After finishing 2024 in last place, the Houston Dash have been raising eyebrows with a series of offseason moves primed to make a splash next NWSL season.
Houston's top-tier transaction period continued on Thursday, landing Gotham and USWNT forward Yazmeen Ryan for a league-record $400,000 in allocation money plus a 2025 international roster spot.
On Thursday, Gotham confirmed that Ryan had requested the trade, saying the club "worked tirelessly to honor her request." As part of the deal, Gotham also traded $80,000 in intra-league transfer funds to Houston.
Ryan joins a growing roster of savvy Dash pick-ups, including fellow Gotham standout Delanie Sheehan and San Diego defender Christen Westphal.
Subsequently, while they've yet to announce a new head coach, Houston has solidified their front office by bringing on ex-Angel City GM Angela Hucles Mangano as president of women's soccer.
Gotham FC sees mass NWSL exodus
For Gotham, Ryan's departure is just the latest in a high-profile exodus. Sheehan, forward Lynn Williams, goalkeeper Cassie Miller, and defenders Sam Hiatt and Maitane Lopez have all left the one-time superteam.
"I don't want to get into everything with the end of Gotham, but I am really excited to be a part of a team that looks like they're just enjoying each other and having fun," Lynn Williams told The Women's Game after her trade to Seattle was made public.
Jonas Eidevall enters NWSL as San Diego boss
The San Diego Wave hired ex-Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall as the NWSL team's new head coach, according to multiple reports released earlier this week.
Eidevall finished his tenure at Arsenal with an overall record of 80-24-16. However, he stepped down after failing to resign star forward Vivianne Miedema ahead of a sputtering 1-1-2 start to the 2024/25 WSL season.
Eidevall will be the fourth coach to take the reins in San Diego this year, after Casey Stoney's mid-season firing led to interim stints from Paul Buckle and former USMNT mainstay Landon Donovan.
San Diego's 2024 tumult wasn't limited to staffing. Founding members like Alex Morgan retired while impact players like Abby Dahlkemper and Sofia Jakobsson departed the club for other opportunities.
Embattled Wave president Jill Ellis also left the team, accepting a new role at FIFA earlier this month.
The Wave and Eidevall will kick off this new chapter seeking stability after a rollercoaster year. As such, both club and coach will bank on a strong 2025 to chart a new course.
Gotham FC and USWNT forward Lynn Williams is being traded to the Seattle Reign, according to multiple reports late Wednesday.
Sports Illustrated reports that Williams and goalkeeper Cassie Miller will join the Reign in exchange for midfielder Jaelin Howell and an undisclosed transfer fee.
Though still unconfirmed, the move reportedly comes at Williams’s request, with the 31-year-old Olympic gold medalist hoping to close out her club career on the West Coast, closer to her California home.
In her two seasons at Gotham, Williams scored 11 goals and tallied four assists en route to back-to-back NWSL Playoff runs.
Williams is a major score for Seattle
The addition of Williams — the NWSL’s all-time leading scorer and third on the career assists list — would be a massive win for the Reign, who are in desperate need of firepower after posting the league’s fourth-worst goal count and finishing in 13th place last season.
Plus, Williams knows how to win, arguably more than nearly any other player in the league.
Since entering the NWSL in 2015, Williams has lifted trophies with all three of her clubs, earning championships with the Western New York Flash (2016), the NC Courage (2018, 2019), and Gotham FC (2023). Those four titles surpass every other NWSL athlete except McCall Zerboni, who coincidentally was Williams's teammate for all of those championships.
That title-winning aptitude would be clutch for Seattle, who are still hunting a franchise-first NWSL championship despite competing in three league finals.
Howell, Miller on the move again
Both Howell and Miller will exit their respective clubs after short tenures.
Miller joined Gotham from Kansas City in January as a replacement for starting goalkeeper Abby Smith, who suffered a season-ending injury in August 2023. In April, however, the NJ/NY club snagged German international Ann-Katrin Berger — one of the best keepers in the world and the NWSL's 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year — leaving Miller in a backup role.
Logging an even shorter time at Seattle than Miller's 11-month Gotham stretch is Howell, who will join her third club in five months with this trade. The midfielder began her NWSL career with Racing Louisville in 2022, but was sent to Seattle in August in exchange for striker Bethany Balcer and $50,000.
The 25-year-old, who captained her Louisville team, has struggled to stay in form. That said, if Gotham can help Howell unlock consistency in her top-level play, her on-pitch potential and off-pitch leadership could be a boon for the NJ/NY side.
Ultimately, trading Williams for a player with more potential than top form reads as a possible rebuild for a club who entered a so-called superteam era just one year ago — particularly in light of Gotham's flood of defectors this offseason, which includes star midfielder Delanie Sheehan.
The USWNT ended 2024 with an unlikely win, overcoming a Dutch shooting barrage to earn a 2-1 comeback victory in Tuesday's Euro trip closer.
The world No. 1 squad looked overrun for much of the first half as the No. 11 Netherlands outshot the US 14-1. Oranje rookie Veerle Buurman ultimately broke through with a 15th-minute goal off of a corner kick to give the Netherlands a well-earned lead.
That said, the USWNT held tight, equalizing in the 44th minute when Buurman headed in Tierna Davidson's free kick for an own goal.
Subs made all the difference in the game's second half, taking back enough control to mount an impressive US comeback. In just her fourth cap, forward Yazmeen Ryan produced her first international assist, finding her Gotham FC teammate Lynn Williams streaking into the penalty area to put away the 71st-minute sliding goal that allowed the US to gut out the win.
"I thought today we demonstrated by not being at our best, both in and out of possession, that finding a way to win is a sign of a great team," commented US boss Emma Hayes after the match.
SWNT keeper Alyssa Naeher's epic final match against he Netherlands
Longtime starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher earned Player of the Match honors with six stunning saves in her final USWNT performance on Tuesday. The now-retired star finishes her international career with 89 wins, 69 clean sheets, and 112 starts in her 115 caps.
Reflecting on her final year in goal for the States, Naeher said after Tuesday's match, "I think part of why I've been able to play with so much extra joy and smiles and really enjoy it this year even more, is I really felt like it was the last the whole time."
A golden 2024 to fuel 2025 USWNT success
With Saturday's draw against No. 2 England and Tuesday's victory over the Netherlands, the USWNT ends 2024 on a 20-match unbeaten streak that included their 16th Concacaf title and fifth Olympic gold medal.
After taking the US reins in May, head coach Hayes caps the year with a 13-0-2 record, with eight of those wins coming against FIFA-ranked Top-15 teams.
The momentum Hayes has built sets the stage for continued success next year. The USWNT will kick off 2025 with a mid-January training camp to run concurrently with a "Futures Camp," designed to identify and develop young talent for the senior squad.
The first matches on the USWNT's 2025 schedule will come in February, when the team hosts No. 7 Japan, No. 15 Australia, and No. 21 Colombia in the 10th annual SheBelieves Cup.
Down 1-0 at the half, the USWNT stormed back against Iceland on Sunday, emerging with their second 3-1 victory over the Nordic island's national team in three days. Despite trailing for the first time in her tenure, the US remains unbeaten under manager Emma Hayes.
The USWNT, which has never lost to Iceland, extended their all-time undefeated streak against the world No. 13 team to 17 matches with Sunday's victory.
USWNT bench leads attack
Iceland opened scoring with a 31st-minute Olimpico off forward Karólína Vilhjálmsdóttir's corner kick, before a trio of second-half subs clinched the USWNT's come-from-behind win.
In the 72nd-minute, forward Lynn Williams slotted in the equalizer, with captain Lindsey Horan netting a goal of her own four minutes later and debutante Emma Sears sealing the deal in stoppage time.
Williams described the world No. 1 team's winning mentality after the match, saying, "The US mentality is we’re going to bring it, we’re going to claw, we’re going to fight, we’re going to come back. So yes we were down, but I believe in us, we all believe in ourselves, and that’s what it takes to win."
Fresh faces and a dream debut
Sunday's match featured heavy roster rotation, with US boss Hayes tapping mostly fresh faces at kickoff: A full eight players in the team's starting XI had less than 30 caps.
The US's rare uncapped Olympic gold medalist, Orlando Pride defender Emily Sams, took the pitch for the first time on Sunday. The 2024 NWSL Shield-winner had the additional honor of becoming the sixth USWNT player in five years to start in her first cap.
Sears, on the other hand, entered off the bench in the 55th minute to what would become a dream debut. In her first national team call-up at any level, the Racing Louisville striker became the 23rd USWNT player to score in her first cap and just the fourth to ever combine a debut goal with a first-cap assist.
When asked about her stoppage-time goal, Sears said, "It’s honestly hard to find the words right now. This feels super surreal to not only be surrounded by such amazing people but also players that I’ve looked up to for so many years."
How to watch USWNT vs. Argentina international friendly
The USWNT will finish out their October international friendly campaign with Wednesday's match against Argentina at 7 PM ET. Live coverage will air on TNT.
The USWNT's record remains perfect after two matches of Olympic group play, taking down Germany 4-1 on Sunday in a performance that put the rest of the field on notice.
Sophia Smith scored a brace while Mallory Swanson and substitute Lynn Williams added individual tallies to give the US their biggest win over Germany since 2010.
USWNT set to advance to Olympic knockouts
The win guarantees the USWNT a place in the quarterfinals with one group stage match still to play, a feat only mirrored by reigning world champions Spain after a wild second day of Olympic women's soccer action.
A win or a draw against Australia on Wednesday would see the US finish atop Group B, though the team's +6 goal differential could also land them in first even if they lose. Along with their goal differential, the USWNT leads the field in scoring with seven goals in their first two matches.
Rising above European soccer expectations
The US entered Sunday as a slight underdog, facing a higher-rated team in the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2015. However, the US found the back of the net first on a well-worked attacking sequence that featured a goal by Smith, an assist by Trinity Rodman, and a savvy dummy move by Swanson.
Germany then equalized on a nicely orchestrated strike from outside the box by Giulia Gwinn, but the US piled on the goals to end the half. Swanson scored on a ball deflected by German keeper Ann-Katrin Berger, and Smith benefitted from a heavy deflection just before halftime to make it 3-1.
The US managed to keep the momentum flowing through the second half, an effort punctuated by Williams's second career Olympic goal in the 89th minute.
Elsewhere in the Olympic soccer tournament
Colombia leads on goal differential in Group A after defeating New Zealand 2-0, while embattled defending gold medalists Canada kept their Olympic dreams alive with a dramatic 2-1 victory over host country France.
Japan bolstered their hopes of advancing from Group C with a comeback 2-1 win over Brazil, while Spain took hold of their destiny with a 1-0 win over Nigeria.
Australia notched a four-goal comeback to win a wild match against Zambia 6-5, one that saw Zambia striker Barbra Banda become the all-time leader in Olympic women's soccer hat tricks with her third.
Who does the USWNT play next?
Next up, the US squares off against Australia on Wednesday, July 31st at 1 PM ET, with live coverage across NBC networks.
USWNT manager Emma Hayes dropped a big piece of roster news on Friday, with Chelsea star forward Catarina Macario officially ruled out for the 2024 Paris Olympics due to "consistent irritation in her right knee."
The roster shakeup comes the day before the USWNT begins a series of two send-off friendlies leading up to the Olympics. In the wake of the injury, forward Lynn Williams will now be elevated from an alternate to a fully rostered player, with defender Emily Sams moving from training player to Olympic alternate.
Macario's original injury dates to 2022
In June 2022, Macario suffered an ACL tear in her left knee while playing for former club team Olympique Lyonnais.
Before the injury, the Stanford University standout featured on the USWNT's expanded Tokyo Olympics roster in 2021. She went on to win the 2022 Champions League title with Lyon before being sidelined the following month.
The 24-year-old continued to rehab the injury, sitting out the 2023 World Cup. She returned to the USWNT for the first time since 2022 this past April. After helping lead the US to victory at the 2024 SheBelieves Cup, Macario took the pitch again for the USWNT's June friendlies.
Looking to the future, Hayes called Macario's knee "not a long-term situation, just not going to recover in time for the Olympics" in Friday's announcement.
Pre-Olympic USWNT friendlies kick off
This Saturday, the newly formatted Olympic lineup with square off against Mexico in New Jersey.
It will be the first time the two teams have met since Mexico upset the US in the Concacaf W Gold Cup group stage earlier this year. Since then, the US hasn't lost a single match, going 5-0-2 and picking up trophies at the Gold Cup as well as SheBelieves Cup.
The USWNT's 18-player Olympic roster will take center stage this week, while alternates and training players joined the team at camp leading up to the friendlies. Training players Alyssa Thompson and Kate Wiesner will return to their NWSL squads prior to Saturday's USWNT friendly.
Many of the players on the US Olympic roster have just recently left their NWSL teams for the Olympic break, while three European club players — Lindsey Horan (Lyon), Korbin Albert (PSG), and Emily Fox (Arsenal) — have spent the last six weeks off the pitch.
A new USWNT paves its Olympic path
The pre-Olympic series will likely see goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher return to the starting XI, after a hamstring injury kept her out of a pair of June friendlies.
The matches will also provide an initial glimpse of a USWNT without longtime star Alex Morgan, who was not selected to play in this year's Summer Games. Morgan's absence will impact the frontline, with Sophia Smith most likely to take over at center forward.
Speaking from USWNT training camp, Naeher expressed positivity about this year's Olympic team.
"I just feel an energy shift — I've just feel like a joy and excitement of from the group," she said. "I think that's really exciting to come back into after being gone from it for a camp."
The US will play a second friendly in Washington, DC on Tuesday against fellow Concacaf competitor Costa Rica. For a team looking to redeem their international standing after a disappointing World Cup run, these next two outings will serve as a chance to develop the chemistry necessary to hit the ground running in Paris later this month.
The USWNT dropped its June roster on Tuesday, the first under newly minted head coach Emma Hayes.
The USWNT is entering a new era ahead of the national team's two June friendlies with the Republic of Korea, with veterans blending with more recent additions throughout the lineup. The squad unveiled today included a few surprises, as well as some key absences as the USWNT steers toward the 2024 Olympics.
Notably, longtime starting goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher will not be reporting to camp this month. Naeher was injured in the Chicago Red Stars’ win over Utah on May 12th and did not play over the weekend, although she did travel with the team to New Jersey.
On the team’s injury report, Naeher was listed as out with a thigh injury. Coach Lorne Donaldson said ahead of the match that the team was "still evaluating [Naher], but no, it doesn't look good" in regards to her availability.
As a result, Jane Campbell, Aubrey Kingsbury, and Casey Murphy all received a call up, with Murphy the most-capped goalkeeper of the trio.
Some recently injured stars did manage to make their way onto the roster, with Alex Morgan and Jaedyn Shaw both included among the team's forwards. Morgan hasn't played since April 20th, but recently posted a photo of herself training to her Instagram story with the caption "Work in progress."
Shaw, meanwhile, went down with an ankle injury on May 13th, sitting out San Diego’s latest game.
Other call-ups fresh off the injured list include Naomi Girma and Tierna Davidson, although both recently returned to club play. Midfielder Rose Lavelle will also make her return to the USWNT roster after having been out since the W Gold Cup.
Ajax’s Lily Yohannes finds herself rostered once again the 16-year-old dual national continues to mull her national team options between the USWNT and the Netherlands.
There’s a number of Washington Spirit players on the roster this time around, with Hal Hershfelt earning her first USWNT call-up alongside Chicago's Sam Staab. NWSL rookie of the month Croix Bethune, Kate Wiesner, and Olivia Moultrie will join as training players.
One glaring roster absence was Lynn Williams, who was not included among the team’s forwards. On Sunday, Williams broke the NWSL all-time scoring record with her 79th career goal in Gotham's victory over Chicago. Joining the forward group is Crystal Dunn, who has traditionally played as a defender with the USWNT and as a midfielder in the NWSL.
"I’m really looking forward to getting started," Hayes said in a USWNT press release. "The preparations have been well underway and I can’t wait to get into camp. We know it’s a short turnaround and we have a lot of work to do, but I’m fully focused on making sure that the performances are at the levels that are required to compete.
"I expect complete commitment from everyone to absorb very quickly the things that I value as the most important so that we can compete this summer. I know they are a highly coachable group and I’m looking forward to challenging them. It’s time to go to work. I can’t wait to meet the fans and it’s really time to get behind the team as we get closer to putting a roster together for the Olympics."
Full June roster:
GOALKEEPERS (3): Jane Campbell (Houston Dash), Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage)
DEFENDERS (7): Tierna Davidson (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Fox (Arsenal FC, ENG), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Casey Krueger (Washington Spirit), Jenna Nighswonger (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Sam Staab (Chicago Red Stars)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Korbin Albert (Paris Saint-Germain), Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Hal Hershfelt (Washington Spirit), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Rose Lavelle (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Emily Sonnett (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Lily Yohannes (Ajax)
FORWARDS (7): Crystal Dunn (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Catarina Macario (Chelsea), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Jaedyn Shaw (San Diego Wave), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars)
Gotham FC's Lynn Williams etched her name into the NWSL history books on Sunday, becoming the all-time leading goalscorer across all NWSL competitions.
Coming in the 57th minute of Gotham's 2-1 win over Chicago, Williams's 79th goal breaks a tie with Sam Kerr for the league record. The header was her ninth-career headed goal, and her first since 2021.
"I don’t get the goals without my teammates. I have played with so many incredible people over the 10 years," Williams said after the game. "At the end of the day, I think I just owe it all to the people that are around me — all my teammates, all my family members. I just owe it all to them, and I can’t put any single one of those goals away without them."
Kerr still holds the regular season record, with 77 of her 78 goals having come in the regular season. Williams sits in second place with 66 regular season goals scored, having long been the top-scoring American in the NWSL.
The USWNT regular has won four championships with the WNY Flash, North Carolina Courage, and reigning champions Gotham FC.
"Her commitment to make sure the team wins, even the last kick of the game is her kicking out of the box, no? She has that commitment, that passion, and that quality to be scoring goals in key moments for us, for the US, for whatever team she’s playing (for)," Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós said on Sunday. "She’s wearing the armband. Having people like her in this club is what we want."
"I’m just really proud of myself. I think that I have exceeded a lot of people’s expectations," Williams added. "For a very long time, I have believed in myself, and a lot of moments along the way I’ve been told, 'No, you’re not good enough.' And I think that every single time I score a goal, every single time I’m put on the field, it’s another moment for me to continue to believe in myself."
The striker even got a shoutout from one of the greatest of all time: Serena Williams.
"Congrats cuz," she tweeted after the Gotham victory.
Lynn Williams played hero on Wednesday night, helping Gotham to its first win over the Houston Dash since May 15th, 2021.
Coming in the eighth minute, the forward's goal was all it took for the Bats to ink the 1-0 victory. It was also her 78th across all NWSL competitions, landing her neck-and-neck with former Chicago Red Star Sam Kerr for the most career goals in league history.
"Wow, that’s really cool. To have my name there with Sam Kerr is amazing. But I don’t get that goal, I don’t get those things, without my teammates," Williams said of her accomplishment.
Williams' effort also marked the team’s 300th club goal across all competitions.
"I think the players executed the game plan almost to perfection," echoed Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós after the match. "I am very, very proud of how they’ve been able to perform like that in such a shorter space of time."
The goal was Williams’ second in as many games, giving her two goals through five matches played this season. Gotham will next travel to San Diego to face the Wave at Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday.
Lindsey Horan wants to see better coaches and better youth development for the U.S. women’s national team.
A four-episode Netflix docuseries released Tuesday, titled “Under Pressure,” chronicles the USWNT’s journey at the 2023 World Cup, which ended in disappointment.
In the fourth episode, co-captain Horan offered up some criticism after the team’s exit in the Round of 16, which was its earliest ever at a World Cup. Horan, who plays for French club Olympique Lyonnais, attributes the disappointing result in part to the rest of the world catching up – and in part to the evolving style of play.
“The international game, it’s such a nice style of football,” Horan said. “You’re playing these little tiny passes here and there. They’re so confident on the ball. They’re so technical. We need to progress in this possession style of play. We need better coaches. We need better youth development. We need more investment there.”
Some of the issues with the USWNT also can be traced back to former head coach Vlatko Andonovski, who resigned following the World Cup.
“I don’t think we were set up well to go on and have the success to win it,” Lynn Williams said in the series. “When you only win three out of the ten games, there’s no way you’re gonna have that coach carry on. … When we’re held to this standard, the coaching staff also has to be.”
Alex Morgan, Horan’s co-captain, noted that both she and Horan had “really honest” conversations with Andonovski. But she also knows that not every player felt as comfortable or could be as vulnerable with their coach.
And Horan also acknowledged that some of the responsibility for the team’s failure fell on the players.
“Obviously Vlatko gives us the game plan every single game, but we’re the players on the field,” she said.
New head coach Emma Hayes has brought some life back to the squad, with players excited about the new direction. Interim head coach Twila Kilgore will lead the team until Hayes joins in May following the conclusion of Chelsea’s season. But the Paris Olympics start in July, leading some to question whether or not the team can succeed in the short term. And for some, succeeding in the short term is imperative.
“How we silence the critics going forward now, in this moment,” former USWNT forward Tobin Heath said near the end of the series, “is we go to an Olympics, and we win an Olympics.”