Christen Press shared her “raw emotion” in the aftermath of her fourth knee surgery in 13 months as she continues her recovery from an ACL tear.

The U.S. women’s national team and Angel City FC forward tore her ACL in June 2022. Since then, she has had an “unfathomable” four surgeries — “one ACL repair, three scopes,” as she described on the latest episode of “The Re-Cap Show.”

The latest surgery came on July 18, and she remains hopeful it will bring a better result than the previous procedures. Still, she admitted the difficulty of coming to terms with a fourth surgery.

“The hardest thing about the news was really just like, the feeling of insanity,” she said to Tobin Heath. “Like how do we keep having a scope? Like how do we keep doing the same thing and expect a different result? And like the fear that starts to sink in of, well, this is just going to happen again.”

Still, she says she’s remained “incredibly optimistic” and has complete faith in her surgeon and physical therapy team.

“I believe every single time that I’m going to have the best outcome to the point where like now I’m like, I think I might be naive. Like, it’s too optimistic,” she said. “But that’s how I have to go into surgery to get through.”

Ahead of the surgery, Press took to Instagram to update fans on her status. While she had posted videos of herself training throughout the 2023 NWSL season, she had been told in February that an additional surgery might be required, she wrote. While Press still held out hope that she could play in the World Cup team for the USWNT, she did not recover in time to make the roster.

Yet while her journey has been, “on paper, an athlete’s recovery-nightmare,” Press remains upbeat about “the mountain” she has to climb to return to soccer.

“It’s been a week of highs and lows and all the things. I’m glad my post-surgical brain fog is subsiding,” she said on “The Re-Cap Show.”

“I think that I see myself as very in tune with my emotions. And also I see myself as very honest,” she said of her Instagram post. “I wanted to tell people how I was doing while I was doing it. … I thought it was a new perspective to say like, I have to have surgery, I’m sharing that I have to have surgery, not that I had a successful surgery. And just give a little bit of the raw emotion of what that was like.

“Literally, it was a couple days after we came from the doctor’s office. And we were trying to process how this could possibly be.”

Still, she admitted that the hardest part of her recovery has been dealing “with what everybody else thinks” and the swirl of news coverage surrounding her injury.

“That’s so weird to me. But I do it because I want to control my narrative,” she said. “And even though that’s why I’m doing it, I don’t get to control the narrative. So I put out this piece and my whole thing that I wanted to write was like, from the outside world, this looks like a recovery-nightmare. But I believe that I am living the dream because climbing the mountain is the dream. And that was really important to me to say.”

Alyssa Thompson’s face contorted in disgust during Angel City FC’s 0-0 draw Sunday with the Houston Dash. The culprit? HotShot, the spicy cramp prevention concoction wreaking havoc on NWSL taste buds.

The 18-year-old rookie was stretching out her right leg with help from an Angel City trainer late in the match. The trainer handed her a HotShot, which Thompson drank and then immediately regretted.

Billed as “muscle cramp supplement,” HotShot’s ingredients includes sugar and lime juice concentrate but also ginger extract, pepper abstract, sea salt and cassia oil. How does it work? The spicy shot of liquid stimulates the nerves in the athlete’s mouth, which then tricks the nerves in the rest of the body (including those causing the cramps) into stopping their signals.

Kansas City Current rookie Michelle Cooper, who tweeted the video of Thompson’s reaction, received her own unpleasant introduction to HotShot in her team’s 2-1 win Saturday against the Orlando Pride.

“I was just texting Alyssa before the game telling her how shocking that HotShot was. NOW SHE KNOWS!!” Cooper tweeted Sunday.

Thompson confirmed the text exchange between the rookies, though it did not prepare her.

“I texted her and I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve never had one of those, thank god. I won’t have one,’” Thompson told Equalizer’s Taylor Vincent after the match. “And then I just cramped up and my trainer was like, ‘You want it?’ And I was like, ‘No.’ And (then they told me), ‘You need to have it.’ So then I had it and it was really gross and I did not like it at all.”

Cooper agreed with Thompson’s assessment, tweeting of her own HotShot: “I don’t know if you guys have ever had one of those….but NEVER again.”

Angel City FC pulled off a thrilling victory on Saturday, rallying to defeat SoCal rival and top-ranked San Diego, 2-1, on the road at Snapdragon Stadium.

It was a statement win for 11th-ranked Angel City. After a poor showing during the first half of the NWSL season, the club fired head coach Freya Coombe on Thursday. Assistant Becki Tweed is serving as interim head coach until a replacement is selected.

“I think we just fed off her energy,” Angel City defender M.A. Vignola said of Tweed’s leadership. “She wanted us to play to our potential. We know what we have on the field. As teammates we know what we can do. She really brought it out of us. This past week of training was the most competitive training session we have had in two or three months.”

Stars of the game

All three goals in Saturday’s match were scored by defenders. San Diego got on the board first, with Kristen McNabb finding the back of the net in the 57th minute.

Paige Nielsen recorded the equalizer in the 70th minute, capitalizing on a corner kick, and Vignola scored the game-winner in the 89th minute to secure Angel City’s first win since April 2.

“We needed that one,” said Nielsen. “We knew that with the momentum, it would take the entire team to grind a game out. That is what we did today.”

“This being San Diego and being our first win in a while, it means a lot,” echoed Vignola. “A road win is always big. It being San Diego makes it so much better.”

Home away from home

Nielsen shouted out the Angel City fans who stuck with the team during their rough patch and traveled to San Diego for Saturday’s game.

“We have felt like people have given up on us. Seeing the fans in the stands was overwhelming,” she said.

San Diego head coach Casey Stoney said her side knew Angel City could be buoyed by their recent head coaching change.

“We spoke about the circumstances and we were very clear that when teams lose their manager, they bounce and they get a win,” Stoney said. “So it wasn’t something we were not prepared for.”

What’s next

With the win, Angel City (3-6-3) moved up one spot to 10th place in the NWSL standings. San Diego (6-4-2) fell from the top of the table to third after the North Carolina Courage and OL Reign each picked up points on Saturday to surpass the Wave.

Angel City and San Diego meet again in two weeks on June 28 — this time at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles for a Challenge Cup game. With NWSL players released for World Cup duty on the 26th, both teams’ lineups will look different at that point. The USWNT roster is slated to be announced this week; from San Diego, Naomi Girma, Taylor Kornieck, Alex Morgan, and Jaedyn Shaw are in contention for roster spots, while Angel City’s top hopefuls include Julie Ertz and Alyssa Thompson. San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan has already been named to Canada’s World Cup roster.

The two sides meet again on Aug. 5 — the same day the Round of 16 gets underway at the World Cup — for their second regular-season game.

Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave will face off Saturday in the latest edition of their cross-California rivalry match.

San Diego holds a 1-0 edge this season and a 3-1-1 advantage overall after their 2-0 win over Angel City in April. Their most recent meeting in San Diego last September drew an NWSL record 32,000 fans to Snapdragon Stadium. The Wave (6-3-2) enter the game in first place in the NWSL standings, Angel City (2-6-3) in 11th place and with an interim head coach after the club parted ways with Freya Coombe on Thursday.

While this marks the final regular-season match between the teams in 2023, two Challenge Cup games await, in Los Angeles on June 28 and in San Diego on Aug. 5.

Angel City vs. San Diego: How to watch

The rivalry game will take place at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local time) on Saturday, June 17. It will air on CBS and also stream online via CBS Sports.

Key players

Alyssa Thompson, Angel City FC

Thompson’s pro career has gotten off to a strong start. The 2023 No. 1 draft pick has created the second-most chances for Angel City, with 18 total shots so far this season. She’s also scored three goals, tied for the most on the team with Claire Emslie. Wherever she is on the field, San Diego should have eyes on Thompson, as letting the speedy 18-year-old go unchecked could lead to danger for the visiting team.

Didi Haračić, Angel City FC

In order for Angel City to have a shot against top-of-the-table San Diego, goalkeeper Haračić will need to be lights out against the likes of Jaedyn Shaw, Alex Morgan and Sofia Jakobsson. While she has allowed 21 goals this season, she has faced 59 shots on target and registered a 71.2% save percentage. Angel City, currently in 11th place on the NWSL table, could use an outstanding performance from Haračić. She has kept her team in games of late, with their three most recent losses ending in a one-goal difference.

Jaedyn Shaw, San Diego Wave

Shaw’s passing abilities and goal-scoring prowess make her a rising star for San Diego. Her three goals are the second-most on the team behind Alex Morgan, and she’s been a key fixture in creating chances for her team when she’s not the one scoring. Head coach Casey Stoney called the 18-year-old’s vision among the best she has seen. Shaw could be a sleeper pick for a USWNT World Cup spot this summer and a future national team mainstay.

Naomi Girma, San Diego Wave

The reigning NWSL Rookie and Defender of the Year, Naomi Girma comes into the game with a brand-new contract that will keep her in San Diego through 2026. The reasons for that contract are clear: Girma is one of the best players the Wave have in their arsenal of talent. (And that is not a knock on the Wave but a credit to Girma — after all, San Diego features Alex Morgan, Sofia Jakobsson and other stars on its roster.) The future of the USWNT defense, Girma is an elite passer (with an astounding 86.2% completion rate, good for third in the league) and a lockdown defender (with 5.0 clearances per 90, also third in the league).

X-factors

Angel City FC

Control the transitional attack and maintain possession. Angel City has had good ball possession this season — they just haven’t managed to put together all of the pieces. Despite 36 shots on target, they’ve scored just 13 goals. They’ve also put up 149 total shots and, at some point, need them to find the back of the net. San Diego’s stats look fairly similar, with 16 goals on 44 shots on target. Can Angel City finally find an offensive breakthrough?

San Diego Wave

Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan is tied for the league lead with five clean sheets. She’s had help from a strong defense, but those shutouts are also just the sign of a good goalie. Their offensive stars similarly have helped propel them to the top of the league, led by Alex Morgan’s five goals. But when they lose, they tend to lose big. Limiting Angel City’s attack will be key if San Diego wants to walk away with the win.

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It’s difficult to imagine a single NWSL game between two expansion sides having more hype than the first-ever match between the San Diego Wave and Los Angeles’ Angel City FC last season.

But as Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill remembers it, the SoCal rivalry didn’t actually begin until their first game had been played. The first match in the organizations’ history — a Challenge Cup group stage game in March 2022 — felt a bit like preseason, with neither team yet settled into their current home stadiums.

“Going into it, it didn’t feel as much of a rivalry game,” McCaskill said. That is, until the result on the field had both teams walking away ready for round two.

Angel City thought they had the match won after McCaskill’s header found the back of the net in the 49th minute, the first goal in club history. But a late equalizer by Wave defender Kaleigh Riehl produced a 1-1 draw that felt to Angel City more like a loss.

“How that game unfolded, with us scoring first and then them getting the tying goal, they left us feeling like we really wanted to beat them,” McCaskill said.

The teams have now met five times in front of raucous crowds — San Diego has won three of those games, including the most recent two, while L.A. has earned one win and one draw. Angel City has a shot at redemption against their rivals on Saturday in San Diego, after falling at home in their first matchup this season, 2-0.

For McCaskill, the wins make all the difference. Growing up in South Carolina and staying in-state to play four years at the University of South Carolina, she hails from a region known for some of the most deep-seated rivalries in American sports.

“If you go to USC or you’re a South Carolina fan, you hate Clemson. I guess it’s in your DNA,” she said. “Didn’t matter if they were good that year, bad that year, didn’t matter. It was always a very heated rivalry game full of emotion, full of craziness, every single time we played them.”

After joining the NWSL in 2018, McCaskill had fewer chances to develop rivalry experiences. Drafted by the Boston Breakers — who then promptly folded — the 26-year-old played for Sky Blue (now Gotham) FC, the Chicago Red Stars and Racing Louisville before joining Angel City’s inaugural expansion roster.

McCaskill’s journey through the league before finding a home in L.A. allowed her to form a tight-knit yet widespread group of friends. Now, she’s used to facing former teammates on the other side of the pitch, which can make the intensity of a match a bit more personal.

“There’s something about beating your friends, it’s kind of fun,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that’s mean, but it’s kind of fun to be able to play against your friends and have that banter back and forth.”

While they take care of business on the field, Angel City’s players want to leave the naming of the SoCal derby up to the fans, who have quickly taken ownership of the rivalry. With regional proximity still an NWSL rarity, supporters take advantage of the quick trip out of town to show up in droves. Angel City is expecting hundreds of supporters to make the drive to San Diego’s Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday.

The fan support has never wavered, but Angel City has struggled on the pitch this season, managing only two wins in 11 regular season matches. The Wave have forged a different path so far, rising to the top of the NWSL standings after becoming the first expansion side to make the playoffs in their inaugural season in 2022.

“I think we have got to show up, we have to do the dirty work well, we have to compete, we have to want to get into tackles,” McCaskill said, describing a gritty ability to close out games that became a team ethos in 2022 but has eluded Angel City in recent weeks.

The squad has no choice but to look at the derby as a step toward turning their season around. But they also understand what getting a win over a close rival would mean to Angel City’s fans.

“They really build on the huge rivalry piece and bring so much emotion and honor to us as players,” McCaskill said. “Why we’re competing and why the game really means so much is because it means so much to our supporters and the city of Los Angeles.”

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McCaskill credits the passion of the SoCal rivalry to the fans. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)

The NWSL veteran says putting up a fight will go a long way toward achieving the ultimate goal, regardless of the result. And for McCaskill personally, winning would erase a piece of recent history that still haunts her.

“It’s no secret, I missed my (penalty) the last time we were down there this last year,” she said, referring to goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan’s diving save on her 74th-minute penalty kick in a 1-0 loss last September. “So, I would love to be able to score in that stadium and get that monkey off my back.”

Like any good playmaker, McCaskill can remember both the goals scored and the chances missed. In a match of this magnitude, she’s hoping for more memories that will help build a passionate rivalry for years to come.

“I’m all for a goal that makes the crowd go crazy,” she said. “And even better, to take it a step further, if your team scores a goal and the other team’s supporters have to clap for you because it was that good — that’s a crazy moment.”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.

Last season, Sierra Enge watched the San Diego Wave take on Angel City FC in September as a fan. She turned on the TV and cheered for both the Wave and the attendance record that the teams were hoping to break.

For Enge, it was an important night in women’s soccer. The sellout crowd of 32,000 fans shattered the NWSL single-game attendance record, and Enge watched her hometown team — one that several of her friends played for — secure a victory over their in-state rival in their first game at Snapdragon Stadium.

“I was like, ‘Wow.’ It just shows how much women’s sports are growing and how much San Diego is just supporting the growth of it,” Enge said.

That moment was big.

This one is bigger.

Enge, who grew up in San Diego County, is now playing for her hometown team and experiencing the rivalry with Angel City firsthand.

The Wave played in Los Angeles earlier this season, coming away with a 2-0 victory on April 23. On Saturday, the two clubs square off at Snapdragon Stadium for their second regular-season meeting of the year. San Diego is coming into the game on a five-match unbeaten streak and in first place in the NWSL standings, while Angel City is looking to find its footing after dropping to 11th.

“I’m just excited to be a part of it,” Enge said of the rivalry. “I feel like just the attendance and the hype around this game last year was so incredible. And then when we played Angel City earlier this season on the road, you can just tell that there’s kind of a different energy around the game.”

From growing up in Cardiff, a beach community located 22 miles from San Diego, most of Enge’s soccer memories and experiences are based in California. Before being drafted 13th overall by the Wave in January, the midfielder played college soccer at Stanford. There, Enge remembers batting Santa Clara in “emotionally driven” matches. She says Stanford didn’t have a clear rival like San Diego does with L.A., but the battles with the Broncos in California were always intense.

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Enge won an NCAA Championship with Stanford in 2019. (AI Chang/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

“Any time you play against a rival it’s just fun because you know all the girls on the team so well, and it’s that way with Angel City,” she said. “The better you know a team, sometimes the more fired up you can be.

“It’s one of those games where you are a little bit more nervous before, and the first five minutes of the game are probably a little bit chaotic, but after that it is just a great environment.”

Enge has added motivation every time she takes the field for San Diego. Growing up, she never dreamed that her hometown would have a professional women’s soccer team. But San Diego has always been a hotbed for soccer talent, and even now, several of her teammates played with or against her at the club and college levels.

“Southern California in general is just such a hot spot for soccer,” Enge said. “And the ability to be able to challenge yourself every day and play against better players and get yourself out of your comfort zone is something that I think is pretty unique at the youth soccer level. It’s definitely something that you don’t get all over the country.”

Like most aspiring soccer players, Enge spent her formative years watching the U.S. women’s national team. Back then, she didn’t know of any other ways to play professional soccer. Then, she learned about the NWSL and started following the best players in the country.

When she was drafted by the Wave, Enge received a warm welcome from Alex Morgan, another California native and a player she had long watched and admired.

Enge has made a point to soak up every bit of advice Morgan gives her, from how to be a professional to how to stay patient during the challenges of a rookie season. The 23-year-old has started all five regular-season matches she’s appeared in so far for San Diego, playing a full 90 minutes in four of them and scoring her first NWSL goal last month.

“I’ve been trying to learn as much as I can from her, because she excels in every aspect of being a female athlete,” Enge said of Morgan.

“Honestly, if you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be teammates with Alex Morgan, I would have said, ‘There is no way.’ But it’s been such a special experience.”

Eden Laase is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @eden_laase.

The latest episode of the NWSL’s SoCal rivalry kicks off this Saturday, June 17, when the San Diego Wave host Angel City FC at Snapdragon Stadium. San Diego, unbeaten in five straight matches, currently leads the NWSL standings. Meanwhile, Angel City is looking for a statement win after hitting a midseason rough patch, going winless in their last five regular season matches.

Ahead of the game, here is a brief overview of the history of the rivalry and what’s at stake.

Angel City vs. San Diego: How they got here

Angel City FC made waves when it was first announced as an NWSL expansion franchise in July 2020.

From the start, the club sought to shake up traditional ownership structures, launching with a majority female ownership group and a long list of celebrity investors. That group is led by actress Natalie Portman, entrepreneur Julie Uhrman and venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Alexis Ohanian. Other founding team members include tennis legend Serena Williams, WNBA star Candace Parker, actresses Jennifer Garner and Jessica Chastain, and former U.S. women’s national team players Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy and Abby Wambach.

San Diego Wave FC first came into the mix in June 2021, when the NWSL announced the southern California city as the location for an expansion team owned by Ron Burkle. It didn’t take long for the team to make a few high-profile additions, appointing two-time World Cup champion coach Jill Ellis as club president, hiring Casey Stoney as head coach and acquiring USWNT stars Abby Dahlkemper and Alex Morgan.

In 2022, the Wave had the most successful inaugural season for an expansion team in NWSL history. They were not only the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their first year after finishing third in the regular-season standings, but also the first to host and win a playoff game. In addition, San Diego nearly swept the end-of-season individual awards: Stoney was named Coach of the Year, Kailen earned Sheridan Goalkeeper of the Year and Naomi Girma took home Defender of the Year and Rookie of the Year. Morgan also finished first in the Golden Boot race with 15 goals.

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Alex Morgan leads San Diego in goals scored this season with five. (Orlando Ramirez/USA TODAY Sports)

Head-to-head results

Since San Diego and Angel City began play in the NWSL in 2022, the two sides have met five times total, including three times during the regular season. Here is their head-to-head history:

  • March 19, 2022 (Challenge Cup): 1-1 draw
  • April 2, 2022 (Challenge Cup): San Diego won 4-2
  • July 9, 2022: Angel City won 2-1
  • September 17, 2022: San Diego won 1-0
  • April 23, 2023: San Diego won 2-0

San Diego and Angel City have drawn huge crowds for their rivalry games. San Diego broke the NWSL attendance record in the team’s debut game at Snapdragon Stadium in September 2022 when 32,000 fans packed the stands to watch the Wave win 1-0. Sellout crowds of 22,000 fans also attended both of the Angel City-hosted games at BMO Stadium.

What they’ve said about the rivalry

After the teams’ first meeting of the year, a 2-0 win for San Diego in April, players and coaches spoke about the budding rivalry and its importance in the women’s soccer landscape. Julie Ertz made her debut with Angel City in that game after signing with the club on April 17. On Saturday, the USWNT midfielder will be more game-ready after having played in six matches across all competitions.

Wave head coach Casey Stoney: “I think the rivalry is fantastic. I love it. It’s amazing to have this derby, the fact we don’t have to go on a plane and it’s a local derby, I think the fans really get behind it. I think it’s exciting for the players. It adds a little bit of an edge.”

Wave defender Naomi Girma: “I think it’s always good to win a rivalry (game). It’s only our second year in the league, us and L.A. (Angel City), but I think this has already become one of the biggest rivalries in the league, so it’s a really good feeling to come to this stadium, great atmosphere, great fans and to come away with the win.”

Angel City midfielder Savannah McCaskill: “It’s exciting that we have another SoCal team because we can create this derby effect. Rivalry games are fun, it’s something that you step up to the plate for.

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Alyssa Thompson has been a revelation for Angel City after being drafted No. 1 overall. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports)

2023 Women’s World Cup Preview

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is just around the corner and this will be one of the last chances for U.S. players to make a case for selection before USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski names his roster later this month.

From San Diego, American players in contention include defender Naomi Girma, midfielder Taylor Kornieck, forward Alex Morgan, and forward/midfielder Jaedyn Shaw, while Angel City’s top hopefuls include midfielder Julie Ertz and forward Alyssa Thompson.

Meanwhile, San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan has already been named to Canada’s World Cup roster.

How to watch Angel City vs. San Diego Wave

If you won’t be watching in-person at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday, you can catch the game on CBS (1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET).

Sydney Leroux made her long-awaited return to Angel City FC in Monday’s match against the Chicago Red Stars, and she marked the occasion with a goal in her first game back from an ankle injury.

While Angel City fell 2-1, Leroux provided a bright spot for the club in front of their home crowd.

The 33-year-old forward entered as a substitute in the 75th minute, then scored 13 minutes later to get her team on the scoreboard. The goal was her first since May 2022, her first with Angel City and her 40th career NWSL goal.

Leroux said she knew she was “gonna get there first” when it came to chasing down the ball from Alyssa Thompson, who was credited with the assist on the goal.

Angel City FC acquired Leroux in a trade last June, but she played just three matches with the club before missing the rest of the season with an ankle injury. She underwent surgery for the injury last summer, and she called her return nine months later “super emotional.”

“It meant a lot to me,” Leroux said of the goal and of her return. “It’s definitely been an emotional year. I didn’t know if I would be able to put on this jersey again and be able to play the way that I know I can play. 

“So to come on, to feel like I’m back, to not have any issues and to play without pain was really special. We wish that the score was a little different, but I think we showed that we can play tough and that’s what we need to do, but for 90 minutes plus.”

She also got to share the moment with her two children, who were with her on the pitch after the game. 

“They were such a huge part of my journey coming back,” Leroux said. “We spent a lot of days where they were really helpful. It was really special to share that with them. And, when I scored, [Cassius Leroux] started crying. It’s the most special thing to share that with them tonight.”

While Leroux will remain on a minutes restriction to ensure a safe return, per coach Freya Coombe, her presence provides a boost for Angel City.

Injuries have taken a toll on the U.S. women’s national team as the reigning world champions prepare for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The roster is coming into shape, and while several players are still working their way back to 100%, head coach Vlatko Andonovski has made it clear that he’ll take the best even if they’re not at their best.

“What is someone’s best and what is someone’s 80% or 90%?” he said. “If somebody’s 80% or 90% is better than somebody else’s best, then too bad. Anyone that will help us win the World Cup will be taken to the World Cup.”

So who are those players? Just Women’s Sports is taking a look at who is making their  case for the World Cup. Next up: Julie Ertz.

Julie Ertz

Position: Midfielder
Total caps: 118
Most recent USWNT appearance: April 11, 2023 vs. Ireland (International friendly)

What is the case for Ertz on the USWNT roster?

Ertz made her return to the USWNT in April and almost immediately made an impact. She looked like she hadn’t missed any time with the team, providing a boost in a midfield that has at times struggled in her absence as players moved to fill the hole she left.

The 31-year-old midfielder had been rehabbing a knee injury, and then she gave birth to a baby boy last August with husband Zach Ertz. She had not played an NWSL match since May 2021.

So her inclusion came as a surprise to nearly everyone, as many had expected her to miss this summer’s tournament – especially after coach Vlatko Andonovski said in February that the team was “probably not going to be able to count on [her] in the World Cup.” But she did make her comeback, and it was a sight to behold.

Very few USWNT players fit the role of a true No. 6, and outside of Ertz, Andonosvki has been unable to find a player who can consistently hold down the spot. While Andi Sullivan has covered Ertz’s role to the best of her abilities, being able to slot Sullivan alongside Ertz only makes the USWNT better, as both can focus on their natural skill sets.

Since making her USWNT return, Ertz has signed with Angel City FC and has been getting crucial game minutes in the NWSL, though there have been moments where Ertz has lacked sharpness. In recent appearances with Angel City, she’s scored one goal while holding a 63.2% completion rate on passes. She had 10 interceptions each in matches against Portland and Washington but won just 40 percent of her duels in those games.

Even if Ertz isn’t back to full speed, though, Andonovski has hinted that he would include her on the World Cup roster. That, combined with Catarina Macario’s recent withdrawal from USWNT consideration, makes Ertz a very likely choice for a trip to Australia and New Zealand. And even with Ertz at 80%, the USWNT might not be able to win the World Cup without her.

If there’s one possible takeaway from the first quarter of the 2023 NWSL season, it’s that the next generation of stars may have arrived a little early. With both salaries and endorsement opportunities rising to make professional soccer an increasingly viable career move, more and more players are forgoing college to jump right into life as a pro.

Up until 2021, the NWSL had barred players under 18 years old from signing with a club. Since then, the league has seen multiple teenagers join the league, including Thorns midfielder Olivia Moultrie, who took the NWSL to court over the age rule when she was 15.

These NWSL teenagers are doing more than just getting acclimated to their surroundings — they’re some of the most exciting performers in the league, and could be the foundation of the future of the U.S. women’s national team.

Alyssa Thompson, 18, Angel City FC

Alyssa Thompson isn’t the first player to forgo college to enter the NWSL draft, after Trinity Rodman did so in 2021 when she was 18 years old. Though Thompson never ended up playing for Stanford, the program she committed to, she was selected by Angel City FC as the No. 1 overall pick in 2023.

Thompson’s decision to make the jump to the pros has been an early example of opportunity meeting preparation. The teenager looks poised to earn a spot on the USWNT roster for the 2023 World Cup in the absence of Mallory Swanson, who tore her patella tendon last month.

Thompson possesses blistering speed with the ball at her feet and has looked comfortable as the center-point of the Angel City attack, having been thrown into the role as the team awaits the return of a number of veterans from injury. Her ability to finish is far beyond her years, as exemplified with her goal from a tight angle in Los Angeles’ 3-2 win over the Kansas City Current this past weekend.

Olivia Moultrie, 17, Portland Thorns

The avenues that currently exist for teenagers to enter the NWSL likely wouldn’t exist if Olivia Moultrie hadn’t pushed the league forward in the first place. Moultrie made waves in 2019 when she gave up her college eligibility to sign with Nike and train with the Thorns at the age of 13.

Her road to playing league games for the Thorns was a bit longer, as Moultrie successfully sued the NWSL to allow her to join Portland’s roster in 2021. Since her debut, the midfielder has grown accustomed to the league’s physicality, becoming a player who can break lines with a single pass. She’s also become more trusting of her own field vision, trying higher risk passes and shots. That skill was on full display against the North Carolina Courage on Saturday, when she scored a fantastic equalizer from distance to salvage a point in a 3-3 draw.

“I think by the point that I was finally able to play, I just kind of felt ready for that moment,” she said after Saturday’s match. “I had been building and preparing for so long that I just didn’t even need to think about it anymore.”

Jaedyn Shaw, 18, San Diego Wave

Jaedyn Shaw also took a unique path to playing professional soccer, requiring an exception to the NWSL’s discovery rules to join the Wave in the middle of the 2022 season. Shaw had been training with the Washington Spirit for seven months before San Diego exercised a discovery bid to send the then-17-year-old to the West Coast.

Providing versatility to the San Diego offense, in tandem with the scoring prowess of Alex Morgan, Shaw scored a goal in each of her first three games as a professional in 2022 and has already matched that total in 2023. Shaw grew up playing futsal, the small-side indoor version of the sport that prioritizes technicality, and it shows in her innate ability to make defenders miss.

Shaw can play as a No. 10, a false No. 9 or a straight-up central attacker, and her interplay with her teammates is as underrated as her scoring ability is obvious. On numerous occasions, she’s earned praise from Wave head coach Casey Stoney, who noted her as a player to watch before the season even began.

Chloe Ricketts, 15, Washington Spirit

Ricketts signed a three-year contract with the Washington Spirit roster after training with the team in the 2023 preseason. Ricketts was the first player to sign with an NWSL club under the league’s new U-18 entry mechanism, which allows NWSL teams to sign players under the age of 18 with the consent of a parent or guardian.

Rather than deferring to discovery rights, which could subject a player to traveling across the country or an entry draft of some kind, current U-18 signees have a certain amount of protection from the NWSL’s parity rules. They can’t be traded or waived as a minor without parental consent, and they’re immune from any expansion drafts before they turn 18.

Those protections are key, as the NWSL has reckoned with player safety measures for a number of years. U-18 players must also live with a parent or guardian during the duration of the season with their NWSL club. Ricketts has thrived in the Spirit’s system as a creative midfielder, looking strong in multiple substitute appearances.

Melanie Barcenas, 15, San Diego Wave

Barcenas is currently the youngest player to ever see the field in an NWSL game, beating out Ricketts by a number of days after entering the league through the same U-18 mechanism. The Wave have made it clear that they don’t want to place undue pressure on the 15-year-old, who so far has made two regular-season appearances as a late-game substitute.

Barcenas’ development with the Wave is fitting for the San Diego native, who spoke at the team’s launch announcement as a 13-year-old.

“I think it’s really awesome to see opportunities for girls my age and generations after to have an opportunity to represent their own hometown team,” she said in 2021.

“She’s creative and she’s an exceptional talent. She’s still obviously only 15, so we need to look after her,” Casey Stoney said after her debut on April 29. “I think she’s a player that’s going to get people off their seats and a player that people want to come watch. It’s an exciting future for her.”

Claire Watkins is a Staff Writer at Just Women’s Sports. Follow her on Twitter @ScoutRipley.