NWSL: 2025 Regular Season — Opening Day Rosters (Updated)

Wednesday, March 12, was the deadline for the fourteen teams of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League to publish their initial regular season rosters, which are required to have at least 22 and no more than 26 active players.

This post is a compilation of those rosters, presented in a standard format. For each club, there are three separate lists, organized by position:

  • Active Roster: Players who should be available for gameday roster selection. However, some players may have minor injuries that do not necessitate being named to an injury/illness list and could be unavailable. In most cases, players that have short-term or other non-standard contracts have been noted, but some may have been missed as not all clubs provided such details in their roster press releases. Additionally, players who occupy international slots have been noted.
  • Extended Absences: Players who are unavailable due to injury or other reasons. This includes players on the season-ending and 45-day injury/illness lists as well as those on maternity leave and mental health leave. (This list also includes players who have not yet reported to their respective clubs. It is unclear whether those players count toward the number of active players.)
  • Out on Loan: Players who have been loaned to another team for at least the start of the 2025 regular season. The club that they are currently playing for and the length of the loan is included in parentheses after each player’s name.
Continue reading “NWSL: 2025 Regular Season — Opening Day Rosters (Updated)”

NWSL News of Note, Internal Moves: Courage trade Haley Hopkins to Current, Yazmeen Ryan inks new deal with Dash, Kelli Hubly joins Bay FC

Leading the intra-NWSL notables for the end of January is the trade of forward Haley Hopkins from the North Carolina Courage to the Kansas City Current.

Meanwhile, United States Women’s National Team forward Yazmeen Ryan has signed a new contract that should keep her with the Houston Dash through the 2027 NWSL season.

In free agency news, center-back Kelli Hubly, who had spent the previous eight years with the Portland Thorns, is staying on the West Coast after signing a two-year deal with Bay FC.

Additionally, the San Diego Wave and Gotham FC both announced the hiring of assistant coaches.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note, Internal Moves: Courage trade Haley Hopkins to Current, Yazmeen Ryan inks new deal with Dash, Kelli Hubly joins Bay FC”

NWSL News of Note: Chawinga and the Thompson sisters extend through 2028, Gotham signs UCLA’s Sofia Cook, Royals acquire Nuria Rábano, Lily Woodham will remain on loan, Lexi Missimo stays local

Leading the player notables for Wednesday, January 29th, are the news that 2024 NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga has extended through the 2028 NWSL season with the Kansas City Current and that both Thompson sisters, Alyssa and Gisele, have done the same with Angel City.

Meanwhile, tThe Utah Royals have added another Spanish player: Outside-back Nuria Rábano, who was teammates with Ana Tejada at Real Sociedad.

In other player news, Gotham signed another rookie, UCLA’s Sofia Cook, to a multi-year deal, and the Seattle Reign have extended the loan of Welsh international Lily Woodham to Crystal Palace.

Also, Texas standout Lexi Missimo will not be taking her talents to the NWSL or Europe anytime soon after signing with her hometown club, the Dallas Trinity, of the nascent USL Super League.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Chawinga and the Thompson sisters extend through 2028, Gotham signs UCLA’s Sofia Cook, Royals acquire Nuria Rábano, Lily Woodham will remain on loan, Lexi Missimo stays local”

NWSL News of Note: Crystal Dunn released by Gotham, Kristen Hamilton and Elizabeth Ball stay with KC, Racing loans Milly Clegg to Halifax, Royals confirm Emily Gray loan

Leading the notables from Tuesday, January 28th, is the departure of another player from Gotham FC: Crystal Dunn and the club “have mutually agreed to part ways”. Dunn still had two years left on her now-cancelled contract.

In other player news, the Kansas City Current have re-signed two veteran players who were both free agents after the 2024 NWSL season: Forward Kristen Hamilton and center-back Elizabeth Ball.

Also, Racing Louisville is sending 19-year-old New Zealand international forward Milly Clegg to Canada’s Northern Super League for the 2025 season, where she will play for the Halifax Tides.

Additionally, the Utah Royals confirmed the loan of midfielder Emily Gray to Piteå IF for the 2025 calendar year, which was already announced by the Damallsvenskan club.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Crystal Dunn released by Gotham, Kristen Hamilton and Elizabeth Ball stay with KC, Racing loans Milly Clegg to Halifax, Royals confirm Emily Gray loan”

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 1 — Kansas City Current, Seattle Reign, and Utah Royals

With the 2025 preseason window now underway, three National Women’s Soccer League clubs published their initial preseason rosters: The Kansas City Current, the Seattle Reign, and the Utah Royals.

Each of the three clubs has invited at least a few non-rostered players. Among the Currents invitees is goalkeeper Evan O’Steen, who won the Golden Glove at the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup and is an official 2025 commit for Florida State.

The below rosters are presented in a similar format to December’s end-of-season roster lists.

Continue reading “NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 1 — Kansas City Current, Seattle Reign, and Utah Royals”

NWSL News of Note: 11 Rookie signings during first full week of 2025

Last week, six teams announced the signing of 11 rookies for the 2025 NWSL season. All of these announced rookies played NCAA Division I soccer during the 2024 season.

Among the signings are four players who will be attending U.S. Soccer’s upcoming Futures Camp, which is a hybrid U-23 camp: Maddie Dahlien (Seattle Reign), Taylor Huff (Bay FC), Emily Mason (Seattle Reign), and Pietra Tordin (Portland Thorns). The speedy Dahlien and the deft Tordin were both key members of the USA’s squad at the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup that finished third.

Other freshly-signed rookies with significant United States youth national team experience are forward Mary Long and defender Katie Scott who are now Kansas City Current players. Both Long and Scott were members of the USA’s 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup squad which finished third as well.

Kansas City signed also signed goalkeeper Claire Gagne who won a national title with the North Carolina Tar Heels last year after three undergraduate seasons at Brown.

Pitt’s Deborah Abiodun, who was signed by the Washington Spirit, has already been capped by the senior Nigeria Women’s National Team and played in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Spirit also signed San Diego State forward Emma Gaines-Ramos.

Additionally, Gotham FC signed University of Minnesota forward Khyah Harper and UCLA/Stanford goalkeeper Ryan Campbell.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: 11 Rookie signings during first full week of 2025”

NWSL News of Note, Transfers Edition: Gotham trades forward Yazmeen Ryan to Dash, Current acquire Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, Gotham gets Ghanian midfielder Stella Nyamekeye

Leading the notable transfers announced during the last full week of 2024 is the trade of newly minted United States Women’s National team player Yazmeen Ryan from NJ/NY Gotham FC to the Houston Dash for a record amount of allocation money, plus other consideration.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Current have secured the services of Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena via a transfer from Brazil’s Grêmio.

Also, Gotham has added 19-year-old midfielder Stella Nyamekeye via a transfer from Dreamz Ladies FC of her native Ghana.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note, Transfers Edition: Gotham trades forward Yazmeen Ryan to Dash, Current acquire Brazilian goalkeeper Lorena, Gotham gets Ghanian midfielder Stella Nyamekeye”

NWSL News of Note: Gotham-Reign trade sees Lynn Williams and Cassie Miller go west while Jaelin Howell goes east; Rocky Rodríguez traded from Angel City to Kansas City; San Francisco ratifies lease of training facility land to Bay FC; Katie Johnson retires

Headlining this Friday night edition of the notables is the confirmed trade of USWNT forward Lynn Williams from NJ/NY Gotham FC to the Seattle Reign. Joining Williams in that trade is goalkeeper Cassie Miller. Meanwhile, the Reign sent midfielder Jaelin Howell to Gotham, along with $70,000 in allocation money plus an international roster spot for the 2025 season.

One additional trade was announced on Friday: Angel City has sent Costa Rican midfielder Rocky Rodríguez to the Kansas City Current for a $100,000 intra-league transfer fee.

In other player news, former Mexican international, forward Katie Johnson, who most recently played for Angel City during this past season, announced her retirement from professional soccer.

In team news, Bay FC now has a fully approved lease of the land on Treasure Island for its dedicated training facility.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Gotham-Reign trade sees Lynn Williams and Cassie Miller go west while Jaelin Howell goes east; Rocky Rodríguez traded from Angel City to Kansas City; San Francisco ratifies lease of training facility land to Bay FC; Katie Johnson retires”

NWSL News of Note: Loera traded from Bay to Utah;  USC’s Courtnall signs with Courage; Ivory moves to KC; Dash announce Briede contract; Westphal updates Dash contract; Freeman re-ups at Gotham

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.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Loera traded from Bay to Utah;  USC’s Courtnall signs with Courage; Ivory moves to KC; Dash announce Briede contract; Westphal updates Dash contract; Freeman re-ups at Gotham”

NWSL: End-Of-Season Roster Updates for All 14 Clubs (10-Dec-2024)

On Tuesday, December 10th, all 14 NWSL teams published their initial offseason rosters. This post includes the announced roster for each club, in a standardized format.

The lists for each club are organized as follows:

  • Currently Signed: All players signed to a contract (for at least part of 2025) but not presently loaned to another club.
  • Out on Loan: Signed players that have current loan agreements.
  • Loan Expired: Players on loan from other clubs who have returned to their home club.
  • In Negotiations: Free agent players that the club acknowledges as still negotiating.
  • Free Agents: Players with expiring contracts that have not been retained and/or with options that have not been exercised.
  • Retired: Players that have announced their retirements from professional club soccer.
Continue reading “NWSL: End-Of-Season Roster Updates for All 14 Clubs (10-Dec-2024)”