The 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup kicks off tonight with a rematch of last year’s title game between the Houston Dash and the Chicago Red Stars.
Tournament details:
Dates: April 9th — May 8th
Format: Round-robin group stage followed by a Championship game between each division’s top teams.
West division: Chicago, Houston, Kansas City, OL Reign, Portland.
East division: Gotham FC (formerly Sky Blue), North Carolina, Orlando, Louisville, Washington.
Teams we’ll have our eyes on:
Portland: They’ll be without their USWNT stars for the opening weekend, but they enter the season as the prohibitive favorites.
North Carolina: For the first time in a while, they look beatable. And yet, any squad featuring Lynn Williams, Debinha and Jess McDonald can’t be counted out.
Louisville: The NWSL’s newest club could have a rocky first year on the field. Off the field, they’re already crushing the brand messaging. That’s half the battle at this stage!
Tonight:
Houston vs Chicago: 8:30pm ET on CBSSN
Portland vs Kansas City: 10:30pm ET on Paramount+
Tomorrow:
North Carolina vs Washington: 3:30pm ET on Paramount+
Louisville vs Orlando: 7:00pm ET on Paramount+
Note: all games stream internationally on Twitch.
Get prepped with our very own Haley Kopmeyer’s list of 12 players she’ll be watching for this season.
Women’s sports, straight to your inbox
Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.
PWHL Announces Vancouver Expansion Franchise Ahead of 2025/26 Season
The seventh PWHL team will be in Vancouver. (Troy Parla/Getty Images)
The PWHL is officially expanding, with the second-year pro women's hockey league awarding Vancouver its seventh franchise on Wednesday.
The league's first-ever expansion squad faces a short run-up, joining the current six-team roster when the puck drops on the 2025/26 PWHL season.
"To be able to grow this fast is just a testament to the great sport, our great athletes, and how people feel about the work that we’re doing and what our players are putting out on the ice," said PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer.
Commenting on the eight-month expansion evaluation process, Scheer called Vancouver's bid "unbelievably robust," and noted that the city's "engaged, vibrant, fun" fanbase and its "remarkable commitment to growing the game of hockey" helped earn the Canadian community a team.
That commitment was on display at the PWHL's recent 2025 Takeover Tour, which drew major crowds as the league tested expansion prospects in non-market cities across North America.
Vancouver stood out, notching the the fourth-largest crowd in PWHL history when 19,038 fans showed up on January 8th — and claiming the highest social media engagement across all nine Tour stops.
That fan enthusiasm helped push Vancouver across the PWHL's expansion line, with the new team already making league history.
Besides marking the league's first-ever footprint on the the West Coast, Vancouver will become the first PWHL team to serve as the primary tenant in its home venue at the Pacific Coliseum.
The 17,713-seat arena and its adjacent PNE Agrodome — PWHL Vancouver's main training facility — will undergo extensive upgrades for the incoming franchise.
"The expansion brings greater visibility to the West Coast, expands out geographic footprint, and, most importantly, grows the game," said PWHL EVP of hockey operations Jayna Hefford.
PWHL execs said expansion adds roster spots for current and future league stars. (Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
League eyes next steps for expansion team
While the PWHL still has over 20 proposals from markets requesting a team — and rumors swirling that Seattle could join Vancouver as a 2025/26 season expansion contingent — the league is currently making more concrete plans for its official seventh squad.
"With this team comes more opportunities for the best women's hockey players in the world to continue competing in one league," remarked Hefford. "The talent pool has never been deeper, and with a strong 2025 draft class ahead, we're pleased that even more women are going to be able to play at the professional level."
Details for an upcoming expansion draft to begin stocking Vancouver's roster will be announced shortly, and the team will also take part in the 2025 PWHL Draft on June 24th.
"The PWHL is setting a new standard for women's hockey. The game has never been faster, more physical, or more skilled," Hefford added. "We're so excited for this city to experience the parity and the competitiveness that our league has every single game."
Dee Lab
Apr 23, 2025
Bay FC to Host Washington at SF Giants Ballpark, Eye NWSL Attendance Record
Oracle Park’s 40,000-seat capacity could set a new NWSL attendance record. (Doug Zimmerman/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
The NWSL is heading back to the ballpark, with 2024 expansion side Bay FC announcing Tuesday that the club will take on the Washington Spirit inside Oracle Park, the home of MLB's San Francisco Giants.
Shifting the August 23rd match to the baseball diamond isn't just a spectacle — the move builds on Bay FC's continuous ambitions to claim the top NWSL attendance record by filling the Bay Area ballpark's 40,260 seats.
Though the 25-year-old Oracle Park has previously hosted men's contests, August's NWSL match will be the first professional women's soccer game in the venue's history.
Similarly, while this will be the first NWSL competition in San Francisco's baseball venue, it's not the first league match in an MLB stadium.
Last summer, the Chicago Stars hosted Bay FC at Wrigley Field, packing an NWSL-record 35,038 soccer fans into the MLB home of the Chicago Cubs.
That June 8th, 2024, attendance surpassed the previous league-record crowd of 34,130 that attended USWNT icon Megan Rapinoe's final Seattle home game in 2023.
How to attend Bay FC vs. Washington at Oracle Park
To be a part of the potentially record-breaking August 23rd crowd, tickets will be available for general purchase beginning at 12 PM ET on May 6th.
Fans interested in securing pre-sale tickets can add their names to the online list.
Claire Watkins
Apr 23, 2025
Portland Rookies Top Gotham in Midweek NWSL Action
Three Portland Thorns rookies scored their first NWSL goals on Tuesday. (Soobum Im/NWSL via Getty Images)
In Tuesday night's NWSL action, Portland upset a rising Gotham side 4-1 behind three debut goals from the Thorns' promising rookie class.
The rare midweek match came courtesy of next month's Concacaf W Champions Cup. Both Gotham and Portland advanced to the international club event's semifinals last October, forcing them to pull double-duty and add this week's extra regular-season NWSL game to accommodate the tournament's schedule.
The tight turnaround certainly didn't rattle the Thorns.
Portland newcomers Marie-Yasmine "Mimi" Alidou, Caiya Hanks, and Jayden Perry all earned their first NWSL goals in the match, before offseason signee Deyna Castellanos reinforced the victory with an 80th-minute chip.
As for Gotham, 32-year-old star forward Esther provided a bright spot for the NJ/NY squad, notching her fifth goal of the young season to boost herself to the top of the league's early Golden Boot race.
Despite the loss, Friday's strong outing against Angel City has Gotham still holding steady at No. 4 in the standings. However, both No. 5 Portland and No. 6 ACFC are close on the Bats' heels, with all three teams currently tied at eight points apiece.
"What I told the team is that we lost the battle tonight, but this is a long war," said Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros following the match. "We're there together on this."
How to watch Gotham, Portland this weekend
Gotham will take the pitch once again on Saturday, when they'll face East Coast rivals Washington at 1 PM ET. Live coverage will air on CBS.
Meanwhile, Portland will close out the NWSL's sixth matchday by hosting Racing Louisville at 4 PM ET on Sunday, streaming live on Paramount+.
Claire Watkins
Apr 23, 2025
TST Drops Expanded Women’s 7v7 Tournament Bracket
Carli Lloyd and Ali Krieger will feature for the US Women’s 2025 TST 7v7 team. (Catherine Ivill - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
The Soccer Tournament (TST) presented by RBC Wealth Management revealed its 2025 women's bracket on Tuesday, with 16 7v7 teams gearing up to compete for the $1 million winner-take-all grand prize this June.
The US Women's Team is back to defend their 2024 title, fueled by World Cup-winning USWNT vets Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, and Ali Krieger, plus retired Scotland national and Bay FC defender Jen Beattie.
Additional teams participating in the competition include 7v7 offshoots of NWSL clubs Angel City, KC Current, and 2024 runners-up NC Courage, as well as former USWNT goalkeeper Hope Solo's Solo FC.
Returning to Cary, North Carolina, for its third year, TST doubled the size of its women's bracket after a successful eight-team debut in 2024.
"Our inaugural women's championship game viewership performed exceptionally well, as we grew our audience 452% from the beginning of the game until the moment the game-winning goal was scored," TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar told The Athletic.
"TST soccer is electrifying," Mugar added. "Our goal is to become the preeminent soccer festival in the world. Judging by the number of returning fans and teams, we are well on our way."
How to attend, watch the 2025 TST 7v7 contest
TST's 7v7 women's competition kicks off on June 5th and runs through the $1 million championship game on June 9th.
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
