Sophia Smith makes her return to the U.S. women’s national team this week for the first time since 2022, but you wouldn’t have any sense she’s taken time off. After using the NWSL offseason to rehab a lingering foot injury, Smith has begun the 2023 NWSL season on fire, scoring and assisting on a goal in the Thorns’ opening match against the Orlando Pride, before registering her first career hat trick against the Kansas City Current the following weekend.

Winning has always come somewhat easily to the young star. Smith finished 2022 with 11 goals for the U.S. and 15 for the Portland Thorns, making a late challenge for the NWSL Golden Boot race while winning the NWSL MVP award and leading the Thorns to their third NWSL championship. Her finishing has long been clinical, but what has begun to shift for the 22-year-old is her transcendent ability to execute and take over games in the biggest moments.

In Saturday’s 2022 championship rematch, the most-watched NWSL regular-season game ever on CBS, the Thorns pulled out a 4-1 win. But in the second half, the Current made a run at an equalizer after getting a goal back and pulling closer at 2-1.

Smith put an end to the comeback herself, with a dribbling sequence that all but walked the ball into the back of the net.

Sophia Smith took on everyone for this goal 🔥

She later scored again to secure her first career NWSL hat trick. pic.twitter.com/k52Ga3kz33

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) April 2, 2023

She then capped off the match with a golazo from distance, after the Kansas City defense unwisely left the striker with space and time at the top of the box.

SOPHIA SMITH HAS HER HAT-TRICK. 🎩🎩🎩

That's now four goals in her first two @NWSL matches in 2023. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6UJ3YSOg7W

— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) April 1, 2023

“I love coming and playing in a stadium where the crowd is against you,” Smith said after the game. “I think it gives the team a little bit of edge, a little bit of energy, and we just kind of use that to our advantage. So, it’s pretty fun to put away a few goals and hear silence.”

Smith is a low-key presence off the field, but on the field that “edge” is palpable. The league MVP has seemed to crave moments like her game-winning goal in the fourth minute of the 2022 NWSL final, when her shrugging celebration became immortalized in league iconography.

Against the Current again on Saturday, Smith gestured a shushing motion to the crowd after her first goal, a well-slotted penalty to put the Thorns up 2-0 in front of over 11,000 fans. She now has four goals and one assist in two league matches, setting the tone for a World Cup year in which she wants to take on even bigger challenges.

“I don’t know if I would refer to it as a villain era, I’m like a very sweet, happy person,” she told reporters with a smile from USWNT camp this week. “I think on the field, yeah, I don’t play games. I don’t step on a field to do anything but win, and I take a lot of pride in that.

“So, I guess this era is just winning, and doing everything I can to do that and to help my team,” she continued.

The larger sports conversation in recent weeks has been centered on the idea of athletes in women’s sports expressing their emotions on the field or the court in a way that is all too common on the men’s side. As the profile of women’s sports rises as a whole, fans are forced to confront their own biases about the passion athletes show while in the thick of competition.

Smith welcomes the ongoing shift in perspective.

“I think there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of banter between teams, and a little bit of talk here and there,” she said. “It’s never disrespectful, but it can add a little bit of fun and entertainment to the game. And I I love to put on a show, I love to try crazy things when I’m playing. I feel confident enough to do those things.”

Smith’s renewed intensity and creativity is good news for the USWNT, who will play their last two friendlies this week before final roster decisions are made for the 2023 World Cup in July. Paired on the wings with the equally-focused Mallory Swanson, Smith presents problems that opposing defenses are finding increasingly difficult to solve.

She’s also fully recovered from a grueling 2022 campaign. Staying patient in the offseason and missing the 2023 SheBelieves Cup, which the USWNT won in late February, proved critical to her physical and mental health.

“I think during that time, I learned a lot about myself,” she said. “I learned how to be patient if I put things in perspective and realized how big a year this was. So, it was important for me to take the time I needed to get healthy and to address all the things that I didn’t have time to address last year.”

A fully healthy Sophia Smith running at both NWSL and international backlines is a scary thought for her opposition, but an exciting one for fans. And now is the right time for her to begin to move into peak form.

“Especially in a World Cup year, you put things in perspective that come this summer, that’s when you need to peak, that’s when you need to be healthy. That’s when you need to be as fit as you possibly can be,” she said.

After this international break, Smith will have until the middle of June to make her mark on the NWSL before heading to New Zealand for her first major international tournament. That she’s already approaching the year like a pro is a promising sign for both of her teams’ chances.

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Two key upsets headlined Thursday's WNBA bill, sending the Phoenix Mercury soaring into third place in the league standings while the No. 6 Golden State Valkyries continued to outwit opponents.

The red-hot Mercury snagged their fourth straight win by taking down the No. 2 New York Liberty 89-81 on Thursday night, overcoming an 35-point performance from two-time MVP Breanna Stewart with five double-digit Phoenix scorers.

Meanwhile out West, the Valkyries stifled a surging No. 7 Fever, downing Indiana 88-77 in part by holding star guard Caitlin Clark to just 3-for-14 from the field — and 0-for-7 from behind the arc.

"We were being disruptive, we know that she doesn't like physicality, we know that she wants to get to that left step-back," Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase said about the Valkyries' strategy to effectively contain Clark.

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Though the No. 1 Minnesota Lynx and 2024 WNBA champions New York still hold court atop the table, Thursday's actions proves that other squads are making some unexpected in-roads.

Putting together an impressive road record are the Mercury, who will ride a 4-2 away record into their Saturday matchup against the No. 11 Chicago Sky — the last stop on a four-game road trip that's been perfect for Phoenix thus far.

Already flipping the script on expectations is Golden State, with the 2025 expansion team rising despite relying on a hodgepodge roster as several players compete at EuroBasket 2025. The Valkyries will aim to keep their winning momentum in their Sunday clash with the No. 12 Connecticut Sun.

How to watch the Mercury, Valkyries this weekend

Both of Thursday's victors will be back in action this weekend, with Phoenix facing Chicago at 1 PM ET on Saturday, airing live on ABC.

Then on Sunday, Golden State will host Connecticut at 8:30 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

In another weekend full of WNBA action, all eyes are on Las Vegas, as the No. 8 Aces will try to curb a two-game losing streak against two formidable opponents.

A successful weekend for Las Vegas could hinge on three-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson's potential return from injury, with the star forward recently upgraded to "questionable" after landing in concussion protocol last week.

Overall, the margin for error has narrowed in the middle of the WNBA pack, as talented teams continue to translate quality performances into consistency.

• No. 5 Seattle Storm vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Friday at 10 PM ET (ION): The Aces will try to end their free fall in Friday's head-to-head battle with a Seattle side that can beat anybody at their best.

• No. 7 Indiana Fever vs. No. 8 Las Vegas Aces, Sunday at 3 PM ET (ESPN): Las Vegas next faces a Fever team still smarting from Thursday's away loss to the Golden State Valkyries, with both teams narrowly clinging to positions above the playoff line.

• No. 2 New York Liberty vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, Sunday at 7 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Liberty have a comfortable hold on second place, but with two losses in their last three games, New York is flirting with danger entering their Sunday game with Seattle — particularly if star big Jonquel Jones is out after suffering a knock to the ankle on Thursday.

Ultimately, there's no rest for the weary in the WNBA, as a series of difficult matchups can see a single error quickly slide into a losing streak.

The final NWSL weekend heading into the league's six-week summer break has arrived, giving teams one more chance to prove themselves before regular-season play pauses to make way for major international tournaments.

With a five-point gap separating No. 1 Kansas City from No. 2 Orlando in the NWSL standings, the Current will enter the break as the 2025 Shield frontrunners regardless of this weekend's results.

Despite Kansas City's grip atop the table, there's still plenty of room for movement both above and below the postseason cutoff line, as clubs across the NWSL look to wrap their midseason finales on a high note:

• No. 1 Kansas City Current vs. No. 10 Angel City FC, Friday at 8 PM ET (Prime): Angel City has a shot at launching themselves above the cutoff line on Friday, but they'll have to snap the Current's five-game winning streak to make it happen.

• No. 8 Gotham FC vs. No. 9 Bay FC, Saturday at 7:30 PM ET (ION): Gotham and Bay FC enter the weekend tied on points while staring at each other from on opposite sides of the playoff line — meaning a Saturday win for either club could set the tone for the rest of the 2025 season.

• No. 3 San Diego Wave FC vs. No. 4 Washington Spirit, Sunday at 10 PM ET (CBS Sports): The weekend's only top-table clash could see San Diego sprint back into second place — unless Washington leapfrogs the upstart Wave to claim the third-place spot.

The LPGA Tour has turned its attention to Texas, with the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship — the third major of the pro golf season — teeing off in Frisco to a flurry of first-round action on Thursday.

All of the sport's Top 100 athletes are participating in this week's event, including No. 1 Nelly Korda, who sits in a 14th-place tie with an even-par first-round performance, and surging US dark horse No. 50 Lexi Thompson, who tied for 10th in her Thursday return from a brief retirement.

However, leading the pack heading into Friday's second round is Thailand's world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul, who finished the first day of competition atop the leaderboard with a score of 4-under-par.

Australia's No. 24 Minjee Lee also posted a strong start, capping Thursday at 3-under to sit in second place.

While the sport's best chase victory on the links, the 2025 KPMG Women's PGA Championship is already making history off the green.

Not only is it the first-ever women's major to tee off at Frisco's Fields Ranch East, the tournament also increased its purse to $12 million on Tuesday — nearly tripling the $4.5 million prize pool from just four years ago and tying the US Women's Open for the LPGA Tour's highest payout in the process.

How to watch the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship

The third LPGA Grand Slam of 2025 continues through Sunday.

Friday's second round will air live on the Golf Channel, while coverage of Saturday and Sunday's final rounds will air across NBC and Peacock.