When U.S. Soccer announced its 23-player U.S. women’s national team roster for the upcoming Concacaf championship in July, one name that didn’t appear on the list seemed to grab all the attention.

Christen Press hasn’t played for the USWNT since the Tokyo Olympics last summer, when she scored a goal in the team’s bronze medal-winning campaign. Since then, she’s headlined Angel City FC in the club’s debut NWSL season, scoring two goals (and forcing an own goal) in 686 minutes and eight starts. The forward has shown an ability to take on multiple defenders and create plays out of nothing, helping Angel City start the season near the top of the NWSL standings.

Press’ status for World Cup Qualifying was in question after she went down with a knee injury in Angel City’s win over Racing Louisville FC on Saturday. Amid the speculation that Press was left off the roster because of the injury, which ACFC confirmed Monday as a season-ending torn ACL, U.S. head coach Vlatko Andonovski set the record straight on Monday afternoon.

“Christen Press was not on the roster even before the injury,” Andonovski told reporters. “We’re very sorry for her injury and don’t have confirming information on the extension or the significance of the injury. We just hope that it is not too serious.”

Andonovski later said that Press’ top priority for inclusion on future USWNT rosters is good health. Then, it comes down to how she compares to other forwards on the team’s stacked depth chart. Before the Olympics last summer, Press had been on a tear with the USWNT, heavily contributing to the team’s goal-scoring opportunities. The two-time World Cup champion is ninth on the team’s all-time scoring list, with 64 goals in 155 caps since 2013.

“I think that she is performing well, but it’s not just her,” Andonovski said. “For Christen to be back on the field, it’s not just to do well or perform well in her club environment. It’s also outperform the players that she’s competing against … like Mal Pugh and Sophia Smith and Alex Morgan, Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman. It’s not easy to be a forward in the United States right now. Obviously it’s great, but it’s not easy because the competition just got bigger and bigger.”

Since Catarina Macario went down with a torn ACL, there was bound to be some flexibility on the USWNT’s frontline. Many speculated that Press would get the nod alongside Alex Morgan, the NWSL’s current leading scorer, because of their recent form with their club teams.

Instead, rejoining Morgan on the roster is Megan Rapinoe, who hasn’t appeared for the U.S. since the Tokyo Olympics. The OL Reign forward has played just 154 minutes in four of the team’s eight matches. After scoring two goals at the Olympics, she has yet to start or score a goal for the Reign this season.

At the end of last season, Andonovski had a conversation with Rapinoe, in which he walked her through his process for evaluating younger talent for the future of the national team. He told Rapinoe that if she were still in good form by this point, she would be named to the Concacaf squad.

The 36-year-old will play the same position as Mallory Pugh at outside forward, though Pugh will keep the starting spot for now.

“You have to do something absolutely incredible, and I can’t see it right now, someone getting the starting spot from Mallory in these qualifiers,” Andonovski said.

Rapinoe has made it clear that she is up for the challenge of playing a behind-the-scenes role and using her experience to guide the younger players. One of the most decorated players in USWNT history, Rapinoe has scored 62 goals, won two World Cup titles and been named the 2019 Best FIFA Women’s Player of the Year during her 16-year career.

“She will do anything possible to push Mal to be even better, so to push her in her own way to be even better but also to be there for Mal when the tough time comes,” Andonovski said. “We all know every player at a certain time in a tournament will go through adversity, every team will go through adversity in a tournament time. Regardless of what it is, I think that Megan is going to be there for Mal, she’s going to be there for Soph [Smith] to help them. When we talked, we said her job is to enhance their performance by 20 percent, and that’s where we believe she’s going to be valuable.”

The young forwards will also benefit from playing alongside Morgan, who will make her first appearance at national team camp since September.

“The thing with Alex is she falls in the group with Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn, who are experienced players who have gone through some tough times — but some great times as well — who knows how to win and how to win under tough circumstances, how to go through adversity,” Andonovski said.

The USWNT will play two tune-up games against Colombia, in Colorado on June 25 and in Utah on June 28, before traveling to Mexico for the Concacaf World Cup Qualifying tournament starting July 4.

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

Women's tennis got a boost on Wednesday, as the WTA announced it would institute rankings pauses for players who step away from competition to undergo fertility protection treatments like egg or embryo freezing.

Players returning from a procedure can opt to receive a Special Entry Ranking, calculated using their 12-week average ranking starting from eight weeks before taking leave.

Players can use that unique ranking to enter up to three tournaments at the WTA 500, 250, or 125 levels before the governing body will again institute traditional calculations.

The protection extends to any player ranked among the world's top 750 who spends more than 10 weeks out of competition.

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These latest rankings protection further secures the careers of tennis pro parents, who first earned special rankings in the 2019 WTA season after Serena Willams and Victoria Azarenka saw their seedings plummet simply from stepping away from competition to give birth.

The move also comes three months after the WTA agreed to grant players paid maternity leave for the very first time.

"I'm incredibly proud of our sport in recognizing the importance of fertility treatments for female athletes," said 2017 US Open champ and longtime reproductive health support advocate Sloane Stephens. "For any woman, the conversation of family life versus a career is nuanced and complex."

"It's truly ground-breaking and will empower this generation, and future generations of players, to continue with the sport they love without having to compromise."

Last week's landmark $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement is back in the headlines, as eight women's college sports athletes filed an appeal on Wednesday claiming that the approved NIL back-payment plan violates Title IX, the federal law banning gender discrimination in schools.

On June 6th, a federal judge approved a settlement between the NCAA and former student-athletes, with the college sports governing body agreeing to have schools directly distribute billions of dollars in back pay to players barred from financially benefitting off their name, image, and likeness since 2016.

Wednesday's appeal to that back-pay plan calls out alleged payment inequities written into the settlement ruling, which could see up to 90% of the $2.8 billion distributed to former NCAA men's sports athletes.

"The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion," said Ashlyn Hare, one of the lawyers representing the appellants. "Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women's sports."

"If Nike wants to [pay male athletes more], that is their choice. If the school, or a conference acting on the school's behalf tries to do that, they are violating the law," John Clune, another lawyer on the team, clarified.

"They can either pay the athletes proportionately, or they can return all of their federal funds," said Clune. "But they can't do both."

With the USWNT back in action for the next set of summer friendlies later this month, head coach Emma Hayes filled ESPN in on her roster strategy earlier this week.

Hayes will rest all Europe-based US players during the upcoming international window, instead relying on domestic talent following a jam-packed year for the team's European stars.

"We don't necessarily decide the international calendar, but this is one where we think it's in the best interest of the players," Hayes said, noting both past demands and the increasingly busy road to the 2027 World Cup.

With player welfare and recovery top-of-mind, the lone exception to Hayes's European omissions is Chelsea FC defender Naomi Girma, who made her 2025 USWNT debut on May 31st.

The US manager is seeking more minutes for the star center back after Girma spent much of the year recovering from a calf injury.

Hayes also revealed some key updates on other injured players, with fans eager to see midfielder Rose Lavelle and forward Trinity Rodman return to the USWNT fold.

After a lengthy recovery from ankle surgery, Lavelle — who made her first NWSL appearance of 2025 in Gotham FC's 2-1 loss to Kansas City last Saturday — could return to international play this month.

Rodman remains slightly further out from returning to the USWNT roster, with Hayes saying she expects the Spirit forward to begin seeing club minutes sometime next month.

The USWNT core is coming together, with Stateside players looking to seize the chance to prove their worth as club soccer approaches its summer hiatus.

The NWSL is locking in its summer calendar, as teams across the league announce special July friendlies ahead of the regular-season break for major global tournaments.

Without a planned league-wide tournament like 2024's NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, its up to individual clubs to fill their schedules until NWSL play resumes in August.

While there might not be a trophy at the end, the gap does provide an opportunity for some fresh friendly competition beyond the confines of the league.

The North Carolina Courage will welcome Liga MX titans and Concacaf W Champions Cup contenders Tigres UANL back to the States for a one-off exhibition match on July 9th.

Then on July 12th, Kansas City will kick off its Teal Rising Cup, a four-team friendly tournament pitting the NWSL's Current and Chicago Stars against Brazil's Série A1 clubs Corinthians and Palmeiras.

Late July will see both the Seattle Reign and Bay FC square off against Japan's WE League champions the Urawa Red Diamonds, with Bay tacking on an additional July 19th friendly against Angel City.

The USL Super League is also getting in on the summer interleague action, with the NWSL's Angel City facing the Carolina Ascent on July 26th after Racing Louisville hosts crosstown USL squad Lexington SC on July 13th — giving fans a glimpse at how the two US systems stack up against one another.

As teams juggle lineups in the wake of summer international departures, these July friendlies may feature decidedly different rosters than regular-season play — though hungry NWSL fans likely won't mind.