When Carli Lloyd stepped onto the pitch Tuesday night for the last time in a U.S. women’s national soccer team jersey, a starting lineup of young players took the field with her.

This was Lloyd’s farewell match, but she told the starters in the locker room before kickoff that the game was about them, and it was their opportunity to shape the future of the USWNT. The players took her message to heart, dismantling Korea Republic with clinical play in the final third for a 6-0 win.

“We all kind of separately and collectively said we want to carry on her legacy of just her work rate, her commitment going forward and that we need that,” said Andi Sullivan, the 25-year-old midfielder who was a part of the starting XI.

“That’s what has made this team so successful, is people like Carli and people before her who have helped shape her and pave her way and she’s done that for us, so we need to continue to do the same. It’s been very emotional, but we’re going to use that all as fuel and use it to help us be successful in the future.”

Carli & The Kids leading the way tonight!

Lineup notes ≫ https://t.co/abVLadtJSR pic.twitter.com/dEwBbyqSBe

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) October 26, 2021

Lloyd has said she had “tunnel vision” in the past. She dedicated herself to her craft, often putting in more training hours than anyone else on the team. That laser focus is what made her so successful, winning two FIFA Player of the Year awards and scoring some of the most notable goals in USWNT history, but it’s also what caused her to drift from her teammates and coaches at times.

After the game Tuesday, Lloyd said that she wouldn’t have done anything differently during her career, but she’s also been more attentive this year to making sure the USWNT is well equipped for the future. That’s included passing down her wisdom to the younger players, helping them understand the culture of the team and the responsibility that comes with wearing the crest.

“I feel that I’ve really been alive and just been a bit more vulnerable these last several months after announcing my retirement,” she said. “I’ve just went about my career as somebody who just wants to get better every single day, and to hear the impact that I’ve had on so many players, so many younger players, is almost more rewarding than anything I’ve ever achieved.”

CARLI CARLI LLOYD 🎶 pic.twitter.com/32Aw99yxP7

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) October 27, 2021

Lloyd wraps up her career with 316 caps and 134 international goals, the fourth most all-time in women’s and men’s U.S. national team history. She didn’t net any, however, in Tuesday’s win over Korea Republic. Perhaps it was an ending symbolic of Lloyd’s final charge with the USWNT, to leave the team better off than when she joined it in 2005.

Last week, Lloyd announced she would hand off the No. 10 jersey to Lindsey Horan after Tuesday’s game. It was fitting then that Horan scored the first goal of the game in Carli Lloyd fashion, in the ninth minute while wearing her No. 9 jersey for the final time.

Horan, who described Lloyd as her role model, was able to hear more about Lloyd’s experiences with the national team when the two shared a meal table at the Tokyo Olympics.

“Having conversations with her and hearing her stories and what she’s been through with this national team, things that no one else knows, is really, really cool,” Horan said. “I think those are the moments that last forever for us and are kind of the most important.”

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A post shared by CARLI LLOYD (@carlilloyd)

Sullivan has also shared many valuable encounters with Lloyd. She sits behind the 39-year-old on the team bus and sometimes picks her brain for wisdom. In the camp before she was cut from the Olympic roster, Sullivan asked Lloyd for advice on how to make a soccer career so successful.

“You have to not care what people think about you, in a positive way, where you have this undeniable belief and confidence in yourself,” Lloyd told her.

“I think that has really sat with me and helped me through my NWSL season that helped me to come back here, so I’m definitely going to carry that with me in my career,” Sullivan said on Tuesday.

Sullivan was one of six players on Tuesday’s roster aged 25 or younger. At the Tokyo Olympics, there was only one (Tierna Davidson).

“I think there’s been a little changing of the guard,” said Lloyd. “There’s obviously a different generation. Players are so technically gifted. We have some unbelievable talent that’s coming through the mix and tonight you got to see that, which I think is really exciting.”

Lloyd still has two regular season games left with her club, NJ/NY Gotham FC, and more in the playoffs should they advance. But on the international stage, she’s signing off.

“I’m excited to see the future of this team,” Lloyd said. “I’m saying goodbye on the field, but I want to continue to help in any way possible. I’m going to be the biggest fan, the biggest cheerleader, and I want to see this team continue to succeed.”

👏👏 @CarliLloyd walks off the field for the last time in a @USWNT jersey 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/GTGo4FzVCb

— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 27, 2021

Wisconsin volleyball is off to the attendance races, with the No. 7 college squad averaging 8,620 fans per match this season to become this NCAA's best-attended program — narrowly beating Big Ten rival No. 1 Nebraska's 8,602 current average.

Other than the Badgers and Cornhuskers, no other college volleyball team has surpassed 6,000 fans per match this year, but Wisconsin is well on track to surpass even their own dominant attendance history in the sport.

If they finish the season in the top attendance spot, the Badgers will snap a six season streak logging the second-best average crowds per year.

Even more, Wisconsin is on their way to blasting through their program-best mark, set when 7,761 fans per match filled the bleachers in 2022.

The growing demand for Badger volleyball is also translating into significant revenue boosts for school.

"We're really, really excited; we're going to exceed $2 million in volleyball ticket sales for the first time ever," Wisconsin deputy athletic director Mitchell Pinta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this week. "And we're largely sold out for the rest of our matches at the Field House for the remainder of the season."

Should the Badgers reach that $2 million mark, they will see a massive 25% increase over the $1.6 million the team garnered just two seasons ago, and a near 18-fold growth from the $111,809 in volleyball ticket sales that Wisconsin logged in 2013.

Ultimately, the sky's the limit for both Wisconsin volleyball — and the sport at-large.

"If there's a saturation point on the demand for Wisconsin volleyball, we certainly have not seen it yet," said Pinta.

How to watch Wisconsin volleyball in action

With conference play kicking off this weekend, No. 7 Wisconsin will host unranked Big Ten foe Rutgers at 8 PM ET on Friday, before paying a visit to also-unranked Iowa at 3 PM ET on Sunday.

Both Big Ten battles will stream live on B1G+.

WSL side Liverpool opened their 2025/26 League Cup campaign with an emotional 5-0 win over WSL2 club Sunderland on Wednesday, dedicating the shutout victory to former manager Matt Beard after the 47-year-old's sudden passing last Saturday.

The match marked the Reds' return to the pitch following the postponement of their Sunday regular-season game against Aston Villa due to Beard's passing.

"It's a good win for Matt. We played with a lot of emotion," Liverpool defender Jenna Clark said afterwards, calling Wednesday "a really emotional night and an emotional few days for everyone involved with the club."

"We have pulled through together as a team the best we could and you saw that on the pitch tonight," Clark added.

Beard won back-to-back WSL titles with Liverpool in 2013 and 2014, departing the Reds in 2015 for a two-year stint with the NWSL's Boston Breakers.

He made his return to Liverpool in 2021, lifting the club back into the top-flight WSL by earning promotion his first season back at the helm.

"Matt will leave a huge void in the women's game," USWNT head coach and former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes said in a statement earlier this week. "He was one of a kind, and his loss will be felt by all. My heart goes out to his family, but I want to take the time to acknowledge what a special man he really was."​

How to watch Liverpool this weekend

Liverpool will continue their 2025/26 WSL campaign against Manchester United this Sunday, kicking off live at 7 AM ET on ESPN+.

The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup culminates on Saturday, when host nation England battles for their first tournament title in more than a decade in a top-tier final against Canada, who are hunting their first-ever world championship trophy.

The Red Roses' long dominance on the Rugby World Cup pitch has led them to eight finals in the competition's nine editions, with England emerging victorious twice — in 1994 and 2014.

On the other hand, Canada will make just their second-ever appearance in the World Cup final this Saturday, as the Maple Leafs aim for a decidedly different outcome from their 21-9 loss to England in the 2014 championship game.

The top-ranked Red Roses will also be looking to avenge their narrow 34-31 loss to New Zealand in the tournament's most recent 2022 edition when they square off against No. 2 Canada in front of an sold-out crowd inside London's Twickenham Stadium — with another women's rugby attendance record on the line.

"You feed off of that energy, especially knowing what this game is going to be," England defense coach Sarah Hunter said. "It's a cliché, but [the crowd] almost becomes the 16th person in those moments where you need them."

How to watch the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final

England and Canada will battle in the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final at 11 AM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on Paramount+.

While the No. 1 Kansas City Current have officially run away with the 2025 NWSL Shield, the race for top playoff seeding rages on, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit fights to hold their ground against an unpredictable No. 9 Houston Dash this Sunday.

Bolstered by star Trinity Rodman's return from injury, the Spirit enter the weekend on a nine-game unbeaten streak, going up against a motivated Dash side sitting just two points outside of postseason contention.

"Every game we just need to be a lot more clinical in the final third," Rodman said after last weekend's 2-2 draw with No. 11 Angel City. "We're doing all the hard stuff and then it's [lacking] quality at the end."

Washington isn't without top-table challengers, with No. 3 Gotham FC riding their own five-game unbeaten streak into a Friday night match against the No. 4 Portland Thorns, who sit tied for points with both the Bats and the No. 5 San Diego Wave in the NWSL standings.

"At this stage, almost everyone still has a real chance to make the playoffs, which is great for the league," said Gotham manager Juan Carlos Amorós after the Bats' 1-1 draw with Bay FC last Sunday. "But it also means nothing can be taken for granted."

How to watch the Washington Spirit and Gotham FC this weekend

No. 3 Gotham FC kicks off this weekend's NWSL action when they host the No. 4 Portland Thorns at 8 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on NWSL+.

Then in Sunday's NWSL action, the No. 9 Houston Dash will visit the No. 2 Washington Spirit at 1 PM ET, airing live on Paramount+.