Across social media, the Washington Spirit have been using the phrase “#RiseUpDC,” but behind the curtain, the team’s theme is “Together.”

At practices, before games, in the locker room and on media calls, the players have intentionally used the word through the second half of the season following a chapter of abuse allegations against former coaches, COVID-19 cases that resulted in forfeited games and ownership changes.

“Staying together, really just focusing on that,” defender Sam Staab said. “[It] switches our mentality to be like, ‘Let’s just send it.’ We’ve had a pretty tough year, so we’re just going for it.”

The Spirit exemplified that approach Sunday, with their deep bench playing a key role in a 1-0 extra-time win over the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL quarterfinals.

“It takes every one of us, and we’ve really come together and relied on each other throughout this entire season and especially tonight,” goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe said after the game.

The @WashSpirit are on to the semis! pic.twitter.com/p0GSU62CdS

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 8, 2021

‘We’re so deep’

North Carolina controlled much of the game in the opening 45 minutes, forcing Bledsoe to make multiple challenging saves and reminding everyone why she is a nominee for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year.

Washington’s six substitutions rolled in through the second half, giving them a boost in momentum.

45’ M Tori Huster in for M Tayor Aylmer
70’ M Julia Roddar in for D Tegan McGrady
70’ F Tara McKeown in for F Ashley Sanchez
98’ D Anna Heilferty in for M Tori Huster (injury)
115’ D Paige Nielsen in for M Dorian Bailey (injury)
118’ M Saori Takarada in for F Trinity Rodman

The first sub to start the second half was Tori Huster, the only remaining player from the Spirit team that advanced to the NWSL finals in 2016, and she made her veteran presence felt immediately. The Spirit fired off multiple shots in the first five minutes of the half, taking the pressure off of Bledsoe and repeatedly testing Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

Tara McKeown, the 22-year-old who started 11 of 21 games this season, helped turn Washington’s offensive energy around with multiple runs up the field that were not there in the first 45.

When Huster went down just outside North Carolina’s box a few minutes into extra time, with what is expected to be a serious injury, the Spirit had to send on a sub for their sub. In this case, it was 22-year-old Anna Heilferty. The rookie was entering her first playoff game when the stakes were highest, but the Spirit didn’t flinch, even against an experienced team like the Courage.

“We’re so deep, the amount of talent that we have,” Bledsoe said of the bench.

After the Spirit had registered 13 shots on target, Golden Boot winner Ashley Hatch buried the golden goal in the second period of extra time. The 2021 MVP candidate had been having a quiet game up until that point.

“I believe in every single one of our players and every single girl that steps on the field,” Hatch said. “Our subs made a huge difference in the game today. … That belief in each other is what helped us win this game.”

HATCH pic.twitter.com/Huo70COu5o

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) November 8, 2021

‘They’re the Little Engine That Could right now’

Spirit interim coach Kris Ward describes himself as someone who’s “not afraid to use the bench.”

“We’ve got an unbelievable bench and they proved that in so many ways,” he said.

Ward has taken a hands-off approach this season since being named interim coach in August, recognizing the players have needed emotional support and space to come together, more than they’ve needed coaching.

“I think once we made the [coaching] change in August, everyone’s been a little bit more laidback and it really helps when we’ve got a young, creative team,” Bledsoe said. “It’s just been a good time of everyone just trusting in each other’s abilities, and you’re really seeing us start to play free and play together and it’s really exciting.”

Ward’s guidance has helped the Spirit advance the furthest they’ve been as a program since 2016. Before the playoffs began, Staab said she and the team were ready to move on from the turmoil of the season and focus on themselves.

Ward was in hands-on coaching mode after Sunday’s quarterfinal, pleased with the second-half energy but challenging the offense to slow down the attack. As much as the young team lets him, at least.

“Sometimes, youth is just going to youth, and they’re just going to go and that is an advantage in and of itself,” Ward said with a laugh.

Going into Washington’s semifinal against OL Reign next Sunday, there will be coaching, but Ward won’t lose sight of the togetherness that got the Spirit to this point in the first place.

“That’s been a big key for us, just getting through things together,” he said. “They’ve always had each other’s backs, and so it’s just trying to keep the train rolling. They’re the Little Engine That Could right now.”

Jessa Braun is an editorial intern for Just Women’s Sports. She is also the Head of North American Content for the Women’s Sports Alliance. You can find her on Twitter @jessabraun.

The NWSL has made a decision, as the league officially moves forward with its new "High Impact Player" rule despite stated opposition from the players union.

Announced last week, the rule change allows clubs to exceed to the NWSL salary cap by up to $1 million to attract or retain players that meet one of eight qualifying metrics set by the league.

Those metrics include major media award rankings like the 30-player Ballon d'Or shortlist and ESPN FC's Top 50 Football Players, as well as marketing power, top USWNT minutes, and end-of-year NWSL awards.

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Developed with Washington Spirit superstar — and current free agent — Trinity Rodman and her potential contract in mind, the "High Impact Player" rule will not go into effect until July 1st, 2026.

Meanwhile, the NWSLPA has spoken out against the mechanism, proposing instead to up the salary cap by $1 million without league-imposed spending regulations.

"Under federal labor law, changes to compensation under the salary cap are a mandatory subject of bargaining — not a matter of unilateral discretion," the union wrote on Wednesday.

Additionally, per The Athletic, NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke expressed concerns that the rule ties top athlete pay, in part, to player valuations in third party publications — a move that externally defines who a club can consider "high impact."

Led by six Kansas City athletes and five from Gotham FC, just 27 current NWSL players across 10 of the 16 clubs in the expanded 2026 season meet the new HIP qualifying criteria — though all teams could use the mechanism to attract a new athlete to the league.

In a growing global market, the NWSL could be falling into a trap of half-measures, as the union pushes back with league parity potentially on the line.

The Kansas City Current have apparently found a new manager, with ESPN reporting last week that the 2025 NWSL Shield-winners will bring on former MLS head coach Chris Armas to lead the team in 2026.

Armas built his career in the MLS, coaching the New York Red Bulls from 2018 to 2020 before taking over Toronto FC in 2021, then spending the last three years heading up the Colorado Rapids.

The ex-USMNT player also has experience in the women's game at the college level, leading the Division II Adelphi University women's soccer team from 2011 to 2014.

Despite their many victories in 2025, the Current found themselves without a coach after third-year boss Vlatko Andonovski moved into a sporting director role with the club in November.

ESPN reported that Kansas City chose Armas over internal candidates like assistants Milan Ivanovic and ex-Angel City and Gotham manager Freya Coombe.

"I want my staff and people I've worked with to become successful coaches. These are things I'm very passionate about and want to be able to execute," Andonovski told ESPN last month.

Armas would be the first former MLS coach to make the leap to the NWSL, with the winds of change in Kansas City blowing stronger than anticipated.

With the 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, US skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin has started the 2025/26 FIS World Cup cycle in top form — particularly in her favored slalom event.

Closing out last season with a victory, Shiffrin is currently on a multi-event winning streak, earning her sixth straight slalom title in Semmering, Austria, on Sunday.

"It was a really hard day today, tough conditions, a really big fight, and the pressure's on… I did my best, best possible run," Shiffrin said afterwards.

Momentum is on her side, with Shiffrin set to enter the 2026 Winter Games in Italy as the winningest skier in World Cup history, surpassing Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's 86 wins in March 2023 and becoming the first skier to reach 100 World Cup victories earlier this year.

Sunday's race marked the 30-year-old's 106th career World Cup title, with Shiffrin looking to add to her ever-growing historic record with three more slalom events scheduled before the Olympic women's Alpine skiing events kick off on February 8th.

The 2014 Olympic slalom champion and 2018 Winter Games giant slalom gold medalist is aiming to return to the podium after failing to medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Shiffrin will likely hit the slopes again next weekend, when the women's FIS World Cup lands in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for a giant slalom and slalom competition.

South Carolina basketball is stocking up, as top-ranked high school senior Jerzy Robinson announced her commitment to join the head coach Dawn Staley and the No. 3 Gamecocks last Tuesday.

"I chose South Carolina because I had a sense of peace when it came down to the decision for me," Robinson told ESPN. "When I visited South Carolina, I was already home. I was already valued there.... I felt like this was where I needed to be for the next four years."

A 6-foot-2 guard who averaged 27 points and 10.2 rebounds in her junior season at Los Angeles's Sierra Canyon High School, Robinson is now the highest-ranked Class of 2026 recruit heading to South Carolina — as well as the final Top 5 player to make a college decision after also visiting No. 1 UConn and No. 5 LSU.

Robinson first made a name for herself at the youth level, winning three gold medals and the 2025 U-19 FIBA World Cup with Team USA.

The young talent also inked one of the first-ever shoe sponsorships for a high school player, signing an NIL deal with Nike in November 2024.

"Basketball has always been my love and my passion," she said. "To see it pay off and the hard work and the hours pay off, in the sense of I get to play for one of the best universities in the country, I just have so much gratitude."