USWNT Players – Women's Soccer Express

USWNT News of Note: Lily Yohannes commits to the USA, Sophia Smith ankle injury update, Trinity Rodman goes the full 120, Tierna Davidson returns to Gotham’s line-up

This post was originally going to be centered around fitness updates on a few players, but stop the presses… Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes, who does not turn eighteen until next June, has chosen to represent the United States.

In not-so-good news, Portland Thorns head coach Rob Gale made some comments regarding Sophia Smith’s recent ankle injury that raises the question of whether she should be called up for the USWNT’s upcoming European friendlies against England and the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, two Olympic gold medalists who were left off of the USWNT’s roster for its trio of October friendlies due to injury issues played full matches over the weekend: Gotham FC center-back Tierna Davidson returned for her first match in almost a month, while forward Trinity Rodman played the full 120 minutes in the Washington Spirit’s extra-time victory over Bay FC.

NWSL News of Note: Alex Morgan announces retirement, Croix Bethune on SEI list, Magic Johnson invests in Spirit, plus lots more

Sunday, September 8th will be the end of an era as Alex Morgan will play her final professional soccer match. On Thursday, September 5th, Morgan announced her retirement via a social media video. The suddenness of Morgan’s retirement was due in part to a pregnancy, which was first publicly disclosed in the social media video.

The other major NWSL news of the week is the loss of Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune for the rest of the season due to a meniscus injury that occurred during a ceremonial first pitch at a Washington Nationals baseball game.

Here are the rest of the notables from September 3rd to the 5th:

Washington Spirit: Earvin “Magic” Johnson joins the club’s investor group
Seattle Reign: Jordyn Huitema extends until 2026, with mutual option for 2027
Angel City: Forward Jun Endo signs on through 2027
Angel City: Sale of Controlling interest to Willow Bay and Bob Iger completed
Houston Dash: Forward Bárbara Olivieri extends for two years
Houston Dash: Forward Cece Kizer released from contract
Orlando Pride: Amanda Allen loaned to USL Super League’s Lexington Sporting Club
Utah Royals: Addisyn Merrick released, signed by USL Super League’s Carolina Ascent
Rumor: Sofia Jakobsson “close to signing” with London City Lionesses

Olympics 2024: The USWNT’s Gold Medal Ceremony

The USWNT receives their gold medals (Telemundo Deportes)

The playing of the national anthem (Telemundo Deportes)

Olympics 2024: Why Trinity Rodman’s Goal versus Japan Was Not Offside

In the era of “VAR”, a goal is not a goal until the video assistant referee has their say. As NWSL fans are well aware, this can sometimes mean agonizing waits of multiple minutes for a goal to be officially affirmed or overturned by the center referee. However, this was not the case when the United States Women’s National Team’s Trinity Rodman curled her left-footed shot into the far upper corner of Japan’s goalmouth in the first quarterfinal of the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics. That goal was conclusively affirmed within 80 seconds of the ball hitting the net.

The main reason why there was not too long of a wait, especially one involving the center referee jogging over to a video review monitor, is that the soccer stadiums at this year’s Olympics all have a specialized computerized system that helps the video assistant referee and her crew analyze potential offside situations. On the women’s side, this system was first used at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The other two main factors involved are the offside rule, itself, as well as how potential offside situations are handled by the refereeing crew.

NWSL News of Note: Sauerbrunn Traded to Portland, Commissioner Hired, Schedule Announced

NWSL news items from the past week or so:

Becky Sauerbrunn Traded To Portland
NWSL Hires Lisa Baird as New Commissioner
The Regular Season Schedule Announced
List of Allocated USWNT and CANWNT Players Released

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Sauerbrunn Traded to Portland, Commissioner Hired, Schedule Announced”

USWNT: 2019 ID Camp Player Capsules – Forwards and Midfielders

For the USWNT’s December 2019 identification camp, head coach Vlatko Andonovski has called up six forwards and seven midfielders:

Forwards:

Bethany Balcer
Madison Haley
Ashley Hatch
Paige Monaghan
Sophia Smith
Ally Watt

Midfielders:

Danielle Colaprico
Vanessa DiBernardo
Jordan DiBiasi
Sarah Killion
Kristie Mewis
Brianna Pinto
Ashley Sanchez

This article includes basic summary capsules for each of these players, along with highlights and other useful videos, if available. Continue reading “USWNT: 2019 ID Camp Player Capsules – Forwards and Midfielders”

USWNT: 2019 ID Camp Player Capsules – Defenders and Goalkeepers

For the USWNT’s December 2019 identification camp, head coach Vlatko Andonovski has called up nine defenders and two goalkeepers:

Defenders:

Maycee Bell (center back)
Malia Berkely (center back or outside back)
Imani Dorsey (outside back)
Emily Fox (outside back) – probably a scratch
Naomi Girma (center back)
Sarah Gorden (outside back or center back)
Kiara “Kiki” Pickett (outside back)
Margaret “Midge” Purce (outside back)

Goalkeepers:

Jane Campbell
Casey Murphy

U-23 USWNT: 2019 Nordic Cup Summary

Updated 30-Sep-2019: U.S. Soccer has quietly published back-dated match reports for the U-23 USWNT’s Nordic Cup matches.

Between August 28th and September 2nd, the United States Under-23 Women’s National Team participated in the 2019 edition of the Nordic Cup, which was hosted by England. The roster of players featured mostly professional players, with UNC junior Emily Fox the only collegiate player. Youth team standout Sophia Smith (Stanford) was in the original roster, but had to be replaced due to a “minor quad injury” (Twitter). Also, NWSL-standout Kristen Hamilton was on the original roster, but was called up to the senior USWNT for its Victory Tour friendlies against Portugal.

Under coach B.J. Snow, who took over from Mark Carr earlier this year, the U-23 USWNT won its first two matches against Norway and England, then drew with Sweden. Jordan DiBiasi scored the game-winner against Norway and had a penalty kick equalizer against Sweden, while Imani Dorsey scored the game-winner against England. Goalkeeper Casey Murphy played all 270 minutes in the three games, only allowing one goal, which came in the final match, against Sweden.

Continue reading “U-23 USWNT: 2019 Nordic Cup Summary”

NWSL News of Note: Seattle Team Name Revealed, Cindy Parlow Cone To Coach Portland, The Return Of Ali Krieger

News of Note relating to the National Women’s Soccer League from the past few days: Seattle Team Name Unveiled: The Seattle Reign FC… Cindy (Parlow) Cone to helm Portland Thorns FC… Only a draft for college players… Mexico has been asked to up its sponsoring commitment to 16 players… League Twitter handle changed… League LLC created and trademarks filed. Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Seattle Team Name Revealed, Cindy Parlow Cone To Coach Portland, The Return Of Ali Krieger”

News of Note: December 13, 2012 – Wambach Nets Number 150, Red Stars Announce Coaching Staff

News of Note: Abby Wambach scores her 150th international goal… Chicago Red Stars announce coaching staff… Norway’s Hegerberg sisters to Turbine Potsdam?… City of São Paulo Tournament continues today. Continue reading “News of Note: December 13, 2012 – Wambach Nets Number 150, Red Stars Announce Coaching Staff”