This weekend's NWSL headliner is by far Friday's highly anticipated rematch between Orlando and Kansas City. Fresh off of clinching a playoff berth, the still-undefeated Pride will host a third-place KC squad hungry to hand Orlando their first loss of the season.
The Current have a particular axe to grind: When the pair first met on July 6th, Orlando snapped KC's own 17-match unbeaten run — one that dated back to 2023.
Current to lean on NWSL leading goal-scorer Chawinga
Seemingly on the rebound, Kansas City followed three straight losses with a 1-0 win over 13th-place Utah last weekend.
To contend with Pride sharpshooter Barbra Banda, however, the Current will rely on NWSL top-scorer Temwa Chawinga, who's now just four goals shy of breaking the league's Golden Boot record.
Bay FC on the rise in NWSL standings
While KC and Orlando strive to maintain their grip on the NWSL standings, newcomer Bay FC is climbing the table with impressive pace.
The 2024 expansion club started the season at 2-0-6, but a slate of wins against higher-table teams has rocketed them to seventh place — thanks in no small part to recent addition Abby Dahlkemper, who helped San Diego become the first expansion team to make the playoffs in their 2022 inaugural season.
However, the San Jose side's end-of-season schedule is a gauntlet, with five of seven remaining games against top-table clubs, including tomorrow's attempt to break the fifth-place Courage’s 18-match home unbeaten streak in North Carolina.
NWSL sets new single-season attendance record
Breakout talent and cutthroat clashes have led the NWSL to a new single-season attendance record, surpassing a total of 1.5 million fans last weekend. And with seven matchdays left, the league is on track to break the 2 million mark by the end of the regular season.
NWSL chaos reigned supreme this weekend, as lower-table teams walked away victorious in five out of seven matches.
Even Sunday’s 1-1 draw between second-place Washington and 12th-place San Diego was a lopsided affair, as Wave defender Kristen McNabb received credit for both goals.
The only expected result was Orlando’s 2-0 win over fourth-place Gotham on Sunday. With the victory, the Pride remains atop the standings while extending their record winning streak to 19.
Courage adds to Kansas City's loss count
On a streak of their own, now-fifth-place North Carolina added an 18th match to their home unbeaten stretch — one that dates back to 2023 — with Sunday’s 2-1 win over third-place Kansas City. The loss is KC’s third in a row, a marked departure after going undefeated through their first 15 games.
The Current's goal was unsurprisingly notched by Golden Boot race-leader Temwa Chawinga, who now sits two goals ahead of Orlando’s Barbra Banda with 14 on the season — four shy of tying ex-NWSL star Sam Kerr’s single-season record.
Mid-table movement heats up NWSL playoff race
This weekend’s upsets shook the mid-table, proving that securing a playoff berth won't be an easy task.
On Friday, Bay FC beat Portland 3-1, lifting the now-eighth-place expansion team over the postseason cutoff line while stalling the sixth-place Thorns at 27 points for the third straight week.
Extending their unbeaten streak to six matches, 11th-place Seattle defeated a restructured Louisville 3-2 on Saturday. Then on Sunday, striker Sydney Leroux’s stoppage-time winner delivered ninth-place Angel City a 2-1 win over Chicago.
With just eight regular-season matches to go, a slim four points now separate the seventh-place Red Stars from 10th-place Louisville.
International Soccer Summer isn’t over quite yet, with Bay FC hosting FC Barcelona tonight in the first of the storied Spanish side's two-match US friendly tour.
The reigning European champions will round out their trip against the just-launched USL Super League's Dallas Trinity DC in Texas on Friday.
NWSL expansion team Bay FC no stranger to bold moves
Inviting a club of Barça’s caliber for a midseason friendly is just the latest in a series of bold moves by the new NWSL franchise. The club has been all-in from the start, one-upping a record-setting expansion fee to bring the NWSL to the Bay Area before shelling out a world-record transfer fee for Zambian forward Rachael Kundananji in February.
At 10th-place in the standings with nine matches left, Bay FC is within striking distance of the NWSL's eight-team postseason cutoff. If they can close that gap, they'll become just the second expansion team to make the playoffs in their first season.
Ex-Barcelona standout Oshoala faces her former club
Tonight's match will likely feature Nigerian striker Asisat Oshoala, who joined Bay FC in February after five seasons with Barcelona. The six-time African Player of the Year helped the Spanish club to four Liga F trophies and two Champions League titles. She remains their fourth all-time leading scorer with 117 goals in 162 appearances.
When asked about playing her old team, Oshoala told reporters, "It will be weird. I hope I don’t pass it to the wrong team thinking this is my teammate. But it will be fun, I’m excited they will be here."
How to watch Bay FC play Barcelona on Thursday
Catch the international club friendly between Bay FC and Barcelona tonight at 10 PM ET, with live streaming coverage on ESPN+.
FC Barcelona forward Asisat Oshoala is joining the NWSL, signing with expansion side Bay FC through 2026 with an option for 2027. A proven winner, she brings a knack for goalscoring and the ability to connect with her playmakers that creates a more complete attack for the club.
“She brings a top-class mentality to the field combined with pace and technical ability that allows her to lead the line, while also giving those players around her the license to be creative and thrive in space,” Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton said in a team statement.
With Bay FC already in preseason, Oshoala has wasted no time arriving in camp, and is settling in with her new club in Santa Barbara. The move presents a new leap of faith for the 29-year-old, who has never shied away from pursuing new challenges.
“I’ve stayed a long time in Europe, it’s the longest I’ve stayed anywhere,” she tells Just Women’s Sports prior to Thursday’s announcement. “I’ve played in different continents and all that, and I just feel like I would love to try elsewhere maybe one more time, one more change to see how that feels.”
Fans in the U.S. might know Oshoala from Nigeria’s scintillating run at the 2023 World Cup, or perhaps as the first African woman to win the Champions League with Barcelona in 2021. She’s had multiple record seasons with the Spanish champions, most notably tying for first in scoring in Liga F in 2021/22. But even before she found a home in Barcelona, she’s always had the mindset that change is a positive, and diversity of experience is a strength.
After getting her professional start in Nigeria as a teenager, Oshoala transferred to Liverpool in the WSL when she was just 20 years old. After a stint at Arsenal, she transferred to the Chinese club Dalian, winning the golden boot and two league championships there.
She went into her experience in China completely blind to the footballing culture, but came out of her time there a more well-rounded player with valuable experience. “I was just willing to take the risk, and I totally loved it,” she says.
It’s with a similarly open mind that she met with Bay FC head coach Albertin Montoya, who presented to her a new experience that she felt she could get excited about. “I feel like everyone wants to be a part of something beautiful, something amazing,” she says.
“The project that this club is trying to build is really on the high side, the challenge is also it’s more or less a risk for me … because of where I’m coming from, the style of football, the environment and everything. It’s a big change, it’s a huge change for me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take as well.”
“If you don’t leave your comfort zone, sometimes you don’t get to achieve certain things,” she continues. “It’s very important to understand this, and at this point in my career, I won’t think I’m really scared to make big changes.”
The comfort zone (and winning culture) of Barcelona doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon, something that Oshoala admits gave her pause when she was considering her options for the future. She’s won basically every possible trophy with the club, and she leaves mid-season with Barcelona poised for even more success. She considered putting her decision off for a little while.
“It was hard,” she says. “Walking away from that was difficult. Where can I go from that — you just don’t know where you can be that can actually be better than where you are at the moment.”
But then the questions she asked herself became more personal, outside of winning soccer games. “Sometimes you have to tell yourself, okay, apart from trophies, what do you have currently, what else is there for you?” she says. “These are the questions I asked myself, these are the questions I had deep conversations with my family.”
Oshoala brings up the Asisat Oshoala Academy, and the girls there who want to follow in her footsteps towards professional footballing careers. She hopes that her move to the NWSL shows young players in Nigeria that a number of different continents could be in their future.
“You want to think about the younger generations coming up,” she says. “You want to think about the African players who can actually get more opportunities to come into this league. You want to encourage these girls to also come here as well.”
As for what awaits her on the field, Oshoala is still in the early stages of acclimating to Bay FC’s style of play, but even in initial meetings with coaching staff she felt she understood a clear vision. “Albertin is a very professional person, he is funny, can be funny as well,” she says with a laugh.
“He’s a person who knows what he wants, and how he wants to play,” she continues. “And I actually like that he wants to keep the ball. They want to play a different style of football compared to what the league is actually used to and all of that. I just feel like I want to be a part of something like that from the scratches, where I don’t mind the risk behind it.”
Her signing represents the promise of a larger sea change in the NWSL, where top coaching talents (like Oshoala’s Barcelona manager Jonatan Giráldez) are eager to usher in a new era of tactical nuance that retains the league’s competitiveness while sharpening technicality. Possession-style football has at times been easier to discuss than actually implement in the NWSL, but 2024 could see more clubs than ever trying to marry a more technical style with the league’s established speed of play.
Oshoala is coming in without many pre-formed opinions on the NWSL’s style. “I never had the interest to play in America, to be honest with you,” she says. “I used to say that — not because I don’t like the league or something — I usually don’t really follow like that because of the time difference. I was never so interested or invested in it, but recently my mind changed. I saw a couple of players here, you know, and then I started following them because I’ve got friends as well who play here.”
She now sees playing in front of American crowds to be an opportunity for brand-building, and she’s clear that she both wants and expects Bay FC to contend for a playoff spot in their first year.
“I’m not going to expect the same level of performance from my teammates compared to that of where I’m coming from,” she says. “But I’m ready to kind of go for it. I’m ready to fight for them, fight for each other, go out there, have each other’s back and tell ourselves it’s our first year and we really want to reach the playoffs.”
“You want everyone to feel like we’re not going to be an easy team to play. If you’re gonna get a point off of us, you can work for it.”
Off the field, Oshoala is happy that despite moving continents, she will still be near water, where she likes to go be by herself and switch off from football. On the field, the work begins to create a cohesive unit out of a newly-put-together expansion side.
“I feel like I’ve been there before, I’ve done that before and know how it turned out,” she says. “It’s not gonna be something easy, but it’s something that is achievable. And I’m a person who will just go for what I want. If I like it, I want to do it.”
Bay FC has revealed its first-ever uniform.
The kit is a white uniform, designed by Nike, with gray accents throughout. The Bay FC crest is on the top left corner, with an inaugural season patch on the bottom right. A pair of light gray shorts will accompany the jersey.
“I just think about what’s going to happen in those jerseys and the life these players are going to breathe into them, the things we’re going to see them do and celebrate with them,” co-owner Danielle Slaton told The Mercury News. “That’s what gives me goosebumps.”
Many had strong feelings about the kits, most questioning the decision to put gray on white. Some likened it to fog.
“All the team color ways popping off in the bay and they went with this 😭😭,” one person said. “change the team name to Fog FC and I’ll change my tune about this jersey.”
Others pointed to the fact that the NWSL is trending toward black and white kits, calling out Nike for the designs.
if you wanna hate nike even more get into women's sports pic.twitter.com/qAp7x3HXfz
— ugh (@838_carlisle) January 22, 2024
Bay FC is expected to sign Deyna Castellanos in the coming days, according to a report from Manchester World.
A number of reports have indicated that the Venezuelan forward is expected to depart Manchester City this January. While a number of clubs outside of the WSL have shown interest in the forward, NWSL club Bay FC is reportedly close to an agreement with the star.
🚨 Update on this one: I understand that the newly formed Bay FC are close to an agreement on Deyna Castellano.#MCWFC https://t.co/1oaw8ma1mA
— Graham Falk (@GrahamFalk) January 10, 2024
Castellanos has been with Manchester City since 2022, when she joined the club from Atlético Madrid. She played in 19 games for the club last season and has appeared in five so far this season.
A member of the Venezuelan national team, Castellanos has made 38 international appearances, scoring 22 goals. Castellanos played collegiately at Florida State before joining Atlético.
The signing would be a big splash for Bay FC, who have already added Mexican star Scarlett Camberos and striker Rachel Hill. Other NWSL clubs have been trying, to no avail, to get the Venezuelan star to the league.
Bay FC also have the No. 2 pick in the NWSL draft on Friday.
The NWSL offseason is heating up, with the second year of free agency underway.
Portland Thorns veterans Crystal Dunn and Becky Sauerbrunn are among testing the market, with Dunn confirming she will not return to Portland in 2024. And Gotham FC is deep in negotiations with several U.S. women’s national team stars.
Dec. 21: Bay FC signs Sharples; Louisville signs Marisa Viggiano
NWSL clubs continued to make deals ahead of the holiday weekend. Bay FC signed defender Kayla Sharples, while Racing Louisville signed midfielder Marisa Viggiano, with both players getting two-year deals. Sharples played for the Red Stars in 2023, and Viggiano played for the Dash.
Dec. 21: Houston will make Fran Alonso next head coach
Alonso, who is in his fourth season with Scottish Women’s Premier League club Celtic FC, will become the head coach of the Dash for the 2024 NWSL season, per a report from The Equalizer.
Celtic FC holds a 14-1-1 record so far this season, and Alonso has led them to two Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cup victories.
Dec. 20: Sarah Gorden re-signs with Angel City FC
The 31-year-old defender, who joined the Los Angeles club via trade ahead of the 2022 season, has signed a three-year contract through the 2026 season with a mutual option for 2027, Angel City FC announced Thursday.
While Gorden missed the 2022 season with an injury, she played a crucial role as Angel City clinched its first playoff appearance in 2023.
Dec. 20: Casey Krueger nears deal with Washington
The 33-year-old defender plans to sign with the Spirit, The Athletic’s Meg Linehan reported. She would reconnect with her Mark Krikorian, who coached Krueger at Florida State and now is the general manager for Washington.
Injuries kept Krueger out of her first two NWSL seasons in 2013 and 2014. She played for Norwegian team Avaldsnes IL in 2015, then joined the Chicago Red Stars in 2016. She has made 110 appearances across six seasons for the club, though she sat out the 2022 season due to pregnancy. Krueger also has made 42 appearances for the USWNT.
Dec. 20: Kristie Mewis set to leave Gotham for West Ham
The 32-year-old USWNT midfielder will join Women’s Super League club West Ham when the January transfer window opens, as first reported by Meg Linehan and Charlotte Harpur of The Athletic. The 32-year-old U.S. women’s national team midfielder won the 2023 NWSL title with Gotham FC.
Dec. 20: Thembi Kgatlana departs Louisville for Liga MX
The 27-year-old forward is leaving Racing Louisville for Liga MX’s Tigres UANL for a six-figure transfer fee. Reported by The Athletic to be $275,000, the fee is the second-highest in NWSL history for a player departing for a foreign club, Racing Louisville noted in a news release.
Kgatlana, who also plays for the South Africa women’s national team, joined Racing Louisville via transfer in July 2022. But she did not debut for the club until 2023 after tearing her Achilles tendon in the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations.
“We want to wish Thembi all the best as she takes on a new challenge in Mexico,” Racing general manager Ryan Dell said in the news release. “Naturally we are disappointed to lose such a talented player who is a great presence in our locker room, but we had extensive discussions with Thembi and completely respected her desire for this move.”
Dec. 20: Savannah McCaskill set to join San Diego Wave
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder, who has played for Angel City since 2022, is set to join the rival Wave in free agency, as reported by The Equalizer.
In two seasons in Los Angeles, McCaskill contributed 11 goals and five assists in 43 games. Before joining Angel City, she played for Gotham FC, the Chicago Red Stars and Racing Louisville in the NWSL, plus a short international stint with Sydney FC in Australia.
Dec. 20: Red Stars hire Lorne Donaldson as head coach
Donaldson, who becomes the third head coach for Chicago since the 2021 season, coached the Jamaica women’s national team to the Round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup.
He also is president of elite youth club Real Colorado, where he helped to develop USWNT star forwards Sophia Smith and Mallory Swanson. Swanson is expected to re-sign with the Red Stars in free agency this offseason.
Dec. 19: Gotham FC is linked to several USWNT stars
OL Reign midfielders Rose Lavelle and Emily Sonnett, Portland Thorns midfielder Crystal Dunn and Chicago Red Stars defender Tierna Davidson all have been linked to Gotham FC in free agency, per reports from The Athletic and The Equalizer.
All four players won the 2019 World Cup with the USWNT and would make a splash for the 2023 NWSL champions.
Dec. 18: Bay FC sends Ellie Jean to Racing Louisville
Jean, along with the No. 28 and No. 42 overall picks, was traded from Gotham FC to Bay FC ahead of the NWSL expansion draft. Then Bay FC sent Jean to Racing Louisville in exchange for $40,000 in allocation money.
Louisville previously acquired Gotham’s draft picks from Bay FC in exchange for $130,000 in allocation money to Bay as part of a three-team agreement.
“We could not be more excited to add Ellie to our club,” Racing general manager Ryan Dell said in a news release. “Her experience, professionalism and work ethic will elevate our back line for years to come.”
Dec. 18: North Carolina and Sean Nahas agree to contract extension
The Courage signed their head coach to a three-year contract extension, which will keep Nahas in North Carolina through 2026, the club announced Monday.
Nahas has led the team to a 29-17-21 (W-L-D) record across all competitions since he took the helm in October 2021, including two Challenge Cup titles in 2022 and 2023.
“There is work to be done from top to bottom and I will do my part in making this club the best it can be,” Nahas said in a news release.
Dec. 18: Houston signs Maria Sánchez to record contract
The Houston Dash have made Maria Sánchez the NWSL’s highest-paid player, the Wall Street Journal and the Equalizer reported Monday. The 27-year-old forward has signed a three-year deal with a fourth year option worth nearly $1.5 million total, per the reports.
“Houston, I am so excited to be coming back. I am so privileged to represent such an amazing city and group of fans,” Sánchez said in a news release.
Dec. 17: Utah deals Elyse Bennett to San Diego
Just two days after selecting Bennett from OL Reign in the NWSL expansion draft, the Utah Royals sent the 23-year-old forward to the San Diego Wave for $40,000 in allocation money.
In her two NWSL seasons, Bennett already has played for two different clubs, for the Kansas City Current in 2022 and OL Reign in 2023. Across those seasons, she has appeared in 42 matches, including in the last two NWSL championship matches.
“We are excited to welcome Elyse Bennett to the Wave,” San Diego general manager Molly Downtain said in a release. “She is a young and dynamic player that is a threat in the attacking third and is an important addition to the team as we continue to build for the 2024 season.”
Dec. 17: San Diego reacquires Sierra Enge
“Hometown kid is staying home,” the Wave posted on social media Sunday after trading to keep Enge in the fold.
Bay FC had selected the 23-year-old midfielder, who is from the San Diego area, in the Friday’s expansion draft. The club then traded her to the Houston Dash for $50,000 in allocation money, and the Dash flipped her back to the Wave in exchange for midfielder Belle Briede, a third-round pick in the 2024 draft and $60,000 in allocation money.
Dec. 15: Bay FC and Utah select seven players
The two incoming clubs selected seven total players in the expansion draft ahead of the 2024 season.
Bay FC acquired five players through the draft, including Alyssa Malonson from OL Reign, Tess Boade and Katelyn Rowland from North Carolina and Rachel Hill and Sierra Enge from San Diego.
The Royals selected just two players: Elyse Bennett from OL Reign and Paige Monaghan from Racing Louisville.
Dec. 13: Angelina signs with Orlando Pride
The former OL Reign midfielder, who entered the offseason as a restricted free agent, has agreed to a three-year deal with Orlando, the club announced Wednesday.
“Angelina was a priority free agent target for the Club because her spatial awareness, creativity, and ball control in build-up play are exactly what we look for in our midfielders,” Pride general manager Haley Carter said in a news release. “We’re confident she’ll thrive in our performance environment, and we consider ourselves fortunate to help her continue her growth and development here in Orlando.”
Angelina appeared in 28 matches through three seasons with OL Reign. The 23-year-old also was a member of Brazil’s 2023 World Cup roster.
Dec. 13: NWSL teams ready for expansion draft
A number of NWSL clubs made deals to protect their roster from the expansion draft for Bay FC and the Utah Royals, which is set for 7 p.m. ET Friday on CBS Sports Network.
Trades included Gotham FC sending goalkeeper Mandy Haught to the Utah Royals in exchange for draft protection and $150,000 in allocation money, as well as the Portland Thorns sending Emily Menges to Bay FC in exchange for draft protection and $75,000 in allocation money.
Seven clubs enter the draft with total expansion draft protection:
- Angel City FC
- Gotham FC
- Houston Dash
- Kansas City Current
- Orlando Pride
- Portland Thorns
- Washington Spirit
Racing Louisville has protection from only Bay FC, while the North Carolina Courage and San Diego Wave have protection from only the Utah Royals. OL Reign and the Chicago Red Stars do not have any expansion draft protection.
The five teams subject to the expansion draft released their lists of protected and unprotected players. Each team could protect up to nine players from their roster, with the rest eligible for selection.
Dec. 7: Utah Royals sign former San Diego Wave defender Madison Pogarch
Free agent defender Madison Pogarch has signed with Utah Royals FC.
The team announced the signing on Thursday, which will include the 2024 and 2025 NWSL seasons. Pogarch is a former defender for the San Diego Wave and Portland Thorns, having played in 36 games over the last five seasons.
“I’m very excited for this day to arrive, it’s been in the works for a bit and to have it finally come together is a nice early Christmas present,” said Pogarch, who has won Shields in 2021 with Portland and 2023 with San Diego. “I was fairly new to the league when the Utah Royals were around before, but I remember playing against Amy; the passion she has for the game you can’t help but see it in how she played and now in everything she does.
“Nothing about this setup feels like an expansion team to me, as everyone I’ve talked to around the team is ready to hit the ground running, and that’s exciting.”
Utah is returning to the NWSL as a 2024 expansion team, alongside Bay FC. In a release, Pogarch noted that the fan response “from afar has been amazing” and she’s excited to be involved with the community.
“We continue to be so elated to give our players the opportunity to shine and grow as we establish the foundation here in Utah,” said URFC Sporting Director Kelly Cousins. “Madison’s effusive attitude has contributed mightily to winning atmospheres throughout her journey, and we look to her to help us create that positive, winning, supportive culture in our locker room, in training every day and in the community.”
Nov. 29: Imani Dorsey joins Utah Royals
The 2018 NWSL Rookie of the Year has joined the Royals in free agency, the expansion team announced Wednesday.
The 27-year-old forward has spent her entire career to this point in New York, having been drafted by Sky Blue FC in 2018 before the club was rebranded to Gotham FC. She played in 72 games for the club, though she sat out the 2023 season to focus on her mental health.
“When I heard about URFC return, I was intrigued about the possibility of playing here,” Dorsey said in a news release. “I came into the league in 2018, so during those first few seasons, traveling to Salt Lake City, this was a place I was very excited to experience. From the outside looking in, the amenities this club built up for women’s soccer was to be admired – setting the league standard even then.”
She also called the vision for the new iteration of the Royals “so inspiring.”
“I am very excited to help grow Utah’s soccer culture,” she continued. “That’s one of the joys of being a professional, to being a part of the energy and the emotion of the crowd, the community, inspiring the next generation. I cannot wait to dive head-first into the Utah experience.”
Nov. 21: Caprice Dydasco signs with Bay FC
The 2021 NWSL Defender of the Year, Dydasco became the second player on Bay FC’s inaugural roster and the expansion team’s first free-agent signing. The 30-year-old comes to Bay FC from the Houston Dash.
“A highly technical and intelligent footballer, Caprice’s ability to impact play in the final third and create goalscoring opportunities make her one of the most exciting and productive attacking fullbacks in the league,” Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton said in a news release.
Nov. 21: Michele Vasconcelos signs with Utah
The first official free agent signing of the offseason, the 29-year-old midfielder departed the Portland Thorns to return to Utah on a two-year deal. She had requested a trade to the previous iteration of the Royals in 2020, but soon after the trade, the team folded and Vasconcelos and other players were transferred to the expansion Kansas City Current.
“As I come back to Utah, for sure excitement is my main feeling, but I’m also feeling a ton of relief – I was devastated when the team left three years ago,” she said.
Nov. 20: Spirit exercise option on Trinity Rodman
The Washington Spirit exercised the 2025 option on the 21-year-old forward’s contract. They also exercised the 2026 options on the contracts of goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury and midfielder Andi Sullivan.
Nov. 20: San Diego Wave trade Kaleigh Riehl
San Diego sent Riehl to the expansion Utah Royals. In exchange for the 27-year-old defender, the Wave received expansion draft protection from the Royals, plus $60,000 in allocation money.
Nov. 19: Nadia Nadim will not re-sign with Louisville
The 35-year-old forward announced her decision to leave Racing Louisville in free agency in an Instagram post.
“It’s been a blast. No not really, but it’s been cool,” Nadim wrote. “Lovely teammates & amazing fans is what’s kept me going during these quite challenging 2.5 years.”
Nov. 14: Kansas City sends Alex Loera to Bay FC
The Kansas City Current sent defensive midfielder Alex Loera to Bay FC in exchange for $175,000 in allocation money and protection in the upcoming NWSL expansion draft.
Bay FC and the Utah Royals will have the opportunity to select up to 12 players through the 12-round expansion draft. While the Current are protected from Bay FC, the Royals still could select from the Kansas City roster. Teams can protect up to nine players from the expansion draft.
Nov. 14: Orlando deals out of expansion draft
The Orlando Pride acquired expansion draft protection and $90,000 in allocation money from the Utah Royals exchange for midfielder Mikayla Cluff and the No. 26 pick in the 2024 college draft.
On Nov. 13, the Pride already had acquired expansion draft protection from Bay FC, trading a first-round draft pick (No. 8 overall) in the 2024 draft in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money and draft protection from the San Francisco Bay Area club.
Alex Morgan weighed in on the NWSL expansion draft discourse Monday, saying the draft “should not exist.”
Her reaction came after her now-former San Diego Wave teammate Rachel Hill, who was selected in the expansion draft by Bay FC, posted to social media, thanking the Wave and their fans.
“Did not think I’d be sitting here writing this after only one season,” wrote Hill, who had chosen the Wave in free agency last season and signed a two-year contract through 2024. “I’ve loved every second I had in San Diego and I’m sad it’s come to an end like this.”
Morgan shared Hill’s post to her own Instagram, writing: “The NWSL expansion draft should not exist. Period. If you reach free agency and choose the club and city you want to play for, you deserve the [opportunity] to see that through. It was torture watching the expansion draft, really.”
The USWNT and San Diego Wave forward isn’t the only person to criticize the process. Multiple head coaches have done so in the last week, including Wave head coach Casey Stoney, who wrote: “We have to find a different way!!!! It can be done because I have done it!!!!!!”
Meanwhile, Laura Harvey of OL Reign, who lost two players to the expansion draft, wrote: “I’d just like to make it official. I dislike the expansion draft. I also dislike that I chose to be in England whilst it was on, so now it’s 1.30am and I’m wired. Thanks very much!”
North Carolina Courage head coach Sean Nahas also was critical of the process. Seven players were selected, five by Bay FC and two by Utah Royals FC. Of those players, two already have been traded, as San Diego brought back Sierra Enge – who had been selected by Bay FC – with the help of Houston while also trading with Utah for former OL Reign forward Elyse Bennett.
“I don’t think people actually realize the damage that is created by this process and what it does to players, clubs and those relationships,” Nahas wrote Saturday. “We should be protecting the league and not 9 players per roster. There needs to be another way.”
Before the draft, North Carolina and San Diego engaged in trades with the new teams to try and limit their losses in the draft and to maintain more control over the future of their lineups. OL Reign did not make any trades with either Bay FC or Utah Royals FC.
Utah Royals sporting director Kelly Cousins conceded after the draft that the process of expansion should change.
“When you get to draft day, it’s not nice for anyone, even for us, being in it,” Cousins said. “You’re picking a player, and a new player finds out in the moment, live on telly, that they go to another club. For us, that doesn’t sit well, I think it is something that probably should change because you’re saying a player could be uprooted. We’re a week away from Christmas, and now they might have to move to the other side of the country.”
But Bay FC general manager Lucy Rushton called the expansion draft “imperative.”
“I think it’s essential because I think without it, it would have been very difficult for us to amass a roster from within the NWSL,” she said. “Is it the nicest mechanism through which to acquire players? No, probably not, not for the players and it’s tough. I certainly think it’s essential and especially now, having gone through the process, it scares me to think what some of the numbers might have looked like that teams might have asked for to trade their players.”
The league will go through an expansion process again in a couple of years, with Boston and one other team set to begin play in 2026.
Several NWSL head coaches have spoken out against the expansion draft.
Sean Nahas of the North Carolina Courage, Laura Harvey of OL Reign and Casey Stoney of the San Diego Wave all condemned the draft for the lack of control it creates for players and existing teams.
All three coaches had multiple players selected from their squads in Friday’s expansion draft for Bay FC and Utah Royals FC, both of which will join the league in 2024.
“I don’t think people actually realize the damage that is created by this process and what it does to players, clubs and those relationships. We should be protecting the league and not 9 players per roster. There needs to be another way,” Nahas wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Before the draft, North Carolina and San Diego engaged in trades with the new teams to try and limit their losses in the draft and to maintain more control over the future of their lineups. OL Reign did not make any trades with either Bay FC or Utah Royals FC.
Yet all three teams lost two players to the new clubs. And coaches and players aren’t happy with the lives being uprooted.
“I’d just like to make it official. I dislike the expansion draft. I also dislike that I chose to be in England whilst it was on, so now it’s 1.30am and I’m wired. Thanks very much!” Harvey wrote on X.
Many NWSL fans seem to be in agreement with coaches and players about disliking the expansion draft. Some have proposed earlier free agency, so teams can sign all of their own talent with more control from existing teams and players. None of the coaches who spoke out offered specific solutions — but they believe a new way could be found.
“We have to find a different way!!!! It can be done because I have done it!!!!!!” Stoney said on X.
The NWSL hosted its expansion draft on Dec. 15 to fill the rosters of the two newest teams in the league — Bay FC and Utah Royals FC.
Bay FC selected five players in the draft, in contrast to the Royals’ two selections. Utah built out its roster earlier in the offseason through trades and free agency.
Bay FC’s five players selected in the expansion draft include NWSL veteran goaltender Katelyn Rowland. Rowland has collected some impressive hardware during her eight-year NWSL career, including four NWSL championships, three NWSL Shields and two Challenge Cups.
The San Francisco area club also selected defender Alyssa Malonson from OL Reign, forward Tess Boade from the North Carolina Courage and forward Rachel Hill and midfielder Sierra Enge from the San Diego Wave.
The Royals’ two picks in the expansion draft were forward Alyssa Bennett from OL Reign and forward Paige Monaghan from Racing Louisville.
Bay FC added a veteran goaltender to its already defense-heavy roster, and both expansion squads added scoring depth.
“I love playing football with the ball… we’re going to be a technical team who understands when to go forward and being a threat when we can,” Bay head coach Albertin Montoya said on Attacking Third after the draft.
OL Reign, the Courage and the Wave all lost two players from the expansion. Bennett in particular had a successful season for the Seattle club in 2023, with two goals and two assists, and she will help first-year head coach and former player Amy Rodriguez achieve her vision for her team.
“This is the team we’re forming and it’s one that’s going to rest upon humility, and hard work, and passion, and intensity, very similar to how I was as a player,” Rodriguez said on Attacking Third. “This is definitely the start of something great here in Utah and we can’t wait to bring the Royals back in a second iteration because I think we’re going to be bigger and better than before.”