NWSL – Page 2 – Women's Soccer Express

NWSL: 2025 USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 2, with Referee Assignments

Week 2 of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League features a pair of matches between last season’s top four teams:

On Saturday, last year’s #2, Washington Spirit, hosts Kansas City who finished fourth in 2024.
Then, on Sunday, the 2024 NWSL Champions and Shield winner, Orlando Pride, visit the NJ/NY Gotham FC, which finished third in last season’s table.

In the USA, three of the weekend’s seven matches will be televised. In addition to the Saturday ION doubleheader, one match on Sunday will be shown on ESPN 2. All seven matches can be streamed live: Five via free services (NWSL+ and ION) and two via paid services (Prime Video and ESPN+).

Sunday’s match between the Chicago Stars and the Houston Dash was originally scheduled to kick-off at a later time, but was moved up to its currently scheduled start time of 3:00 p.m. EDT (noon PDT) back in February (Chicago Stars press release).

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.

NWSL: 2025 USA TV/Streaming Schedule — Week 1, with Referee Assignments

The first weekend of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League season kicks off on Friday, March 14. All fourteen teams will be in action.

In the USA, four of the seven matches will be televised. In addition to the Saturday ION doubleheader, ABC and ESPN 2 will each show a match, on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. All seven matches can be streamed live: Four via a free service (NWSL+ and ION) and three via a paid service (Prime Video and ESPN+).

The top two teams from last season, the Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit will both be in action on Friday, with the Pride being featured on the first Prime Video broadcast of the 2025 regular season. Sunday’s lone match will be a SoCal derby between Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave.

U-14 Talent ID: First Regional Mini-Camp of 2025 announced — Players named include sisters of NWSL pros

Among the players called up by U.S. Soccer for the year’s first regional mini-camp of the Under-14 Talent Identification Program are younger sisters of current NWSL professionals. The 80-player roster also includes a granddaughter of the late San Diego Padres legend Tony Gwynn. All of the players selected for this camp, who hail from 36 youth clubs in U.S. Soccer’s West Region, were born in 2011.

At least three NWSL pros have sisters at this camp…

Alyssa Thompson and Gisele Thompson, both of Angel City FC, whose sister, Zoe, plays for Tudela FC in California¹
Olivia Moultrie of the Portland Thorns, whose sister, Bella, plays for Soccer Chance Academy in Oregon²

Additionally, Kyla McCammon, who plays for Eastside FC in Washington state, looks to be the sister of the Seattle Reign’s Ainsley McCammon.³

Both Alyssa Thompson and Olivia Moultrie have been capped by the senior United States Women’s National Team. Gisele Thompson is uncapped but has been named to this year’s USWNT’s SheBelieves Cup roster, along with her sister, Alyssa.

Leighton Gwynn of City SC in San Diego, California, is a daughter of former Major League Baseball player Tony Gwynn Jr.⁴ (MLB profile, Wikipedia bio) and a granddaughter of the late Tony Gwynn (MLB profile, Wikipedia bio), who played for the San Diego Padres from 1982 to 2001 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007. A sister, Makayla Gwynn, also plays soccer and is a recent verbal commit for Grand Canyon University (Instagram, local news segment).

NWSL News of Note: Houston Dash sign midfielder Evelina Duljan, Utah Royals reveal two more invitees, Jaime Frias hired as Dash assistant coach

Here are the notables for Monday, February 10th, and Tuesday, February 11th:

The Houston Dash have signed free agent Evelina Duljan to a one-year contract. Duljan was with the Orlando Pride in 2024.
The Utah Royals have at least two more unannounced invitees, based on a preseason match line-up posted via their x.com account. One of those players looks to be defender/forward Itala Gemelli, who finished up her NCAA career last fall with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Dash have also added an assistant coach to Fabrice Gautrat’s staff: Jaime Frias, who was the head coach of the women’s soccer team for the University of Houston since 2022.
Also, the Boston 2026 franchise has placed $25 million in escrow, which is a preliminary financial requirement for the renovation of White Stadium.

NWSL Week in Review: Savy King traded from Bay FC to Angel City, Abuse scandal settlement announced

Topping last week’s notables is the news that the National Women’s Soccer League has agreed to a settlement agreement with the Attorneys General of New York, Illinois, and the District of Columbia. The settlement agreement was a result of a joint investigation into the NWSL in the wake of the player abuse scandal. That scandal eventually led to the Yates Report (PDF) and a separate report produced by the NWSL and the NWSL Players Association (PDF).

In player transactions…

The lead story is the trade of defender Savy King from Bay FC to Angel City for a $300,000 transfer fee that will be paid over two seasons.
Meanwhile, the top story from the East Coast is Gotham FC re-signing free agent forward Midge Purce.
Bay FC signed rookie midfielder Hannah Bebar, who will not immediately join the club as she is finishing a master’s degree at Duke University.
Down in SoCal, Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson is now under contract through the 2028 season.
South African international Linda Motlhalo‘s second stint in the NWSL has ended after she and Racing Louisville agreed to a mutual contract termination.
The Washington Spirit are loaning rookie midfielder Deborah Abiodun and Brazilian forward Tamara Bolt to the USL Super League’s Dallas Trinity for the 2025 calendar year.
Olympique Lyonnais center-back Kysha Sylla is being sent on loan to the Spirit for one year.

In team news, the Portland Thorns have announced a shared performance center with the new WNBA franchise.

Also, the Utah Royals have added two unannounced non-roster invitees.

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.

NWSL News of Note, Outgoing Moves: Jenna Nighswonger acquired by Arsenal, Crystal Dunn signs with PSG, Tarciane traded to Lyon, Adriana transfers to Saudi Arabia, Elexa Bahr returns to América de Cali, Victoria Pickett loaned to Toronto

The last days of January and the first days of February saw a pair of major transfers out of the NWSL:

Brazilian center-back Tarciane leaves the Houston Dash for Olympique Lyonnais after just nine months in the NWSL.
Another Brazilian, Adriana, has been traded from the Orlando Pride to Al Qadsiah FC of the Saudi Women’s Premier League.

According to news reports, Lyon paid over $825,000 to the Dash for Tarciane, while Orlando received $500,000 for Adriana.

In United States Women’s National Team player news:

Jenna Nighswonger is officially no longer a Gotham FC player and now wears the red and white of Arsenal.
Another now-former Gotham player, Crystal Dunn, who was released by the club last week, has signed with Paris Saint-Germain, joining two other USWNT players.

Additionally, two clubs sent players on loan for the calendar year:

Forward Elexa Bahr returns to her previous club, Colombia’s América de Cali, for the remainder of her Racing Louisville contract.
The North Carolina Courage have loaned Canadian midfielder Victoria Pickett to AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League.

NWSL News of Note, Incoming Moves: Pride acquires Prisca Chilufya, Angel City adds Miyabi Moriya, Wave invite Penn State’s Jordan Fusco

On the last day of January, two NWSL clubs announced the signing of internationals, both via transfers:

The Orlando Pride have acquired Zambian international Prisca Chilufya from FC Juárez of Liga MX Femenil. Chilufya inked a three-year deal that runs through the 2027 NWSL season.
Meanwhile, Japanese international Miyabi Moriya has transferred to Angel City after ten years with INAC Kobe Leonessa. She is signed for one season and has a club option for 2026.

Earlier this week, the San Diego Wave have apparently added another non-roster invitee: Midfielder Jordan Fusco, who recently wrapped up her NCAA career at Penn State after three seasons with the Tennessee Volunteers.

Additionally, the Houston Dash now have enough non-roster invitees for one side of an 11-v-11 scrimmage after adding six more recent collegiate players.

NWSL: The Houston Dash add six more non-roster invitees

On Saturday, the Houston Dash announced (press release) that they had invited six more recent collegiate players, bringing their total number of current non-roster invitees to 11.

Among the new six are Wisconsin defender Aidan McConnell, who was a United States youth international and played in the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, and Penn State defender Mieke Schiemann, who has German youth international experience and was with Turbine Potsdam II before making the move to NCAA soccer.

Houston’s New Non-Roster Invitees:

Goalkeepers (0): n/a
Defenders (2): Aidan McConnell (Wisconsin, 4 seasons), Mieke Schiemann (Penn State, 4 seasons; DFB Datencenter profile)
Midfielders (3): Kate Colvin (Texas A&M, 5 seasons), Alexis Fowlkes (Houston, 2 seasons; Texas Tech, 2 seasons), Juliet Moore (Houston, 2 seasons; Mississippi State, 2 seasons)
Forwards (1): Makhiya McDonald (Texas A&M, 4 seasons)

Colvin previously trained with the Dash in 2019, while still in high school (news article), when she was with Dash’s youth club.