January 2025 – Page 4 – Women's Soccer Express

USWNT: January 2025 Domestic Camp Roster Announced — Only NWSL Players, No “Triple Espresso”, Rose Lavelle out due to ankle surgery

Update #3 (16-Jan-2025): Center-back Naomi Girma has withdrawn due to a “minor calf issue” (USWNT x.com post, confirmed by Meg Linehan). No replacement will be called in.

Update #2 (10-Jan-2025): Due to the Los Angeles wildfires, both the USWNT camp and the Futures camp will be moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Those camps will now run from January 17 to 23, which is a day shorter than the originally announced dates of January 14 to 21.

Update (8-Jan-2025):

Lynn Williams has been withdrawn due to a hamstring issue and will be replaced by uncapped midfielder Hannah Bebar.
Also, there has been no official word on whether the wildfires in Los Angeles will impact this camp.

For the second camp in a row, the “Triple Espresso” trio of Mallory Swanson, Sophia Smith, and Trinity Rodman will not be involved in a United States Women’s National Team camp. According to U.S. Soccer, the official reason for the absence of the three forwards is “off-season rest and recovery from injuries”.

The 26-player roster announced by U.S. Soccer on Tuesday also does not include any European-based players, in part due to the fact that this camp falls outside a FIFA international window, which means that clubs do not have to release their players.

An additional absence is 29-year-old midfielder Rose Lavelle, who is recovering from ankle surgery. She will also miss the upcoming SheBelieves Cup (Bluesky post).

Of the 26 players called in, 13 have three or less caps, including seven players who are uncapped and receiving their first USWNT call-ups. The uncapped players are goalkeepers Angelina Anderson and Claudia Dickey; defenders Tara McKeown and Ryan Williams; midfielders Hannah Bebar and Nealy Martin; and forward Ella Stevens.

This USWNT camp will run from January 14th to the 21st and will be held concurrently with a “Futures” camp, which is expected to be an Under-23 camp (Bluesky post). The roster for that camp will be released on Wednesday. The seven uncapped players will be profiled along with the “Futures” camp players in forthcoming posts.

NWSL: 2025 Schedule Footprint and Competition Calendar with International Windows

On Monday, the NWSL published its outline of the schedule for 2025 NWSL regular season and playoffs. With no changes in the number of teams and the same media rights agreements still in effect, the 2025 footprint only deviates slightly from the 2024 season’s footprint.

As in 2024, the NWSL will play a balanced regular season with 182 total matches, plus seven playoff matches, and a single Challenge Cup match.

Also on Monday, the NWSL released its “Competition Calendar” which details key roster and player transaction dates, along with start and end dates for preseason training, the regular season, and the playoffs.

A combined schedule which lays out the 2025 schedule footprint, competition calendar, and FIFA international windows is included below.

In 2024, the full regular season schedule was announced on Thursday, January 25th (NWSL press release), so there are still a few weeks until the full 2025 schedule should drop.

NWSL News of Note: Gotham signs UCLA’s Lilly Reale, Dash hire Fabrice Gautrat as head coach, Arin Wright re-ups with Racing, Emily Van Egmond departs Wave, Denver “secures NWSL team” per Sportico

Leading the notables for the first days of 2025 is Gotham’s signing of UCLA center-back Lilly Reale, who is the current Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year.

In other player news, Arin Wright is set to stay with Racing Louisville for at least two more seasons. Meanwhile, Australian international Emily van Egmond leaves the San Diego Wave a year early via a “mutual” departure.

In coaching news, the Houston Dash finally have a permanent head coach: Fabrice Gautrat, who was an assistant coach with the North Carolina Courage and, before that, the Chicago Red Stars.

Additionally, on Thursday, Sportico reported that the Denver bid group for the second 2026 expansion team had “secured” an NWSL franchise and made its first expansion fee payment.

NWSL News of Note: Gotham signs Gabi Portilho, Shelby Hogan traded from Thorns to Gotham, Bay FC signs Cal’s Karlie Lema, Royals signs Texas goalkeeper Mia Justus, Jéssica Silva signs half-season extension with Gotham, Nicole Barnhart announces retirement

Leading the notables for the last two days of 2024 are Gotham’s signing of Brazilian international forward Gabi Portilho and its acquisition of goalkeeper Shelby Hogan. Hogan was acquired via a trade with the Portland Thorns, who received an international roster spot for 2025.

Also, two clubs announced the signings of recent NCAA players:

Forward Karlie Lema, who is the 2024 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, has been signed by Bay FC after four seasons at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Utah Royals have bolstered their goalkeeping corps with the addition of Mia Justus, who played for the University of Texas and Florida State.

Meanwhile, Portuguese international forward Jéssica Silva has committed to another half-season with Gotham FC.

Additionally, former United States Women’s National Team goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart announced her retirement from professional soccer.