Heather O’Reilly has done it all in her prolific career, and the former U.S. women’s national team star now can check a Champions League run off her soccer bucket list.

The 37-year-old came out of retirement in July to join Ireland’s Shelbourne FC for the club’s Champions League stand. While the run lasted just two games, she described it as “short but glorious.”

O’Reilly’s USWNT career ended in 2016, and she officially hung up her boots three years later. But O’Reilly has stayed busy, serving as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina, working as a soccer analyst and competing on “American Ninja Warrior.”

Still, she found herself hungry for more and missing the thrill of elite competition.

“Even though it’s my best friends playing in the NWSL, and on the national team, it’s challenging for me to watch,” O’Reilly tells Gwendolyn Oxenham for ESPN. “I don’t know, maybe I’m still grieving this former life and former identity. I’m envious of those who retire and don’t crave it — I do and I think a lot of other people do as well.”

A nagging desire to compete in the Champions League, a feat O’Reilly had never accomplished, drew the star out of retirement and to Shelbourne FC.

The stint was not lucrative for O’Reilly, as the Irish league is amateur — meaning no one gets paid. O’Reilly and Shelbourne FC practiced in the evenings, with most players working day jobs.

After getting acquainted with the squad, O’Reilly and the club headed out for their Champions League matchup against Slovenia’s Pomurje on Aug. 18.

On the journey, O’Reilly jokingly tweeted that she was playing in the Champions League at age 37, but fellow 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo was not. (Ronaldo’s team, Manchester United, did not make the cut for the men’s Champions League.)

The playful post drew the ire of Twitter trolls and misogynists, forcing O’Reilly to endure significant social media backlash. Instead of leaning in, O’Reilly told ESPN she opted to put the phone down and embrace the moment with her team.

Heading to go play Champions League at age 37 and Ronaldo isn’t 🤣 HAO-7 pic.twitter.com/t7a8ph9or4

— Heather O'Reilly (@HeatherOReilly) August 16, 2022

Her focus ultimately paid off, with O’Reilly notching a header to clinch Shelbourne FC the win over the Slovenia side. Not only had O’Reilly achieved her dream of playing in the Champions League, but she had also scored a game-winner.

A 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬 goal 🔴

Three years after hanging up her boots.@HeatherOReilly scores her first goal in the @UWCL as the Reds beat
ZNK Pomurje 1-0.#DublinsFinest | #Since1895 pic.twitter.com/BjeUxxPmCf

— Shelbourne FC (@shelsfc) August 18, 2022

Shelbourne FC’s second Champions League matchup wasn’t as successful, with the club falling to Iceland’s Valur 3-0 on Aug. 21, which knocked them out of contention.

While O’Reilly has returned stateside, the former USWNT star isn’t writing off a return to the Irish club. She’s looking a potential return at the end of September, possibly in the role of player-coach.

“I might have brought a lot to them, but they brought just as much to me.”

The 2025 NWSL regular-season attendance numbers are in, with a Tuesday Sports Business Journal (SBJ) report outlining a 5% decline from the record highs the league saw in 2024.

Despite setting a new single-game record in August, the NWSL averaged 10,669 fans per match this season, down from average crowds of 11,250 last year — though the 2025 numbers do mirror 2023's attendance averages.

"Our underlying business is incredibly strong," NWSL COO Sarah Jones Simmer told SBJ, citing multiple single-game team highs. "Across the league, we're seeing consistent attendance growth, franchise-best seasons, and record-breaking moments in markets big and small."

The 2025 season saw the Portland Thorns unseat Angel City as the NWSL's top-supported team, with the LA club seeing a 15.8% drop in overall attendance before missing the playoffs for the second straight year.

ACFC's SoCal neighbor, the San Diego Wave, experienced the steepest 2025 fall, with ticket sales down 26.4% from 2024 and 35.2% from the 2022 expansion club's Shield-winning 2023 campaign.

Some teams did see gains, however, with the North Carolina Courage improving attendance by 40.8% over the last two years while the Washington Spirit's numbers jumped 42.3%, Gotham FC's rose 41.1%, and the 2024 champion Orlando Pride saw a massive 51.5% growth over the same period.

Though this year's attendance declines are not cause for immediate alarm, with two new teams launching next year — and even more in the pipeline — sustainability concerns are increasingly entering the expansion conversation.

The 2025 NCAA soccer postseason has arrived, with this week's conference tournaments setting the scene for November 10th's Selection Monday — and the 64-team Division I College Cup.

While 30 teams will earn automatic bids to the national tournament by winning their conference titles, all NCAA squads are looking to impress this week with 34 additional bracket spots awarded by the selection committee on Monday.

Stanford entered this week at No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches rankings, with the ACC regular-season title-holders also earning a bye into Thursday's conference tournament semifinals.

"We've got to keep getting better," Cardinal head coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "If we want to win the national championship, you gotta learn from each game and continue to push forward and improve."

After sending four teams to the 2024 College Cup, the ACC remains on top of the women's college soccer landscape with four of the current Top-7 teams hailing from the conference — though other contenders loom.

The No. 3 Memphis Tigers remain the year's surprise success story as one of the sport's two unbeaten teams, with the mid-major squad now vying for their fifth American Conference championship this weekend.

Elsewhere, the No. 13 Washington Huskies and No. 9 Michigan State Spartans enter Thursday's Big Ten tournament semifinals as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, respectively, while upsets already ousted the top seeds from both the SEC and Big 12 tournaments: No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 TCU.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA soccer conference tournaments

The majority of the 30 NCAA soccer conference tournaments will kick off their semifinals on Wednesday and Thursday, with live coverage of most matches across the Big Ten Network and ESPN platforms.

No. 8 Tennessee opened their 2025/26 NCAA basketball season on a down note, falling to No. 9 NC State 80-77 on Tuesday as the Volunteers hope to better last season's Sweet Sixteen finish under second-year head coach Kim Caldwell.

Vanderbilt transfer forward Khamil Pierre led the Wolfpack with a 21-point, 14-rebound double-double, while fellow preseason Top 25 player Talaysia Cooper led Tennessee's efforts with 23 points and 11 rebounds of her own.

"We wanted to see where we were early, so we had time to fix it," Caldwell said postgame about Tennessee opening the 2025/26 NCAA season against a Top-10 foe. "I think that's exactly what we got out of it. We have a lot of things we can fix. We can get a lot better."

Tuesday's narrow loss was encouraging news for a Tennessee side reeling from a recent roster loss, after Caldwell dismissed starting guard Ruby Whitehorn — a double-digit scorer for the Vols — following the senior's second offseason arrest.

"I love Ruby and will always be rooting for her, but my priority is to uphold the respected reputation of the Lady Vols," Caldwell said in a Sunday statement.

"I have failed to uphold the standards of the lady vol legacy and what it represents and for that I apologize," Whitehorn posted in response.

With the Vols' next ranked matchup set for November 30th, Tennessee's softer slate will allow Caldwell's team to continue refining their new starting lineup before their next big test.

The Toronto Tempo has officially landed a sideline leader, with the 2026 WNBA expansion team announcing ex-New York Liberty boss Sandy Brondello as their inaugural head coach on Tuesday — and making her one of the league's highest-paid coaches in the process.

"This is the place I wanted to be," Brondello said during her introductory press conference. "To build a team from the ground up — that really excited me."

Brondello joins the Toronto Tempo as a two-time championship-winning coach, claiming her first title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 before taking the New York Liberty to the top in 2024.

The first-ever Canadian WNBA team is also doubling down on their choice, with multiple reports valuing Brondello's multi-year contract at over $1 million annually.

The 57-year-old Australian — a three-time Olympic medalist as a player — will join the Mercury's Nate Tibbetts and Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon as the only known WNBA coaches earning seven-figure salaries.

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That said, Brondello could have banked even more, with Front Office Sports reporting that a different WNBA team offered her a more lucrative offer, but Brondello deemed Toronto a better fit.

 "From my first conversations with the Tempo organization, it was clear we share the same vision: to build a world-class franchise that competes at the highest level, to create a strong and dynamic culture, and to root everything we do in clear and consistent values," Brondello said in team statement.

"This is a place that's serious about doing things the right way — about excellence, about people, about community — and that's exactly the kind of environment every coach wants to be part of."

As the offseason coaching carousel nears its final turn, teams are stretching resources as they prep for big spending — and a contentious new CBA — in 2026.