Leading this edition of the notables is the news that Bay’s FC first player, Alex Loera, has been traded to the Utah Royals, and that a team other than the San Diego Wave have signed a collegiate player: On Thursday, the North Carolina Courage announced the signing of Southern California defender Brooklyn Courtnall.
In other player news, the Kansas City Current officially have a goalkeeper on their books with the free agent signing of Laurel Ivory.
Additionally, the Houston Dash announced that recently acquired defender Christen Westphal has been signed a new contract that adds another year to her planned stay in Houston. The Dash also confirmed that midfielder Belle Briede, who was included in the club’s end-of-season roster, has a one-year contract for 2025. Meanwhile, Gotham FC have retained veteran defender Mandy Freeman.
In front office news, Matt Potter is officially Bay FC’s Sporting Director after holding an “interim” title since June.
Alex Loera acquired by the Utah Royals via trade from Bay FC
On, Wednesday, the Utah Royals and Bay FC confirmed the news that 25-year-old midfielder/defender Alex Loera had been traded to the Royals. (Royals press release, Bay press release) Loera was the first player acquired by Bay FC as well as its first captain (Bay match recap), so the leaked news on Tuesday that Loera would no longer be wearing the neutral colors of Bay FC was a shock to many fans.
The terms of the deal involve Utah sending $25,000 in intra-league transfer fees to Bay FC. If the Royals trade Loera, Bay FC will receive a 15% sell-on fee. Loera also apparently signed a new contract that runs ” through the 2027 season”. Her previous contract would have expired after the 2025 season.
Loera played just four regular season matches for Bay FC (NWSL game log) as her season was shortened by an ACL injury suffered on April 20th against the Kansas City Current (April 24th pres release). Her lone official goal in a Bay FC uniform came against the Seattle Reign on April 14th. Loera’s time at Bay FC was not without drama: Loera did not dress for an away match on March 23rd versus the Washington Spirit due to an “internal team issue” (Claire Watkins x.com post and follow-up post) that was never publicly explained. She was originally signed by Bay FC on November 15, 2023 (press release) via a trade from the Current. Loere described that trade as one she “was not expecting” and found to be “disheartening” (Instagram post).
Loera spent her first two professional seasons with the Current. Although she was originally drafted in 2021, Loera opted to play a fifth year at Santa Clara. During her rookie year, Loera became a regular for the Current, starting most regular season matches and both playoff matches. In the 2022 semifinal, she scored the game-winning goal against the Seattle Reign just four minutes into the match. In 2023, after dealing with a foot injury earlier in the season (July 2023 press release), Loera started the last seven regular season matches for the Current, going at least 80 minutes in all seven.
Prior to the NWSL, Loera played five seasons at Santa Clara (player profile), where she was primarily utilized as a center-back. From 2017 to 2021, Loera scored seven goals and tallying 15 assist while starting all but one of her 98 matches. Loera was a co-captain of the Broncos squad that won a National Championship in May 2021.
Loera has a handful of United States youth national team call-ups, from the U-17 level in 2015 to the U-23 level in 2022.
Loera is a native of the Denver, Colorado, area, so this move brings her closer to home, and she could even move closer if Denver does end up getting the second 2026 expansion franchise.
North Carolina Courage: USC defender Brooklyn Courtnall signed
The third current collegiate player signed in the NWSL’s post-draft era is defender Brooklyn Courtnall, who recently finished four seasons at the University of Southern California. On Thursday, the Courage announced (press release) that they had signed Courtnall to a three-year contract that should keep the 5’9″ Canadian youth international in Courage blue through the 2027 NWSL season.
At USC, Courtnall was mostly utilized as a center-back (bsky.app post) during her 78 matches, of which all but one were starts. Her lone collegiate goal was a 4th minute game-winner in USC’s 5-nil victory over Sacramento State during the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Championship.
Courtnall was a member of Canada’s squads for both the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship and the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, appearing in a total of 10 matches across both competitions. (Canada Soccer profile)
Courtnall is the younger sister of former UCLA soccer player Ally Kendricks (née Courtnall), who also had Canadian youth national team soccer experience (Canada Soccer profile). Their mother is former actress Paris Vaughn (IMDb profile), who has credited roles in over 20 TV episode as well as several films, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Their father is Russ Courtnall, a now-retired long-time NHL player (Wikipedia bio).
Free Agency Move: Laurel Ivory signs with Kansas City after three seasons with Seattle
On Thursday, the Current, which had no goalkeepers on its end-of-season roster, said hello to free agent Laurel Ivory and good-bye to free agents AD Franch (Instagram) and Almuth Schult (Instagram).
Ivory was signed by the Current to a one-year contract with a “mutual option” for the 2026 season (December 19th press release).
The 25-year-old goalkeeper was drafted by the Reign in 2022. She got her first career regular season start earlier this year after Claudia Dickey was sidelined with a knee injury (Seattle Times). During Dickey’s eight-match absence, Ivory had one clean sheet, in a nil-nil draw against the Current. (NWSL game log) She also started all three of the Reign’s Summer Cup matches.
Before turning pro, Ivory played five seasons of NCAA soccer with the Virginia Cavaliers (player profile), where she started all 100 of her matches.
Ivory attended over 20 United States youth national team camps, from the U-17 to the U-23 levels and was a member of USA squads for both the 2016 U-17 WWC and the 2018 U-20 WWC.
Houston Dash: Midfielder Belle Briede is signed through 2025 season
On Wednesday, the Dash acknowledged that midfielder Isabella “Belle” Briede “signed a contract extension earlier this year through the 2025 season” (press release). Briede was included in the Dash’s end-of-season roster, so the expiry date is the only new detail.
The 5’6″ Briede joined the Dash in December 2023 (press release) via a swap from San Diego Wave for another midfielder and former Stanford Cardinal, Sierra Enge.
In 2024, Briede featured in 17 regular season matches, but only had two starts and a tally of 359 on-field minutes. During her rookie season with the San Diego Wave, Briede had 10 regular season starts and started both of the Wave’s playoff matches. (NWSL game log) In her second season with the Wave, Briede appeared in just seven regular season matches with two starts, but did start four of the Wave’s six Challenge Cup matches in 2023.
At Stanford (player profile), Briede played five seasons and won two national championships (2017 and 2019). In her 112 matches, she scored 12 goals and registered 11 assists.
Briede had at least fifteen United States youth national team call-ups, from the U-15 to U-20 levels. In almost all of the announced rosters, Briede was listed as as a forward.
Houston Dash: Recently acquired Christen Westphal signs new contract
In the same press release, the Dash also announced that defender Christen Westphal, who was officially acquired on December 10th, will be under a new contract, starting on January 1st. Westphal’s new deal runs through the 2026 NWSL season and includes a “mutual option” for 2027. Her previous contract would have expired at the end of the 2025 season.
Gotham FC: Mandy Freeman extends through 2026
Eight-year NWSL veteran defender/midfielder Mandy Freeman, who has spent her entire professional career with the Gotham FC franchise is set to stay in New Jersey for another two seasons. On Thursday, Gotham announced (press release) that Freeman had been signed to a new contract that runs through the 2026 NWSL season.
A member of Gotham’s 2023 championship squad, Freeman’s career stats currently sit at 95 appearances, 78 starts, and 7,045 minutes. In 2024, Freeman appeared in 16 regular season matches and had 6 starts, including Gotham’s last three matches. Her first professional goal was the game-winner in Gotham’s 4:1 victory over the Utah Royals on November 1st (Instagram video). Freeman also started both of Gotham’s post-season matches in 2024. (NWSL game log)
Freeman was drafted by then Sky Blue FC out of USC, where she played four seasons. As a Trojan, Freeman appeared in 89 matches, with 87 matches. She was primarily utilized as a center-back but was also deployed as a holding midfielder.
Freeman attended over 25 United States youth camps from the U14 to U23 levels and was a member of USA squads at both the 2012 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship and the 2012 FIFA U-17 WWC, which were both coached by current Bay FC manager Albertin Montoya.
Bay FC: Matt Potter upgraded from interim Sporting Director
On Wednesday (press release), the club announced that Matt Potter, who was originally hired as Bay FC’s Technical Director in December 2023, was named as the team’s Sporting Director. Potter had the “interim” title since June 2024, when he was also named the Head of Football after the departure of General Manager Lucy Rushton (June 24th press release).
Previously, Potter was head coach at Kansas City Current (2022-2023) and at two NCAA Division I programs: Washington State (2003-2011) and Oklahoma (2011-2019).
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