Leading the notables from the past week is the San Diego Wave’s signing of Texas forward Trinity Byars, who was a standout player for both the Longhorns and the USA’s U-20 WYNT.
Meanwhile, two key players for their teams, midfielder Jess Fishlock of the Seattle Reign and defender Ryan Williams of the North Carolina Courage, are extending their stays in the NWSL. Also, the Orlando Pride’s Celia Jiménez Delgado has announced that she will retire after the conclusion of the playoffs.
Additionally, the Brazilian international Rafaelle was placed on the season-ending injury list by the Orlando Pride due to a “partial tear” of a tendon in her right thigh, and Houston Dash back-up goalkeeper Heather Hinz has been loaned to Fort Lauderdale United of the USL Super League for the NWSL off-season.
Finally, some good news: Brazilian midfielder Luana, whose first season in the NWSL was cut short by a cancer diagnosis, completed a series of chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in October and has had follow-up tests which show no evidence of the disease.
San Diego Wave: Trinity Byars signed
Standout Texas forward Trinity Byars has been signed by the Wave to a contract that runs through the 2026 season and includes a mutual option for 2027. (November 7th press release) Byars is the first NCAA player signed by an NWSL team after the abolition of the college draft.
The early signing of Byars became possible after she suffered a season-ending ACL tear during a non-conference match against Central Michigan on September 1st (The Daily Texan). According to Jeff Kassouf (espn.com), a Wave spokesperson said that rehab for the injury should take about nine months, so if all goes well, Byars could make her NWSL debut sometime in June 2025.
At Texas (player profile), Byars broke the all-time scoring record, finishing with 52 career goals, including a four-goal performance at Southern Methodist on August 22nd. The record set by Byars was later surpassed by her Longhorns teammate and fellow USA youth international Lexi Missimo (Texas player profile), who currently sits on 56 goals and an incredible 64 assists. Byars and Missimo have played together since their youth club days, so it would not be surprising if Missimo signs with the Wave after the NCAA season.
Byars has been a regular call-up to the USA’s youth national teams since the U-15 level. She was the youngest player on the USA’s U-17 WWC roster in 2018 and was a core member of the U-20 USWYNT in 2022, helping them to qualify for the 2022 U-20 WWC, where she started every group stage match for the USA.
Byars has a listed height of 5’5″ and turns 22 at the end of January.
Seattle Reign: Jess Fishlock re-ups for another year
Welsh international midfielder Jess Fishlock, who has been with the Seattle Reign since the start of the NWSL’s inaugural season, is set to play another season in the league after signing a one-year contract last week. (November 7th press release)
The 37-year-old Fishlock currently sits at 198 NWSL regular season appearances, so she should surpass the 200 plateau early next season. During her 12 years in the NWSL, Fishlock has scored 42 goals and registered 28 assists.
During the NWSL off-season, Fishlock was regularly loaned to clubs in Europe and Australia, including stints with Melbourne City where she also served as an assistant coach, and for part of the 2016-2017 season, was the head coach. During that season, Melbourne City won the Australian W-League’s grand final, with Fishlock scoring the game-winning goal. Current Racing Louisville head coach Beverly Yanez also scored in that match for Melbourne City. (Wikipedia)
For Wales, Fishlock has 156 caps and has scored 46 goals. Wales is one of 14 teams still in the hunt for a UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 spot. During the November-December international window, Wales will face off against the Republic of Ireland in a pair of matches, with the aggregate winner earning one of the final seven spots.
North Carolina Courage: Ryan Williams extends through 2027
Last Thursday, the Courage announced that outside-back Ryan Williams has a signed a new contract that should keep her in the Triangle through the 2027 NWSL season (November 7th press release). Williams’s current contract was not set to expire until after next season (January 2023 press release).
Williams has spent her entire professional career with the Courage after being drafted as the final pick (#40) of the 2018 college draft. After minimal appearances in her first three seasons, the 28-year-old Williams has become a core part of the Courage backline. In 2024, she started all but one regular season match and started all four of the Courage’s Summer Cup matches. In those 30 matches, Williams was only subbed out once. (NWSL game log)
Williams played collegiately for the TCU Horned Frogs (player profile), starting all but one of her 80 career matches.
Orlando Pride: Defender Celia to retire after playoffs
Last week, Celia Jiménez Delgado announced that she will retire from professional soccer, following the conclusion of the 2024 post-season (November 7th press release)
Celia was born and raised in the Andalusia region of Spain and opted to play collegiately in the United States so that she could also study aerospace engineering. She was capped 25 times by Spain and was a member of their first two Women’s World Cup squads (2015 and 2019) as well as their team for the 2017 Women’s Euro. (Wikipedia bio)
Celia was originally drafted by the Reign in the 2018 college draft, but chose to stay another semester at the University of Alabama. After a half-season stint with Swedish club FC Rosengård, Celia officially signed with the Reign for the 2019 season. Her lone regular season goal for the Reign came against their Cascadia rivals, the Portland Thorns, in 2019.
After three years with the Reign, Celia was traded to the Orlando Pride after the 2021 season. During her first season with the Pride, Celia appeared in 18 regular season matches and scored two goals.
In 2024, Celia appeared in only 3 regular season matches, but has been on most gameday rosters. She started all three of Orlando’s Summer Cup matches, netting a goal against the North Carolina Courage and registering an assist against Monterrey. (NWSL game log)
Houston Dash: Goalkeeper Heather Hinz loaned to USL Super League’s Fort Lauderdale United
Over the weekend, the Dash announced that first-year goalkeeper Heather Hinz is being loaned to Fort Lauderdale United of the USL Super League, at least through February 16, 2025. Per the November 9th press release, “[t]he agreement includes a right to recall the goalkeeper after she meets the loan period minimum”.
Hinz was acquired by the Dash via the 2024 NWSL draft. Previously, she played five seasons for South Carolina (player profile). With the Dash, Hinz played the final match of the regular season, in place of the injured Jane Campbell. Hinz also notched two wins in the Summer Cup as a starting goalkeeper.
Heather’s older sister, Megan Hinz, is a former NWSL goalkeeper who is now the goalkeepers coach at Southern California (usctrojans.com).
Orlando Pride: Rafaelle placed on Season-Ending Injury List
Injury woes continue for Brazilian defender Rafaelle, who was placed on the season-ending injury list last week due to a “a partial tear in her quadriceps tendon in her right leg”. (November 5th press release)
When and how Rafaelle suffered the quadriceps injury is unclear, but if Orlando’s availability reports are accurate, then the injury occurred sometime between September 21st and September 28th.
The 33-year-old, who is primarily utilized as a center-back, last played for the Pride just before the Olympic break (NWSL game log). Rafaelle was named to Brazil’s roster for the Paris Olympics and played the full 90 in Brazil’s first two group stage matches, but left their quarterfinal ten minutes into the second half due to injury and only played the final six minutes of the gold medal match. (cumulative stats for Brazil at the 2024 Olympics)
After the Olympics, Rafaelle was listed on Orlando’s player availability reports as “Out” due to a “foot” injury from September 1st until September 28th, where the reason was updated to “hip”. After that week, the listed reason was “thigh”. Rafaelle previously suffered a left foot injury during the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, which caused her to miss the first few matches of the 2024 NWSL season.
Rafaelle played collegiate soccer for Ole Miss for three seasons, scoring 44 goals over 61 matches. At the University of Mississippi, she majored in civil engineering (olemiss.edu).
Orlando Pride: Luana — “no sign of cancer” after chemotherapy for Hodgkin’s lymphoma
Good news! Brazilian midfielder Luana, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year (April 29th press release), finished her chemotherapy treatment in October (Instagram) and had follow-up tests done, which show no evidence of cancer (Pro Soccer Wire).
Luana, who turned 31 this year, joined the Pride ahead of the 2024 season on a two-year contract, which also included a mutual option for the 2026 season (December 2023 press release). She has about 40 caps for Brazil and was on their Women’s World Cup rosters in 2023 and 2019.
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