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Why Carli Lloyd Is the USWNT’s Most Unexpected All-Time Great

JESSE LOUIE/JUST WOMEN’S SPORTS

Carli Lloyd is well known as a player who elevates her game in the big moments. She has a reserve of magic that only comes out when the stakes are the highest, and is the only player in the world who can boast of scoring two Olympic-winning goals in her career, to go along with an iconic hat trick in the 2015 World Cup final. Her numerous accolades, including two-time FIFA Player of the Year, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time World Cup Champion, easily qualify her for the short list of greatest USWNT players ever.

But in contrast to other household names like Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, and Mia Hamm, Lloyd has constantly been at war for her minutes on the field, her starting role status often ephemeral and uncertain, irregardless of her resume.

Two years into her tenure on the U21 national team, Coach Chris Petrucelli sat Lloyd down and told her he was cutting her from the roster. Fortunately for Lloyd, a teammate’s injury led to her being reinstated a short time later, but the sting from that moment wasn’t as easily remedied.

“I left that meeting absolutely hating him, blaming him, blaming others,” Lloyd admits to her longtime USWNT teammate Kelley O’Hara on the JWS podcast. Her initial response, externalizing the cause of her failure, was typical of a young adult still finding her place in the world. But soon after the incident, Lloyd began working with a new private coach, James Galanis, and a switch was flipped.

“I had to learn how to train, how to become a pro,” she tells O’Hara, “I had to learn that this needs to be a 24 hour, seven-day-a-week job.”

With this new, total commitment to fitness and training, Lloyd dedicated herself to working harder than she’d ever worked before. And after eventually making the senior national team in 2005, she was never cut from the roster again.

Battling for minutes and a starting spot became her next challenge. In 2007, during her first FIFA Women’s World Cup in China, she started all three group-stage games, but then unexpectedly played only limited minutes for the rest of the tournament.

When a coaching change brought Pia Sundhage to the helm of the squad, Lloyd enjoyed a phase of consistency in her starting role on the team, which culminated in the 2008 Olympics, when Lloyd scored the tournament-winning goal in extra time against Brazil to give the U.S. a 1-0 victory and the gold medal.

Even through their 2011 World Cup finals loss to Japan, Lloyd’s starting spot was secure. But leading up to the 2012 London Olympics, things suddenly got shaky. In an Olympic send-off match in Philly, with much of her New Jersey circle in attendance, Lloyd played a poor first half, got pulled at the break and lost her starting spot.

Across the pond, in their first match of the games, a teammate’s injury once again played into Lloyd’s favor and returned her to the field. Rising to the occasion once again, she scored the go-ahead goal in that opening match versus France and later scored both goals in the U.S.’s 2-1 victory over Japan in the gold medal game.

“The minute I got on that field at 16 minutes [vs. France],” she tells O’Hara, “My mindset for that whole tournament was to never give the coaches any ammunition to take me off that field.”

Unless you were living on Mars or were too young, chances are you still remember Lloyd’s iconic performance at the 2015 World Cup. Her hat trick against Japan was equally unbelievable and intoxicating, a pinnacle of athletic excellence which culminated in her stunning third goal from the midfield line.

After winning FIFA Player of the Year, the highest individual honor in soccer, in both 2015 and 2016, making a fourth World Cup team in 2019 at age 36 would have been icing on the cake for just about any other player. After an injury derailed her in 2017, it would have been easy for Lloyd to accept a role as a veteran super sub, especially given her age and injuries, not to mention the ridiculously talented newcomers. Abby Wambach adopted just such a role for her farewell run in 2015. But Lloyd had no intention of the 2019 World Cup being a farewell run. And after coming off the bench for reduced minutes throughout the tournament, while helping the U.S. win its fourth World Cup title, she spoke blatantly about how unhappy she had been throughout the experience.

“When I returned from my injury in 2017, I felt like I had seen the writing on the wall,” she explains to O’Hara, “I was going to be pegged as old and washed up and not good enough. And it just didn’t seem like I ever really had a fair shot at earning a starting spot.”

Unsurprisingly, Lloyd is still not ready to relinquish the reins, and is unabashedly pursuing a starting spot for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. And with new head coach Vlatko Andonovski running the show, she knows anything is possible, including a fresh start at age 38.

“With this team you’ve got to prepare for anything and everything,” Lloyd tells a knowing O’Hara, “You don’t know what’s going to happen. At any moment something can change.”

Whether Lloyd makes the list of the greatest USWNT players ever is really only a matter of how short the list is. But one thing stands out on her application to the club: Lloyd has garnered an incomparable amount of glory on a surprisingly minimal amount of sure footing.

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JESSE LOUIE/JUST WOMEN’S SPORTS

WSL and WSL2 Clubs Vote in Favor of English League Expansion

Chelsea FC attacker Aggie Beever-Jones celebrates a goal during a 2025 WSL match.
Despite previous proposals, the expanding WSL will not forgo relegation. (Chris Lee - Chelsea FC/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

The Women's Super League (WSL) is growing, with the UK league's top two flights deciding in a Monday expansion vote to enlarge its top tier from 12 to 14 teams ahead of the 2026/27 season.

The number of matches played each season will also balloon from 22 to 26 games to accommodate the incoming clubs, as will established cup competitions.

Monday also saw the WSL vote down a prior proposal to temporarily suspend the relegation and promotion process to accommodate this expansion, deciding instead to adopt a "two up, one down" model for the second-tier WSL2 next season.

As such, the top two finishers of the 2025/26 WSL2 season will automatically join the higher-tier WSL, while the WSL's last-place team will battle the WSL2's third-place club in "a high-profile, high stakes match" for the final spot in the top flight.

After reaching 14 teams, both leagues will return to relegating the last-place WSL finisher while promoting the WSL2's top team for the following season.

Along with the increased investment in club infrastructure, a 14-team WSL keeps pace with the global women's game — most notably, the NWSL, which will become a 16-team league in 2026.

"Our priority was to find a route that would benefit the whole women's game pyramid, and we believe this next evolution of women's professional football will raise minimum standards, create distinction, and incentivize investment across the board," said WSL Football CEO Nikki Doucet.

WNBA Teams Offset Injuries, EuroBasket Departures with Short-Term Contracts

Golden State Valkyries rookie Kaitlyn Chen dribbles the ball up the court during a 2025 WNBA preseason game.
2025 WNBA draftee Kaitlyn Chen returned to the Golden State Valkyries to offset EuroBasket roster departures. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

With EuroBasket set to tip off on Wednesday and injuries mounting league-wide, WNBA teams are filling out dwindling rosters with more short-term contracts — and calling back some familiar faces along the way.

While some European standouts withdrew from EuroBasket consideration — including Phoenix's Satou Sabally and Seattle's Gabby Williams — others, like New York's Leonie Fiebich and Golden State's Temi Fagbenle, will join their national teams for the regional FIBA tournament through the end of June.

Due to these planned absences, WNBA teams temporarily suspend their EuroBasket players' contracts, allowing squads to add others to their rosters.

Players signed due to temporary absences are technically on rest-of-season deals, though the agreements can end whenever the missing athletes return.

In contrast, the league requires that teams release any hardship signings due to injury once squads tally enough healthy original players to satisfy the WNBA's 10-athlete roster minimum.

Featuring a lineup stacked with international talent, Golden State made the most transactions this week, temporarily suspending four regular contracts as 2025 EuroBasket stars departed for the annual competition.

To bolster their depleted bench, the Valkyries brought back 2025 WNBA Draft Cinderella pick Kaitlyn Chen and recent training camp participant Laeticia Amihere on short-term contracts, in addition to guard Aerial Powers and forward Chloe Bibby.

Elsewhere, after losing forward Maddy Siegrist to injury and temporarily suspending the contracts of centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsöder, Dallas acquired center Li Yueru from Seattle — with the Wings possibly needing additional hardship signings in the coming days.

The Storm snagged two future draft picks in the Saturday deal — a second-round selection in 2026 and a third-round pick in 2027.

Ultimately, teams are striving to find a balance between stocking up and maintaining consistency, all while operating under the WNBA's roster constraints — with further league expansion fast approaching.

WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Conference Play Comes Down to the Wire

Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor tries to defend a jump-shot from Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier during a 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup game.
Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx will advance to a second straight WNBA Commissioner's Cup final with a Tuesday win. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

The 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup will wrap up its conference play on Tuesday, as both Eastern and Western teams battle for a ticket to the in-season competition's championship game — and a cut of the $500,000 prize pool.

With 12 of the league's 13 teams facing off across Tuesday's WNBA courts, the results will set the stage by minting the two squads who will battle in the July 1st final showdown.

Reigning Commissioner's Cup champs Minnesota have the West's easiest path, as a win over the Las Vegas Aces will send the Lynx to a second straight final.

Should the Lynx fall to the Aces, however, Seattle can grab the Western Conference berth by beating the Los Angeles Sparks.

Meanwhile in the East, a surging Atlanta could land a trip to the final by topping New York, while the Liberty need both a win over the Dream plus a loss by the Indiana Fever to clinch their own return ticket to the Cup's grand finale.

If New York does take down Atlanta, the Fever could advance to the team's first-ever Commissioner's Cup final by beating the struggling Connecticut Sun.

How to watch Tuesday's 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup games

All of Tuesday's six WNBA games count toward the 2025 Commissioner's Cup tally.

The action begins with the Atlanta Dream tipping off against the New York Liberty while the Indiana Fever battles the Connecticut Sun at 7 PM ET, live on WNBA League Pass.

Chicago Sky Star Angel Reese Files Trademark for ‘Mebounds’ to Silence Internet Trolls

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese grabs a rebound during a 2024 WNBA game.
Chicago Sky star Angel Reese is trademarking a term often used to criticize her play. (Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made headlines this week, with the second-year WNBA forward announcing that she has trademarked word "mebounds" — a slang term opposing fans use to describe Reese rebounding her own missed shots.

"Whoever came up with the 'mebounds' thing, y’all ate that up, because mebounds, rebounds, keybounds...anything that comes off that board, it's mine," Reese said in a TikTok video on Saturday.

"And a brand? That's six figures right there," she continued, referencing her trademark application. "The trolling — I love when y'all do it because the ideas be good!"

Currently averaging 11.9 boards per matchup, Reese is leading the WNBA in rebounds for the second straight season.

Her rookie campaign saw Reese average 13.1 boards per game, a rate that set a single-season league record. She also blasted through the WNBA's consecutive double-double record last season, claiming it with 10 straight before extending it to an impressive 15 games.

Along with the average rebounds record, Reese also broke the single-season total rebounds record previously held by retired Minnesota Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles — a mark that was later surpassed by 2024 MVP A'ja Wilson following Reese's season-ending wrist injury.

"Statistically, all the rebounds that I get aren't always just mine," Reese added in her Saturday social media post. "They're the defense's, too, or somebody else on my team."

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