down if that’s what we needed. I could speed it up if that’s what we needed.”

By the end of the year, she had four caps with the national team and was an NWSL Rookie of the Year finalist, averaging an 82.4 passing success rate and 20 starts in 21 games played for the Thorns.

“It was like she was meant to play that position,” Wayne says.

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Coffey was one of three nominees for 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year. (Craig Mitchelldyer/USA TODAY Sports)

After her banner rookie year, which included a contract extension with the Thorns through 2025, the bar is much higher entering 2023. Coffey still plans to start the new year the same way she did 2022: no expectations, no complacency.

“[Last year] was wonderful,” she says, sitting in front of that blank, white wall. “But this is a new year, a new adventure. Success is earned, not given. I’m not riding the high of past successes. Those were great things and I’m so grateful for them, but they’re done now.”

Coffey’s new home is primed to be decorated and furnished, just like the rest of her soccer career. “Build your own house,” as Dambach says.

“You’d better invest in yourself,” she tells her players. “You’d better recognize that it’s way more than just playing matches if you’re going to achieve your goals.”

Coffey knows the root of success will always come from inside herself.

Outside her window is a school yard, like the ones she used to practice her volleys on at home in New York, wearing a wide grin and oversized shin pads.

“Watching these kids outside play, like I love watching little kids’ soccer games,” Coffey says, pointing to the window. “This is it, this is the reason you play. That was you. That was literally you.

“I don’t want to lose sight of the joy, I don’t want to lose sight of the fun. I don’t want to not bring the best of myself. … I want to do that fully and authentically and even better than I did last year.”

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

2025 WNBA Season Tips Off with Action-Packed Friday Lineup

The Golden State Valkyries and LA Sparks tip off a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
The Valkyries play their first-ever official league game in Friday's 2025 WNBA season tip-off. (Supriya Limaye/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA season is finally here, with Friday's official tip-off leading an opening weekend full of tough competition and simmering storylines.

The reigning champion New York Liberty enter as odds-on favorites, but results are nearly impossible to predict after a very active offseason across the league.

This weekend's slate features new builds, regional rivalries, and plenty of fresh faces as top 2025 draft picks log their first pro minutes.

  • Minnesota Lynx vs. Dallas Wings, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): This year's No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers makes her official WNBA debut as revamped Dallas tests itself against a Minnesota team still stinging over last year's title loss.
  • Los Angeles Sparks vs. Golden State Valkyries, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Valkyries play their first-ever regular-season game, looking to form an identity against downstate rivals LA, led by new Sparks addition Kelsey Plum.
  • Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty, Saturday at 1 PM ET (ABC): The 2023 champs meet the 2024 title-winners in a heavyweight clash that sees 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson take on a confident New York team led by guard Sabrina Ionescu.
  • Chicago Sky vs. Indiana Fever, Saturday at 3 PM ET (ABC): Last year's rookie headliners Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese meet again in Indiana, with the regional rivals relying on both incoming vets and young cores to write their next chapters.

Packed with great matchups, this weekend is the ideal tip-off for a 2025 season that promises to be a wild ride — no matter which WNBA team you follow.

No. 1 Kansas City Faces No. 2 Orlando in Top-Table NWSL Weekend Match

Orlando's Marta dribbles the ball past Kansas City's Nichelle Prince during the 2024 NWSL semifinals.
Orlando ousted Kansas City in the 2024 NWSL semifinals. (Dustin Markland/Getty Images)

The NWSL is back in action this weekend with a top-table match, a bicoastal battle, and some middle-of-the-pack clashes as the 2025 season enters its ninth matchday.

Parity is riding high these days, with just three points dividing the No. 1 Kansas City Current and No. 3 Washington Spirit in the NWSL standings — while only three more separate the No. 4 San Diego Wave from the No. 8 Seattle Reign.

With competition remaining tough as nails, don't expect much more daylight between teams following this weekend's tense lineup:

  • No. 7 Gotham FC vs. No. 4 San Diego Wave, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): Coming off a two-game winless streak, Gotham is still searching for consistency as they take on a confident San Diego side that hasn't lost in four games.
  • No. 9 Racing Louisville vs. No. 8 Seattle Reign, Friday at 7:30 PM ET (NWSL+): All tied up with 11 points each, Seattle will look to hold off Louisville as Racing continues to hunt the club's first-ever playoff berth.
  • No. 2 Orlando Pride vs. No. 1 Kansas City Current, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): There's little love lost between these NWSL titans, as the reigning champion Pride takes on hosting duties in an attempt to leapfrog current top-dog Kansas City in Friday's marquee match.

In a season dominated by topsy-turvy results, the pressure to secure points week-over-week weighs heaviest on the teams who know they have the talent to rise above the rest.

Esther Extends Gotham Contract Amid MVP-Quality NWSL Season

Gotham forward Esther celebrates a goal during a 2025 NWSL match.
Gotham FC's Esther currently leads the 2025 NWSL Golden Boot race. (Hannah Foslien/NWSL via Getty Images)

This season's NWSL Golden Boot leader Esther González is sticking with Gotham, with the Spanish international extending her contract with the NJ/NY club through 2027.

After helping Gotham to a first-ever NWSL championship in 2023, González earned the league's Best XI Second Team honors last year before launching a red-hot campaign this season.

The 2023 World Cup winner has tallied seven goals in nine games for Gotham in 2025, showcasing a blistering rush of form that has her sitting two goals ahead of the next Golden Boot race contender.

"Above all, it's about how I've felt during these two and a half years with Gotham FC," González said in Thursday's team announcement. "Continuing to be happy both on and off the field is really important. To keep enjoying myself and representing Gotham's colors, which I truly identify with, is something really incredible."

Gotham's continued investment underlines the 32-year-old's case for 2025 MVP candidacy, as award frontrunners start to emerge one-third of the way through the 2025 NWSL season.

González leads the NWSL in shots on target while sitting fourth in expected goals per 90 minutes, with her scoring outpacing many of her peers.

Other players crafting strong 2025 NWSL MVP resumes include Kansas City's 2024 MVP Temwa Chawinga and comeback star Debinha, Angel City wunderkind Alyssa Thompson, and Orlando sharpshooter Barbra Banda.

FA Cup Finalist Chelsea FC Heads to Wembley with Historic Treble in Sight

Chelsea defender Lucy Bronze heads the game-winning goal past Manchester United goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce in a 2025 WSL match.
Chelsea will aim for the domestic treble in Sunday's 2025 FA Cup final. (Molly Darlington - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

Following a dominant 2024/25 campaign, Chelsea FC will look to cap their historic run by completing a domestic treble on Sunday, when they'll battle Manchester United for a third season trophy in the 2025 FA Cup final.

After securing the 2024/25 League Cup in March amidst an unbeaten run to a sixth-straight WSL title, the Blues will close out their season against the league's third-place finishers, the Red Devils, in London's iconic Wembley Stadium.

Should Chelsea secure the 2025 FA Cup, they will add a second domestic treble to their resume after clinching their first trio of trophies in the 2020/21 season. This time, however, they could do so in undefeated fashion.

"We are in a really good place, just the fact that we won the league being unbeaten," said first-year Blues manager Sonia Bompastor. "To end the season with an FA Cup final at Wembley against Man United is maybe the perfect way to end the season."

The 2023/24 Manchester United team and staff celebrate their first-ever FA Cup championship.
Manchester United seeks to defend their 2024 FA Cup title. (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Manchester United hunts second straight FA Cup trophy

Standing between Chelsea and the treble are 2024 FA Cup champions Manchester United, who will take aim at their only trophy of the season partly behind the play of 2024/25 WSL Golden Glove winner and USWNT goalkeeper prospect Phallon Tullis-Joyce.

Man United enter as the game's undisputed underdogs, having dropped both their WSL regular-season matches against Chelsea in narrow 1-0 defeats.

Even more, the Red Devils must overcome a particular tough stretch of play, facing more than a month without a victory on their schedule.

Man United's last win was their 2-0 FA Cup semifinal victory over Manchester City on April 13th, with the Red Devils suffering a pair of losses and recording two draws to close out WSL play.

That said, United has experience downing the Blues on the FA Cup stage, ousting Chelsea from last year's semifinals en route to a club-first FA title.

Remarking that Manchester United "are a really strong team," Bompastor pointed out that the Red Devils "don't concede a lot of goals, and we need to remember that."

"You only get the trophy if you win, so we need to make sure going into the game we have the best preparation and we perform on the day."

How to watch Chelsea play Manchester United at the FA Cup final

The 2025 FA Cup final between Chelsea FC and Manchester United will kick off at 8:30 AM ET on Sunday.

Live coverage of the match will begin at 8:20 AM ET on ESPN+.

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