UCLA head coach Margueritte Aozasa was in her office with her assistants on Nov. 8 when she saw that her player, sophomore Lilly Reale, was named the Pac-12 Defender of the Year. Half an hour later, Aozasa received the news through social media that she had won Coach of the Year.

The first rookie coach to win the honor, Aozasa has led the Bruins to a 17-2 record in the regular season and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. And on Monday, they will compete in the College Cup final.

“It’s humbling,” she said of the award. “While I’m honored that this is an individual recognition, I really need to start a petition for it to be called ‘Staff of the Year’ because I’m just so thankful for my assistants and all our support staff. They really make my job possible.”

Aozasa is in her first year, but she’s familiar with what it takes to run a successful program. Having coached since she was 19 years old, Aozasa was an assistant at Stanford for seven years, guiding the team to two NCAA titles in 2017 and 2019 along with five Pac-12 titles from 2015-19.

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She took over the Bruins program from Amanda Cromwell, who left to become head coach of the NWSL’s Orlando Pride but was placed on administrative leave less than two months into the season. A joint investigation between the NWSL and NWSL Players Association later substantiated claims of retaliatory behavior, leading to Cromwell’s termination.

Aozasa, a two-time captain and four-year starting defender for Santa Clara, wanted to turn UCLA into as much of a defensive powerhouse as an attacking engine. Her goal was to make the Bruins one of the best defensive teams in the country, and that’s exactly what they became. UCLA registered 12 shutouts in 19 games, their goals-against average of .474 tied for fourth in the nation, and Reale was named UCLA’s second-ever Pac-12 Defender of the Year.

Reale’s honor, especially, was a testament to the defensive strides UCLA made this year.

“She’s an incredible person and just very steady for us,” Aozasa said. “I think as a defender, it’s sometimes hard to gain recognition, especially on a good team.”

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Off the field, the ingredients to UCLA’s recipe for success have been honesty and trust.

“I think transparency is really an expression of respect in a lot of ways,” Aozasa said. “And we try to be accessible and compassionate. I think those are really values of our staff, and so we’ve created a very strong, supportive, empowering environment for our players to play within it.”

After she was hired in the last week of 2021, Aozasa started out by meeting with every single player, sometimes for an hour. The chats were free-flowing. She wanted to know everything so she could assess how best to move forward.

“What’s your previous experience?”

“What do you want to get out of this?”

“What type of player are you?”

“What are your tendencies?”

She’d then explain her own goals, the changes she wanted to make to the team’s system and the identity she wanted the program to have.

“Everything we’ve done thus far starts with those relationships,” Aozasa said.

The trust the Bruins built during the preseason is reflected in their chemistry on the field, where they play without fear of making mistakes. A fun-loving group that laughs and dances through pressure-filled situations, the players embraced the staff from day one, which allowed Aozasa to introduce her plans quickly.

They also got closer through hard times. Just two months after Aozasa joined UCLA, she received the news that her former goalkeeper, Stanford’s Katie Meyer, had died by suicide.

“When she passed, the news was just … I hit the floor,” Aozasa said. “It just was so shocking. It was so upsetting.

“But in a weird way, her death and the conversations we had stemming from that as a team really accelerated the process of our team, building that trust between our staff and players.”

One of Aozasa’s goals has been to create an environment where mental health is a high priority. Meyer’s death not only opened conversations about mental health and challenges that student-athletes were facing, but it also brought Aozasa’s own mental well-being into sharp focus. And her players and the athletic department were there to help.

Two days after Meyer passed, one of UCLA’s older players called Aozasa.

“Margueritte,” the player said, “we talked as a team. You need to know that if you need to go there, we’re OK.”

“I was like, ‘Wow. Like, wow,’” recalled Aozasa. “I had not been there that long. I was so struck by the team’s support as I went through that loss personally.”

There were times Aozasa missed training to go to Stanford because that’s what she needed in those moments.

When UCLA kicked off its season in mid-August, the Bruins were closer than ever and ready to play for each other. In just their fourth and fifth games, they beat the top two teams in the nation, Duke followed by North Carolina and 21-time national champion coach Anson Dorrance.

Aozasa and Reale had six other Bruins join them on the Pac-12 awards list. Also named to the first team were forward Reilyn Turner — Nike’s first student-athlete signed to an NIL deal — and defender Quincy McMahon, while goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy and midfielder Sunshine Fontes received second-team honors. Forward Ally Cook, freshman midfielder Ally Lemos and midfielder Maricarmen Reyes were named to the third team. Lemos and midfielder Sofia Cook made the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.

UCLA kicked off the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 win against Northern Arizona, then advanced on penalties against Central Florida. They beat Northwestern, Virginia and Alabama in succession to reach the championship match at 6 p.m. ET Monday.

“Try not to let it get bigger than it is, so that it doesn’t distract from what we’re really trying to do,” Aozasa said. “Can we play how we know we can play and bring some joy in the game, even though it is kind of a pressure-filled situation?”

Last year, UCLA lost to UC Irvine in the first round after winning 16 games in the regular season. On Monday night, all eyes will be on the No. 1 Bruins to see if they can not just flip the script but clinch the NCAA title, with the 2022 Pac-12 Coach of the Year leading the way.

Jessa Braun is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering the NWSL and USWNT. Follow her on Twitter @jessabraun.

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman is defending the league's salary cap, addressing growing concerns about player retention this week — just days before soon-to-be free agent Trinity Rodman takes the San Jose pitch for Saturday's 2025 Championship match.

"We want Trinity in the NWSL, and we will fight for her," said Berman about the Washington Spirit star, responding to a report in The Athletic claiming that competing US top-flight outfit Gainbridge Super League has offered Rodman a contract surpassing the NWSL's current salary cap limitations.

"She is representative, or a proxy, of our broader point, which is that we want top players to play here, and we believe that we are already doing that and can continue to attract those players," Berman added.

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The NWSL's hard salary cap approach has come under fire amid recent high-profile departures of US talents like now-Chelsea FC teammates Naomi Girma and Alyssa Thompson, but Berman insists that the mechanism remains crucial to the league's parity.

"There are teams in other leagues that could compete in our league, but there are no leagues that could compete with our league," she explained, emphasizing the unique position the NWSL holds in the global soccer landscape.

"Compensation is not the only thing that players consider when deciding where to play," she continued. "We look at a whole host of factors, on the basis of the conversations that we have with players from our league and from players around the world."

The NWSL also confirmed Berman's multi-year contract extension this week, with executive committee chair Carolyn Tisch Blodgett saying in a statement that "[Berman's] vision for sustainable growth, along with her ability to fuel enduring momentum, has positioned the league for long-term success."

The soccer season's biggest showdown has finally arrived, as the No. 2 Washington Spirit and No. 8 Gotham FC take the pitch for Saturday's 2025 NWSL Championship match in San Jose.

Both teams enter the final steeped in postseason experience, with the Spirit winning their first title in 2021 before falling just short of a second in 2024, while Gotham lifted their first trophy in 2023.

"It feels like another NWSL game — we have competitive people on both sides," Gotham forward Midge Purce told JWS this week. "And it's fun. Stakes are high."

Despite entering as the postseason's No. 8 seed, Gotham insists they're far from underdogs, while the Spirit also view Saturday's matchup as a heavyweight bout.

"Both teams, we have different players but a similar idea — we all want to be protagonists," said Washington manager Adrián González. "Both teams want to win the ball as quick as possible. We love pressing high. I think it's going to be a good game for the fans."

"It's two teams that are very good tactically, two teams that are going to study how to counterpart each other," agreed Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amorós. "Then it's going to be those moments of brilliance — it could be set pieces — certain moments where players take responsibility."

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How to watch the 2025 NWSL Championship

The 2025 NWSL season comes down to Saturday's final between No. 8 Gotham FC and the No. 2 Washington Spirit.

This year's championship match kicks off from San Jose at 8 PM ET, with live coverage airing on CBS.

Gotham FC's Emily Sonnett would like everyone to know that her longtime teammate and close friend Rose Lavelle is a very good defender.

"Cannot forget that," she told Just Women's Sports at Thursday's NWSL Championship Media Day. "Gotta write about that."

A World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist with the US women's national team, the respect that Lavelle almost instantly garners from the opposition creates significant space for her Gotham teammates. And since joining the team in 2024, she's taken well to the club's high-pressing, quick-transition style. 

"She takes up a lot of attention," said Sonnett. "The way that she leads silently on the field, like a ghost — you don't know when she's going to get [the ball] and do something brave, and then, bam, she's there."

Gotham teammates spotlight Lavelle’s two-way brilliance

Lavelle has been a constant during Gotham’s unlikely championship run, both a locker room leader and a Fellow Gotham and USWNT star Midge Purce would also like everyone to know about Lavelle's prowess on both sides of the ball.

"It's hard to describe when you play with someone who's that good, it's just special," she said. "She can do special things on and off the ball — something she doesn't get a ton of credit for."

She's such a force, in fact, that Purce wasn't aware of the one achievement that's eluded Lavelle throughout her illustrious career — winning an NWSL title.

"Rosie, I didn't realize!" Purce exclaimed upon learning she's never won a league championship — despite being on the Gotham squad that took down Lavelle's Seattle (née OL) Reign in the 2023 NWSL Final. "She deserves the world."

From Breakers to Gotham: Rose Lavelle's winding NWSL journey

Lavelle needs little introduction to a soccer audience. A perennial winner on the international stage and a midfield maestro with the ball at her feet, the 30-year-old is a fixture of the global women's game. But her NWSL career has been a bit more nuanced. 

A Wisconsin standout with serious USWNT interest right out of college, Lavelle signed her first professional contract with the now-defunct Boston Breakers in 2018, entering a league almost unrecognizable to today's thriving NWSL ecosystem.

Boston folded the following year, sending Lavelle to Washington during a dark competitive period for the Spirit. She was later somewhat unceremoniously traded to Seattle in 2021, while playing overseas with the WSL's Manchester City. That Reign team went on to fall to none other than Gotham FC in the 2023 NWSL Championship — with Lavelle scoring Seattle's only goal.

In 2024, Lavelle got to make her own choices. She jumped ship, signing with the NY/NJ club that so silenced Seattle the previous season as part of a flashy free agency class.

How Lavelle battled injury and reclaimed her NWSL influence

Regardless of tonight's outcome, Lavelle's greatest triumph this season might simply be taking the pitch for a full 90 minutes. The 30-year-old has struggled with injuries throughout her professional career, but bouncing back from offseason ankle surgery was especially taxing. Her prolonged recovery impacted her ability to make a difference on the field, as she watched Gotham's form waver early in 2025.

"It was a pretty big surgery," Lavelle said, acknowledging that she's had to adjust her role within the team to maintain a presence off the pitch.

So she found ways to stay involved. She shared opinions in team meetings, staying connected with teammates in order to forge a seamless transition once she could handle more significant playing time. 

"She supported me for the first half of the season, when she wasn't even on the field," said rookie midfielder Sarah Schupansky. "And she didn't only support me, she supported the whole team."

Lavelle admitted that even now she doesn't feel 100%. But she also has a veteran's perspective on the bigger picture. "I still have to give myself the grace of acknowledging that it's going to be an up and down journey," she said.

"Being able to play with Rose, obviously, with the national team, has been incredible," Sonnett remarked. "But seeing the way that she's been able to train in NWSL, seeing that grit — I know she's battled through injury. [But] being able to see her train, I learn a lot from her."

Chasing the one women's soccer trophy that’s eluded her

Having won all there is to win at the international level, Lavelle's legacy doesn't ride on a single title. But her teammates would love to help check off that particular box on behalf of their locker room leader.

"I adore playing with her, and I adore her off the field," said Purce. "I definitely want to see her lift that trophy — she's going to be just fantastic."

As for Lavelle herself, the game is the fun part. And raising a trophy at the end of 90 minutes is just a benefit of the greater goal.

"This is what you play for," said Lavelle.

"This season is so long and hard. But then you get to these moments and this is the fun part, win or go home. We're all just fighting for each other, amped up, playing every single day."

Star England defender Esme Morgan made an impression on her new Washington Spirit teammates even before she set foot on US soil — just by the sound of her voice.

"Looking at Es on social media before she came, I just thought her voice was so angelic," Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury told Just Women's Sports at NWSL Championship Media Day in San Jose. "Even the first weeks, I couldn't even focus on what she was saying — I'm like, 'I am in the presence of the Queen.'"

If the former Manchester City defender wasn't already the NWSL team's quintessential English international, she cemented her prowess after winning a European Championship with the Lionesses earlier this summer. Since joining the Spirit in 2024, the center back has become a player to watch on both sides of the Atlantic, after making a bet on herself by transferring to the notoriously fast-paced NWSL in search of greater responsibility on the pitch.

A die-hard NFL fan with a bubbly personality and loyal TikTok following, Morgan immediately took to life in the US. Her proper British accent belies a fierce competitor on the field. She's a force in the locker room, fusing social connections that greatly contributed to the Spirit reaching a second straight NWSL final. And she's also good for more than a little bit of banter.

"Es is just super entertaining, she's really good at getting under my skin," added Kingsbury with a laugh. "She brings… a lot of sunshine to the locker room, and obviously is just a fun person to play with." 

But it's not all puppies and rainbows. Ceding last year's championship to the Orlando Pride still stings for Morgan. And she's turned that pain into intensity — one that's fueled her and her teammates all the way back to the precipice of NWSL glory.

How Esme Morgan energized Washington Spirit’s team culture

Washington's camaraderie is palpable, something midfielder Hal Hershfelt credits in part to Morgan's readiness to spend time with her teammates off the pitch, no matter the occasion.

"Honestly, she came to the team and we did a lot more team events and stuff like that," she said. "She's so extroverted, willing to get people together, get people grooving."

Morgan recalls a time early in the 2025 preseason, after Spirit captain Andi Sullivan announced she was pregnant with her first child ("the whole team had gone crazy," she remembered). A group of players had ridden their bikes to get ice cream, including recent signing Narumi Miura, who had only been in market for a few days.

"We were all just chatting about [Sullivan], and Rumi goes, 'I love this team!'" Morgan said. "She'd been here four days. We were like, 'Oh my gosh, Rumi, we love you too!' I think that speaks to the environment that we have."

The team's comfort with one another is also evident on the pitch, whether it's Morgan and midfielder Croix Bethune hitting Cam Ward's football celly in front of Audi Field's sold-out home crowd, or the trust permeating the defense as they confront ongoing injuries. 

"We definitely hold each other to high standards," said Kingsbury. "We all really want to win, and we all really want to do well for each other."

Esme Morgan bets on the NWSL to elevate her England career

Morgan arrived in the US on a mission.

She was named to England's World Cup squad in 2023, but spent the tournament on the bench, watching on as an unused substitute as the Lionesses finished second to Spain.

So when she got the opportunity to transfer to the NWSL the following year, proving her national team worth was front of mind. 

"She wanted to take a step forward, knowing that this league would challenge her," said Washington manager Adrián González. "I think she's done an amazing job, especially adapting herself to the type of games we have here."

The defender favors the NWSL's summer schedule, as it allows her to stay in shape for major international tournaments. And as she told JWS earlier this year, the US league's speedy, possession-oriented style has made her a better overall player. Morgan had always been good with the ball at her feet, but her time in Washington has significantly improved her off-ball positioning and ability to go toe-to-toe with the world's best attackers.

Her desire to improve only grew stronger after the Spirit fell short of last year's NWSL title. "That was something that at the time provided a huge fire inside me," she said. "I worked super hard in the off-season, doing things on the pitch that I knew would complement the areas of the game that I wanted to improve."

From Euros glory to NWSL grind: Esme Morgan returns to form

The work is paying off. She played a key role as a reserve center back in the Lionesses's successful UEFA Women's Euro defense this summer, replacing Gotham defender — and 2025 NWSL Championship opponent — Jess Carter in England's hard-fought semifinal victory over Italy. She went on to lift the trophy with her national team teammates, after avenging their World Cup loss against Spain in the European Championship final. 

Winning a major international title accomplished a childhood dream, but Morgan had to quickly re-orient herself after rejoining the Spirit in DC.

"Immediately after the Euros was when I felt the most tired. It was just like a come-down after that high," she reflected. "But I've since rallied and [felt] fresh and ready coming into the last couple of games."

How team love fuels the Washington Spirit's NWSL Championship quest

Heading into tonight's NWSL Championship, Morgan's focus on winning hasn't changed. But the source of her desire has shifted some, a full year after last year's disappointing exit. Washington faced adversity due to injury this season, in many ways mirroring their 2024 arc. But they've also continued to prioritize joy — on and off the pitch.

"We've overcome lots of challenges as a group, but stuck together throughout," Morgan said. "Now my passion and desire to win this weekend comes not from me losing out last year. It comes from the love I have for this group and the desire to win with these girls."

Another thing driving her? A victory tonight would put Morgan in rare company, completing her 2025 trophy case with both an international and league.

"I had the best time in the summer, achieved a lifelong goal. And ever since I've come to the Spirit, I've wanted to win the championship," she said. "It would be the perfect year, really."