In this week's episode of The Late Sub, Claire takes a moment to talk about the final few days of Alex Morgan’s professional career, how the soccer world has changed since Morgan’s debut, and how the star herself spoke about what’s next.
Then, she discusses what Angel Reese’s season-ending injury means for the WNBA playoff race, salutes the US Open, reflects on the 2024 Paralympic Games, and more.
The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.
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USWNT and NWSL superstar Alex Morgan played her final professional match on Sunday, narrowly missing a left-footed penalty for San Diego before being subbed out within the game's first 15 minutes.
"I came off the field and I thought to myself, 'That's the best example I could give of betting on yourself,'" Morgan said in a postgame press conference. "I think that's just how I've tried to live my life and my career as a soccer player."
Alex Morgan leaves historic mark on women's sports
Sharing news that she was pregnant with her second child, the 35-year-old forward announced her imminent retirement late last week.
"You pushed me to be my best self every day — you pushed me to be the best soccer player, to be the best mom, to be the best person I could be," Morgan told Snapdragon Stadium's 26,500 fans after the game.
Before the game concluded, the soccer icon made one final bit of history. The match marked the first women’s sports event to be simultaneously broadcast across multiple US outlets, with CBS Sports, ESPN2, Prime, Paramount+, and others getting in on the action.
However, North Carolina damped the celebratory sendoff vibes by soundly defeating the 12th-place Wave 4-1, extending San Diego's regular-season winless streak to five.
The Courage now sit fifth in the standings after overtaking Portland, solidifying their place above the postseason cutoff line.
NWSL standings hold steady in weekend play
In Kansas City's 1-0 win over Utah on Saturday, Temwa Chawinga added a 15th goal to her Golden Boot campaign. The Current snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
Also on Saturday, Washington beat Portland in front of a raucous Audi Field crowd. In the match, the Spirit's Ballon d’Or nominee, Trinity Rodman, registered both a goal and an assist.
On Sunday, Marta scored a stunner against Chicago to keep Orlando's undefeated season alive. The Pride became the first NWSL club to clinch a 2024 postseason berth in the process.
Speaking of the postseason, Bay FC have launched themselves into seventh place and playoff contention after two straight wins, including Saturday's 1-0 victory over Louisville.
USWNT icon Alex Morgan announced today that she is retiring from professional soccer, and will lace up her boots one last time for the San Diego Wave on Sunday, September 8th. Morgan, one of the faces of the USWNT's fight toward equal pay, retires a two-time World Cup champion, Olympic gold medalist, and UWCL and NWSL champion.
The 35-year-old also announced on Thursday that she is pregnant with her second child, growing her family after having her daughter, Charlie, in 2020.
Morgan's off-pitch legacy changed the game
Not only did Morgan help oversee the USWNT’s fight for equal pay, which was ratified in the team's CBA in 2022, she also played a huge part in the NWSL's 2021 watershed change that enacted policies to protect players.
“We're changing lives, and the impact we have on the next generation is irreversible, and I'm proud of the hand I had in making that happen,” said Morgan in a video posted to X.
“Charlie came up to me the other day and said that when she grows up she wants to be a soccer player,” Morgan explained. “And it just made me immensely proud. Not because I wish for her to become a soccer player when she grows up, but because a pathway exists that even a four year old can see now.”
On-field accomplishments made Morgan an international icon
Bursting onto the USWNT scene in 2010, Morgan's legacy includes her "Baby Horse" moniker and crucial goal contributions on the field.
Her most well-known scoring moments include notching the final goal of the USWNT’s Olympic semifinal match against Canada en route to their 2012 gold medal, and her soaring header in their 2019 World Cup semifinal against England — the goal that spurred her world-famous "sipping tea" celebration.
Morgan’s 176 combined international goals and assists ranks fifth all-time in USWNT history. She trails only Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Kristine Lilly, and Carli Lloyd on the national team's stat sheet.
In NWSL play, Morgan's resume includes the 2013 league championship, the 2022 Golden Boot title, and the 2023 NWSL Shield.
Ultimately, Morgan will be remembered as the face of a USWNT generation that excelled during a crucial era of the team's success — though the change she helped usher in off the pitch will arguably have an even bigger impact.
The 18-player USWNT Olympic roster dropped on Wednesday, marking manager Emma Hayes’s first major tournament roster.
With Hayes's selections, the team appears to be going big on potential and versatility, while conceding a certain amount of experience. Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn as the team’s most experienced players, while the average age of the roster is 26.8 — the fourth-youngest Olympic roster and the youngest overall since 2008.
The current lineup averages 58 international caps per player, down from 111 at the Tokyo Olympics. It will be the first major tournament experience for Jenna Nighswonger, Korbin Albert, Sam Coffey, and Jaedyn Shaw. Additionally, Shaw becomes just the fifth teenager to ever make a USWNT Olympic roster, and the first since Mallory Swanson in 2016.
"Making an Olympic roster is a huge privilege and an honor and there is no denying that it was an extremely competitive process among the players and that there were difficult choices, especially considering how hard everyone has worked over the past 10 months," said Hayes in a US Soccer press release. "Choosing an 18-player roster plus alternates involved many considerations, but I am excited for the group we have selected and I’m looking forward to building on the work from last camp as we head into the send-off matches and then onto France. These are great opportunities for us to continue to show the progress we are making."
Only eight players from the Tokyo Olympics squad punched their tickets to Paris, while nine players will become first-time Olympians.
Hayes appears to be thinking about the future, but this group will be looking to improve upon a disappointing 2023 Women's World Cup showing — or even top their bronze medal placement at the last Olympics.
"Everything we're doing is a step-by-step approach to get us as close as we possibly can to our best level, to our best version of ourselves," Hayes told media on Wednesday. "As I explained so far, this is a team that's making really good progress in doing that, and my interest and investment is getting our performances right."
One notable absence is USWNT and NWSL veteran Alex Morgan, who will miss the Summer Games for the first time since 2008. Hayes said Wednesday that it was difficult to adhere to the Olympics' 16 outfield player-limit throughout the roster-honing process.
"It was a tough decision of course, especially considering Alex's history and record with this team," Hayes said. "But I felt that I wanted to go in another direction."
"I want to talk about what an amazing player and human Alex Morgan has been," she continued. "There are players on the roster in the forward areas performing well, and the decision to take those players was one that we certainly deliberated over, but I think it's a balanced roster."
Without Morgan, not a single player on the USWNT Olympic roster has won a gold medal.
"Today, I’m disappointed about not having the opportunity to represent our country on the Olympic stage," Morgan tweeted in response to her exclusion. "This will always be a tournament that is close to my heart and I take immense pride any time I put on the crest," she continued. "In less than a month, I look forward to supporting this team and cheering them on alongside the rest of our country. LFG"
- Goalkeepers: Casey Murphy (NC Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
- Defenders: Tierna Davidson (Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (Gotham FC)
- Midfielders: Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (Gotham FC), Catarina Macario (Chelsea)
- Forwards: Crystal Dunn (Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)
Alternates: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Croix Bethune (Washington Spirit), Lynn Williams (Gotham FC)
The USWNT cruised through their final game prior to naming their 18-player Olympic roster on Tuesday, defeating Korea Republic 3-0 in a rain-soaked game that saw significant rotation to the starting XI.
Manager Emma Hayes replaced nine of Saturday's starters with players vying for a major tournament roster spot, a move that resulted in interesting returns. Alex Morgan was back in the starting lineup, while center-back Sam Staab earned her first international start in her second game with the team.
FORWARD CRYSTAL DUNN WITH THE GOAL
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 5, 2024
(Via @USWNT)
pic.twitter.com/RlqXwKsXLh
Crystal Dunn started the match as a forward then opened the floodgates with her first goal in 75 international matches. Sophia Smith came on as a reserve in the second half alongside Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman, promptly doubling the scoreline at a tight angle for a sharp finish. Casey Murphy started in goal, making a number of clutch saves to keep South Korea off of the scoresheet.
But the biggest moment of the game belonged to Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes, who scored in her first-ever USWNT cap.
The teenager was immediately mobbed by her teammates — including most of the US bench — in celebration as nearly 20,000 fans gave her a standing ovation. Just a few days shy of her 17th birthday, Yohannes is the third-youngest to score for the national team and the youngest player to make her debut since USWNT legend Kristine Lilly took the field for the first time in 2001.
16-YEAR-OLD LILY YOHANNES WITH A GOAL IN HER USWNT DEBUT
— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) June 5, 2024
(Via @USWNT)
pic.twitter.com/nJJ1GZhHKP
Yohannes is likely on the Olympic roster bubble, but is of great interest to the US as a talented connecting midfielder. But having been born in Virginia before moving to Amsterdam as a child, Yohannes could still possibly decide to play for the Netherlands national team.
Hayes will be making final roster decisions in the coming weeks, setting the Paris-bound squad up for two send-off friendlies at the end of July. 18 players will make the official Olympic roster, alongside four alternates for training purposes and in case of injury.
The USWNT’s first match of the Emma Hayes era went off with a bang as the team beat South Korea 4-0 on Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
In the game, forward Mallory Swanson had a brace, scoring her first two goals for the US since returning from a torn patellar tendon suffered last April. Defender Tierna Davidson also found the back of the net twice, with both goals coming off set pieces.
"Thirty percent of all tournament goals are scored from (set pieces), so it was an opportunity," Hayes told reporters after the game. "I’ve seen, historically, this program be good at it. I want to return to that, so we have to excel. And for me, that demand won’t decline."
The match also saw the return of Catarina Macario to the starting lineup for the first time since 2022. Macario has slowly been returning to action following an ACL tear, and had a hand in one of Davidson’s set piece goals on Saturday.
Despite the USWNT's success, there was one glaring omission from Saturday's lineup: Alex Morgan remained on the bench, with Hayes noting that she chose to rest the decorated forward as a precaution.
"[Morgan] felt yesterday — this is an important issue to raise — maybe stretching a little bit her pelvic area," she said. "I told her yesterday I'm not going to take any risks today, because I want her to play Tuesday."
As the team looks to cut the roster down to 18 players in preparation for July's Paris Olympics, a lot will have to be decided. But with her first game as head coach in the books, Hayes is looking confidently to the future.
"I don’t feel relief. I feel re-energized," Hayes said. "I want to coach this group and they want to be coached. You can see we’re building something.
"There’s lots of work to do. There’s lots of holes in our play, no question, but it was a good start."
The San Diego Wave are without some key players, and they don’t expect to get them back anytime soon.
Alex Morgan, Sofia Jakobsson, Melanie Barcenas, Abby Dahlkemper, and Naomi Girma are all currently on the team’s injury list. On Monday, head coach Casey Stoney was asked if she expected any of them to return to the pitch in the near future.
"No, unfortunately not," was her response. The Wave is set to play Utah on Wednesday.
While Stoney hasn't yet provided anything else definitive, absences from Morgan and Girma leave behind a pretty big hole in the team roster, particularly with the Olympics — not to mention the preceding USWNT send-off friendlies — just around the corner. Morgan has been sidelined with ankle trouble since the team's late April match against Orlando, while Girma’s first game on the injury list was against Seattle.
Stoney, however, has said that the Wave doesn’t play any differently with or without the missing players.
"It doesn’t really affect the way we play," she said following the team’s recent loss to Seattle. "We just needed to have more patience. We still had some senior players out there tonight that could have impacted that and needed to impact that and did in the second half."
San Diego currently sits in 10th place with seven points, having won two games in their last five matches.
USWNT stalwart Alex Morgan will miss at least one week of NWSL action after suffering a left ankle knock in her last club appearance, Wave manager Casey Stoney said on Thursday.
Morgan was helped off the field after rolling her ankle in the later stages of the Wave’s 1-0 loss to the Orlando Pride last weekend, despite the San Diego side being out of available substitutes.
“She's got an ankle injury and she's out for this weekend, and then it'll be week by week from there,” Stoney said, confirming that Morgan’s been ruled out for Saturday’s showdown with NWSL newcomer Bay FC.
Depending on its severity, Morgan’s ankle issue might have larger ramifications than missing a few weeks of NSWL play. Morgan was added to the team's Gold Cup roster after an ACL injury sidelined young striker Mia Fishel, and she's since made a number of USWNT starts in the team's Gold Cup and SheBelieves wins. A long-term injury could potentially derail the center forward’s Olympic plans.
With her return timeline uncertain, it's possible the injury could also impact Morgan's ability to participate in new head coach Emma Hayes' first U.S. friendlies in June and July.
Morgan's injury concerns aren't uncommon in the U.S. player pool, but add a sense of urgency as Hayes eyes the NWSL for top-performing players in the upcoming weeks. Gotham's Tierna Davidson and Rose Lavelle have also been dealing with injuries: Lavelle has yet to appear for Gotham, while Davidson exited last weekend's match early with a hamstring injury.
Gotham has yet to issue an update concerning Davidson's status.
Alex Morgan was named to the FIFA FIFpro Women’s World 11 for 2023 on Monday at The Best FIFA Football Award Ceremony.
It’s the sixth time that Morgan has been named to the World 11, and her third consecutive World 11 recognition. Morgan was also named to the World 11 in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
A total of 23 players were named as finalists for the award, including USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. Over 28,000 professional players around the world vote on the accolade. It’s the only global player award voted on exclusively by players.
Morgan started in all 15 USWNT games in 2023, scoring two goals and registering five assists. She also featured in her fourth women’s World Cup for the USWNT. In the NWSL, Morgan had seven goals and five assists through 19 appearances for San Diego Wave FC. She was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team for her NWSL season.
Two of Spain’s Women’s World Cup winners made the list – Aitana Bonmatí and Olga Carmona. Bonmatí was also named the women’s footballer of the year.
A total of seven England players made the World 11: Mary Earps, Alex Greenwood, Lucy Bronze, Ella Toone, Keira Walsh, Alessia Russo and Lauren James.
Morgan was the lone USWNT player on the list, with US Soccer Player of the Year Naomi Girma absent from the list of finalists entirely.
The U.S. women’s national team of 2023 is not the one most adult fans remember from their youth. But the USWNT that changed the world of soccer in the United States and beyond are still influencing the current American squad.
The youngest member of the 2023 World Cup team was then-18-year-old Alyssa Thompson. And she carries advice from veteran USWNT players with her today.
The USWNT’s group stage match with Portugal features in Nextflix’s docuseries about the club, “Under Pressure: The U.S Women’s National Team.” The match ended in a 0-0 draw and the World Cup ended without a victory for the U.S. But after the draw, veteran forward Alex Morgan gave a speech to the locker room that had a particular impact on Thompson, but was cut from the docuseries.
“I remember at the end of our Portugal game, Alex gave a really inspiring speech. It was just very scary, that game, and the result was obviously not what we wanted, but we got through so we were just thinking about the next game,” Thompson said to TheWrap. “But Alex gave a really inspiring speech about how there’s going to be so [much], a lot of talk about our performance, our game, what we need to do, blah, blah, blah. But it’s about the 23 players in the room and we have to protect each other, and just be here together and not listen to the outside noise.”
The result of the 2023 World Cup was not to the United State’s liking. The team did not advance past the round of 16, and they took a lot of public criticism for it — just as Morgan said they would.
Morgan’s speech prepared Thompson for the heat of the World Cup and for the aftermath of the tournament.
“I thought that was super important because there was so much people were saying, and knowing that your team has your back is the one thing that you need to win tournaments,” Thompson said. “It doesn’t matter what other people are saying. I felt after that we were so together. We were just ready to prove to other people, and to ourselves, [that] this is what we wanted, and these are the results that we need to get.”