USWNT and NWSL superstar Alex Morgan played her final professional match on Sunday, narrowly missing a left-footed penalty for San Diego before being subbed out within the game's first 15 minutes.
"I came off the field and I thought to myself, 'That's the best example I could give of betting on yourself,'" Morgan said in a postgame press conference. "I think that's just how I've tried to live my life and my career as a soccer player."
Alex Morgan leaves historic mark on women's sports
Sharing news that she was pregnant with her second child, the 35-year-old forward announced her imminent retirement late last week.
"You pushed me to be my best self every day — you pushed me to be the best soccer player, to be the best mom, to be the best person I could be," Morgan told Snapdragon Stadium's 26,500 fans after the game.
Before the game concluded, the soccer icon made one final bit of history. The match marked the first women’s sports event to be simultaneously broadcast across multiple US outlets, with CBS Sports, ESPN2, Prime, Paramount+, and others getting in on the action.
However, North Carolina damped the celebratory sendoff vibes by soundly defeating the 12th-place Wave 4-1, extending San Diego's regular-season winless streak to five.
The Courage now sit fifth in the standings after overtaking Portland, solidifying their place above the postseason cutoff line.
NWSL standings hold steady in weekend play
In Kansas City's 1-0 win over Utah on Saturday, Temwa Chawinga added a 15th goal to her Golden Boot campaign. The Current snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
Also on Saturday, Washington beat Portland in front of a raucous Audi Field crowd. In the match, the Spirit's Ballon d’Or nominee, Trinity Rodman, registered both a goal and an assist.
On Sunday, Marta scored a stunner against Chicago to keep Orlando's undefeated season alive. The Pride became the first NWSL club to clinch a 2024 postseason berth in the process.
Speaking of the postseason, Bay FC have launched themselves into seventh place and playoff contention after two straight wins, including Saturday's 1-0 victory over Louisville.
Much like the league's top teams, individual NWSL MVP contenders continue to make their mark coming out of the Olympic break.
KC Current forward Temwa Chawinga now tops the 2024 Golden Boot race, having scored her season's 13th goal last weekend against the Spirit. In that same game, Washington midfielder Croix Bethune tied Tobin Heath's single-season assist record with her 10th of the year.
Stacked field means big choice for award voters
With so many deserving candidates, 2024's MVP award-winner could come down to whichever factors voters value the most.
Chawinga sits first in the league in goals scored and second in assists this season, finding the back of the net against nine different teams along the way. But Orlando forward Barbra Banda isn't far behind. Banda scored one less goal in four fewer games played than Chawinga, all while guiding the Pride to an unprecedented unbeaten streak.
Bethune likely has Rookie of the Year on lock, but she's also on the MVP watchlist with five goals and 10 assists in her debut season.
USWNT attackers also in the NWSL award hunt
Another steady presence on the leaderboard, 2022 MVP Sophia Smith has racked up 10 goals and six assists for the Thorns so far this season, while USWNT teammate Trinity Rodman has also kept herself award-relevant, registering her season's sixth goal last weekend.
This season's attacking firepower has truly set a new standard, leaving many worthy award candidates likely to garner votes by the time NWSL Championship weekend rolls around.
The NWSL saw a lively return to regular season play as the weekend brought a few shakeups to the standings as teams jockey for playoff positioning.
One of the most significant shifts featured the Kansas City Current, whose hot streak has officially cooled after going undefeated through their first 15 matches this season.
Spirit humbles Current with Sunday victory
Kansas City lost 4-1 to the Washington Spirit in their regular-season return on Sunday, weeks after falling 2-1 to league-leaders Orlando in their last pre-Olympics NWSL match. The final scoreline saw the Spirit leapfrogging KC to take second place while the Current dropped to third.
Four different goal-scorers got the job done for the Spirit, including returning Olympian Trinity Rodman. Also showing out was fellow gold medalist Croix Bethune, who's 10th assist tied Tobin Heath’s 2016 single-season record — one the rookie will likely break with nine matches left on the season.
Striker Temwa Chawinga notched KC's lone goal in the loss, breaking a tie with Orlando’s Barbra Banda to top the Golden Boot race with her 13th contribution this season.
Other noteworthy NWSL action
Earning their 18th victory with Friday's 1-0 win over Houston, Orlando has now laid claim to the longest regular-season undefeated streak in league history. Meanwhile, defending NWSL champs Gotham defeated Portland 2-0 on Friday, putting a seven-point margin between the fifth-place Thorns and the table's top four teams.
With Saturday's 3-1 win over the Red Stars, Racing Louisville moved above the postseason cutoff line into eighth place. Also on Saturday, 19-year-old Alyssa Thompson’s brace — the NWSL's second-ever registered by a teen — secured ninth-place Angel City’s 2-1 win over San Diego.
With just 10 regular season matchdays left, the NWSL retakes the pitch tonight complete with returning Olympians, refreshed rosters, and a new CBA. The league has a lot to celebrate after a busy Olympic break — and a new club record might just join that list.
Orlando winning streak could make NWSL history
League-leaders Orlando haven’t dropped a single one of their last 17 games, setting themselves up to book the longest regular-season undefeated streak in NWSL history. A win or a draw tonight against 12th-place Houston will break Orlando's 17-game tie with second-place Kansas City, whose own record unbeaten streak was snapped by the Pride in July.
Should Orlando’s run extend even longer, they could overtake the Washington Spirit’s overall 20-game record set across 2021-22 — though they’ll have to defeat the Current again in September to do it.
NWSL Golden Boot goal-scoring race heats up
With 12 goals each, KC's Temwa Chawinga and Orlando’s Barbra Banda are inching closer to ex-NWSL striker Sam Kerr’s single-season record of 19 goals as they both lead this season's Golden Boot race.
Fifth-place Portland's Sophia Smith isn't far behind the pair with 10 goals on the season, and she'll have the chance to tack on a few more when the Thorns play fourth-place Gotham on Saturday.
Other NWSL games to watch this weekend
On Saturday, 10th-place San Diego and 11th-place Angel City will battle to keep their playoff dreams alive, before ninth-place Louisville introduces seventh-place Chicago to their recently revamped roster.
Then on Sunday, the third-place Spirit will take aim at the Current — who top Washington in the standings by a single point — before WSL rivals Arsenal and Chelsea meet for a friendly in the second half of the Audi Field doubleheader.
As the Paris Olympics rolled to a close, the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup determined its first-ever finalists: Gotham FC and the Kansas City Current. The teams will face off in the Cup’s October 25th championship game.
NWSL dominates Liga MX in Cup group stage
Playing without their Olympians, all 14 NWSL clubs plus Mexico’s top six 2023 Liga MX teams cycled through 30 group stage matches. The top four group-winning teams by points then moved on to the Cup semifinals.
Logging just three wins over NWSL teams, the Liga MX squads failed to advance to the knockout rounds.
Utah — who won Group A despite entering the Olympic break at the bottom of the NWSL table — saw their Cup bid end as the other groups' top teams recorded more points than the Royals.
Top NWSL scorers lead the way in Cup semis
Kansas City — the only team with three group stage wins — defeated semifinal challenger North Carolina 2-0 last week. KC striker Temwa Chawinga — who sits tied in the NWSL’s Golden Boot race with Orlando’s Barbra Banda — wasted no time, finding the back of the net before the two-minute mark.
Sealing the deal for the Current was Brazil Olympic roster snub Debinha, whose 77th-minute goal shot her to the top the Cup’s Golden Boot leaderboard.
In the East Coast vs. West Coast semifinal, Gotham FC beat Angel City 1-0 behind midfielder Delanie Sheehan's 48th-minute goal.
Olympic gold medalists could influence Cup final
With over two months until the October 25th Cup championship, both teams will likely compete for the crown armed with full rosters — including Gotham’s seven Olympic medalists.
The Current last played the reigning NWSL champs to a 1-1 draw on April 14th, and the teams will meet again for regular season play on September 28th — less than four weeks before the Summer Cup final descends on San Antonio, Texas.