Plenty of new faces are heading Down Under with the U.S. women’s national team for the World Cup. Just Women’s Sports is taking a look at a few of the newcomers and introducing them to fans new and old.

Ashley Sanchez

Age: 24 years old
Position: Midfielder
USWNT debut: Nov. 30, 2021 vs. Australia
Total caps: 25

How has she looked in her NWSL season?

Sanchez has had a strong start to the NWSL season with the Washington Spirit, who sit two points out of the top spot in the standings at the World Cup break. She’s developing into her role as a midfielder in her third season, and her growth can be credited in part to the Spirit bringing back Mark Parsons as their head coach. Yet while Parsons has directed his players to funnel the ball through Sanchez, from there the attacking midfielder has taken the role and made it her own.

Through 13 matches, Sanchez has four goals and one assist. In 19 matches last season, she had three goals and five assists; through 25 matches in 2021, she had five goals and no assists. She also been creating chances, with 31 shots, 13 of those on target. Her pass completion has been solid as well, with the midfielder completing 68.6% of her passes. Where Sanchez thrives, though, is in the air, having controlled 71 aerials.

What does she bring to the USWNT?

While Sanchez is still coming into her own, she brings a pressing ability to the midfield that the team could use. She also brings instant chemistry with best friend, Spirit teammate and USWNT forward Trinity Rodman, who could prove just as valuable in Australia and New Zealand. Spirit midfielder Andi Sullivan and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and also join the pair on the USWNT roster, which Sanchez has said will be helpful as she navigates her first World Cup.

“There’s not a lot of people that have that many players on their club team on this team,” she told Just Women’s Sports. “But it’s just been nice having people that can relate and you can go to that you’re close with. And it is a special experience being that it’s all of our first World Cups are kind of going through and navigating with each other.”

Sanchez possesses similarities in technical control to Rose Lavelle. While she’s not as smooth, she does hold the ability to move and shift quickly, giving her a skillset that varies from Lavelle just enough to make it difficult for opposing defenses to know what to look for between the two.

The way she pays attention to those around her, and moves accordingly, should be a boon for a USWNT offense as it looks to break down opposing defenses. And Sanchez’s ability to match her teammates helps her to know how to create those chances.

“I feel like, being in the midfield, we’re obviously always moving off each other. But I feel like sometimes in the game, when you might not have had too many attacking opportunities, just try something different,” she said. “Even if it doesn’t work out, you try something once and maybe the defense steps because they think you’re gonna do it again, or that might move them in certain ways. So even if it doesn’t work out initially, it might work out the next time, or it might open up something different.

“So I feel like we’re in a unique position where we can kind of do stuff like that. Obviously defense is probably not going to play the risky paths. It’s nice to be able to be in a position where you can win.”

What have USWNT coaches and teammates said about Sanchez?

Vlatko Andonovski, head coach: “She’s got special qualities on the ball. It’s not easy to synchronize her movements right away because she hasn’t played much with Alex (Morgan]) but when they do it, I think it worked very well. We are very happy where she’s at, positionally and happy where she’s at in the time of her stage of development.”

Kelley O’Hara, defender: “She’s a player than I think has a really bright future and has already done some really big things. As a player, you’ve gotta decide, like, who do I want to be, what do I want to become. And I think that’s something that she’s doing right now. … I think the way I describe her is really crafty, super technical, fun player to watch. … When everybody thinks of Ashley Sanchez, that’s what they think of.”

The 2025 College Cup locked in its finalists last Friday, with the NCAA soccer tournament's overall No. 1-seed Stanford and No. 3-seed Florida State advancing past the competition in the semifinals to book an all-ACC championship match for the third straight year.

Stanford kept to their winning ways by ousting No. 2-seed Duke 1-0 on Friday, with senior midfielder Jasmine Aikey burying a 10th-minute free kick to take down the Blue Devils with her 21st goal of the season.

Florida State similarly landed a single strike to end the championship run of No. 2-seed TCU in their semifinal, benefitting from a second-half breakthrough from sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson in the game's 73rd minute.

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A full half of the last 14 NCAA titles have gone to either the Seminoles or the Cardinal, with Florida State edging Stanford 4-3 in national trophies thus far.

On Monday, the Cardinal will hunt their first national title since their epic penalty shootout victory in 2019, when Stanford narrowly defeated NCAA women's soccer dynasty North Carolina 5-4 from the spot after a 0-0 draw.

Florida State, on the other hand, won the 2023 title with a 5-1 thrashing of the Cardinal.

Stanford arguably holds the advantage over their ACC rivals entering Monday's match, having handed FSU a 2-1 defeat on their own Tallahassee pitch less than two months ago.

How to watch the 2025 College Cup final

No. 1 Stanford will face No. 3 Florida State for the 2025 NCAA women's soccer championship at 7 PM ET on Monday, airing live on ESPNU.

The NWSL may be forcing Washington Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman to "look elsewhere" for her next contract, after the league vetoed a multi-million dollar offer from her current squad last week, Rodman's agent told CBS Mornings last Friday.

"We worked really hard to put together an agreement that we felt complied with the CBA and would keep Trinity in the league for the foreseeable future," said Rodman's rep Mike Senkowski.

"With no certain way to get her fair market value within the NWSL, naturally, that forces you and encourages you to look elsewhere," he continued.

While the fight to keep Rodman Stateside is not over, with the NWSLPA filing a grievance last week arguing that the league office's mandate to reject the Spirit's back-loaded contract — worth more than $1 million per year — is a free agency violation, the NWSL appears unwilling to budge.

In a weekend clarification to The Athletic, an NWSL source noted that commissioner Jessica Berman contests that the Spirit's offer to raise Rodman's compensation in the contract's later years would pull Washington out of salary cap compliance in 2028, with the league disagreeing with the club regarding the potential cap growth under a new broadcast deal.

The league source also noted that the offer has a built-in buyout clause, which the NWSL believes signals an admission of possible salary cap circumvention.

As the Washington Spirit and NWSL fans hope for a win from the union's grievance, the door to recruit Rodman elsewhere seems to be wide open for overseas clubs — particularly those with deep pockets.

The San Diego Wave are closing out 2025 with a title, defeating Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 3-0 to lift the World Sevens Football (W7F) trophy on Sunday.

Wave attacker Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring in the 7v7 venture's championship match, before forward Adriana Leon tacked on a second-half brace to put the game out of reach — and secure the $2 million winner's share of the $5 million prize pool for the NWSL side.

"I think in sevens it's a lot more emphasis on the individual, and so I think players who maybe don't play [as much in NWSL matches]...get to show their creative side," noted Robbe. "It was definitely an element to this, which was really fun."

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In a showcase of club talent across the Americas, the San Diego Wave finished the second-ever W7F tournament undefeated, scoring 14 goals while only conceding three en route to becoming the champion of the competition's first-ever North American iteration.

"It was so fun, and honestly, I would love to be back again," said San Diego goalkeeper and the tournament's golden Glove winner DiDi Haračić. "And we got the bag."

Wave midfielder Gia Corley took home the Breakout Player award, and while Tigres fell just short of the trophy, forward María Sánchez earned the competition's Golden Ball and Golden Boot with her six goals and two assists.

Club América of Liga MX Femenil earned a third-place finish, winning $700,000 in prize money as the bronze medal winners.

Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.

The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.

"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."

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Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.

Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.

"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic,"  said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.

How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week

Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.

The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.