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

Welcome to another episode of Sports Are Fun! presented by TurboTax.

Every week on Sports Are Fun!, co-hosts soccer legend Kelley O'Hara, sports journalist Greydy Diaz, and JWS intern BJ serve up their hottest takes on the biggest women's sports headlines.

This week, Sports Are Fun! talks all things NWSL with Gotham FC goalkeeper — and O'Hara's fellow Stanford alum — Ryan Campbell.

"We're five games in at this point and now I feel like things are starting to take shape — we can talk about them," O'Hara opens, referencing the start to the 2025 NWSL season. "I'm excited... the settling's happened, now we can get into season."

"So we're going to talk about what happened this weekend," she continues. "First on the list: Gotham FC. Thankfully we have our very own Gotham FC player in the house."

"I feel like what you're saying is like totally correct — the first three games, I think we scored not very much — a bit of a drought," says Campbell. "But, I mean, I practice with these girls every day. I know Ella Stevens can hit it upper-90, I know Esther's chipping me at practice. I know we have scoring power."

"We all had the sentiment and didn't really get discouraged and I don't think the staff was discouraged at all," she adds. "The resounding sentiment was, 'The rain's going to fall, like it's going to drop for us.' And I think you saw that against Angel City."

In addition to this weekend's NWSL action, Sports Are Fun! also tackles the WNBA Draft's viewership, the NCAA Gymnastics Championship, and so much more.

'Sports Are Fun!' reflects on former USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski

Then, Sports Are Fun turned to coaching. The headline? Angel City bringing on new manager Alexander Straus from Germany's Bayern Munich.

What makes a good coach? What do players look for in a coach? O'Hara knows one thing — playing under USWNT coach Vlatko Andonovski wasn't exactly a learning experience.

"Hollywood's got a new hitman you guys," Campbell quips about Straus. "He has piercing blue eyes. They rival Leo DiCaprio."

"But can he coach a soccer team to a championship?" asks O'Hara.

"I've always wondered this," says BJ. "You played at the college level. You play now professionally, you played for the national team — how are you listening to a coach?"

"I think a good coach is going to go in and take a player as experienced as Christen Press, Sydney Leroux, and say, 'This is what I see. This is what I think you can bring to the team. This is how I'm going to utilize you in the system that I want to play,'" O'Hara answers.

"What is funny is — this is going to sound bad. I feel like I shouldn't say this. I don't feel like I learned anything new from Vlatko," she says, subsequently referencing the former USWNT coach. "And, actually, post-having him as a coach, I was like, 'Wow, is that on me? Did I stop learning or did he not coach me?"

"I had conversations with other other players about it. They were like, 'No, no, no, that was on him.' Because I feel like I was always open. I was like, 'I want to be coached, tell me how I can.' Because as a player, yes, you become the type of player you are, but you're never perfect."

About 'Sports Are Fun!' with Kelley O'Hara

'Sports Are Fun!' is a show that’ll remind you why you fell in love with women's sports in the first place.

Join World Cup champ, Olympic gold medalist, and aspiring barista Kelley O'Hara as she sits down with sports journalist Greydy Diaz and a revolving cast of co-hosts and friends. Together, they're talking the biggest, funnest, and most need-to-know stories in the world of women’s sports.

From on-court drama to off-field shenanigans, to candid (and silly) chats with the most important personalities in the space, this show screams "Sports Are Fun!"

Subscribe to Just Women's Sports on YouTube to never miss an episode.

The Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced a plan to launch a Division II pro arm in 2026, providing a domestic stepping stone for players aspiring to top-flight leagues like the NWSL and USL Super League.

The same Cleveland ownership group that recently fell short of securing an NWSL expansion team is backing the venture, making good on their promise to bring professional women's soccer to Northeast Ohio.

The league will launch with a shortened season following the 2026 men's World Cup, before beginning its first full-fledged campaign in April 2027.

With 15 teams already confirmed, WPSL Pro intends to field clubs in an initial 16 to 20 markets.

Along with Cleveland, the inaugural WPSL Pro season will include teams in Austin, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Fargo, Houston, Oklahoma City, Sioux Falls, Wichita, and the Bay Area, among others. Each franchise will pay a $1 million fee to enter the league.

The WPSL has a history of fostering high-level amateur competition, currently housing over 100 clubs and boasting a roster of former players that includes USWNT icons Brandi Chastain, Alex Morgan, and Rose Lavelle. WPSL Pro, however, will become the US soccer pyramid's first-ever second-tier league.

"WPSL Pro is the bridge that's been missing — not just for players, but for the communities, investors, and brands ready to be part of the next chapter in women's sports," league co-founder Sean Jones said in a statement.

The No. 22 kit of Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark weighed in as last fall's second best-selling basketball jersey in the US according to sports outfitter Fanatics, with the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year trailing only NBA superstar Steph Curry on the top sales list.

Clark's merch dominance is nothing new, however. Her Indiana jersey sold out less than an hour after the Fever drafted her as the overall No. 1 pick in April 2024, making Clark the top seller of any draft night pick in the company's history.

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Even more, Clark's merchandise led last season's record-shattering WNBA sales, with Fanatics reporting that 2024 sales of player-specific gear earned a jaw-dropping 1,000% year-over-year increase by last summer's All-Star break — in large part thanks to the 2024 WNBA rookie class.

Fellow 2024 WNBA debutants Chicago Sky standout Angel Reese and then-Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin — Clark's NCAA teammate at Iowa — trailed the Fever star with the league's second- and fourth-most merchandise sales, respectively.

This year, a new WNBA rookie could give Clark a run for her money, as the No. 5 Dallas Wings jersey for 2025's No. 1 draft pick, Paige Bueckers, is already doing numbers at retailers across the country.

Already a brand mogul in her own right, Bueckers topped the 2024 NIL list as college basketball’s biggest earner via endorsement deals and merchandise sales prior to going pro.

Kenyan runner Sharon Lokedi shattered the women’s course record at the 2025 Boston Marathon on Monday, finishing the 129th edition of the race in 2:17:22 — more than two and a half minutes faster than the previous record set by Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba in 2014.

The victory marked the 31-year-old runner's second major marathon championship following her 2022 New York City Marathon win.

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After finishing second in the 2024 Boston Marathon behind fellow Kenyan Hellen Obiri, Lokedi avenged her runner-up status by overtaking the back-to-back defending champion in the final kilometer of Monday’s race.

"I'm always second to her and today I was like, 'There’s no way,'" Lokedi said of her rivalry with Obiri. "I just have to put it out there and fight 'til the end and see how it goes. I'm so glad I ran that fast and she was right behind me. We all fought and wanted this so bad."

All of this year’s top three finishers broke through the course record pace, with Obiri and Ethiopia's Yalemzerf Yehualaw joining Lokedi both at the finish line and in the Boston Marathon's record book.

Along with her $150,000 winner's check, Lokedi will pocket an additional $50,000 for claiming the fastest women's time in Boston Marathon history.