Wake Forest defender Zara Chavoshi, who appeared in the 2022 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup for Canada, has been signed to a one-year deal by the Orlando Pride.
The Washington Spirit have acquired relative unknown Tamara Bolt via a transfer from Brazilian club SC Internacional.
19-year-old Nigerian striker Chiamaka Okwuchukwu was signed by the San Diego Wave via a transfer.
The Seattle Reign have retained midfielder Maddie Mercado, who was a free agent after her 2024 rookie season.
On Monday, the Utah Royals announced the signing of two players, free agent Tatumn Milazzo, most recently of the Chicago Red Stars, and, via a transfer, Club Tijuana forward Aisha Solórzano, who is a Guatemalan international with five years of NAIA soccer experience.
Also on Monday, the club announced the departures of veteran forward Michelle Vasconcelos and Swedish midfielder Agnes Nyberg.
Last Friday, the Royals revealed the signing of 19-year-old Colombian international outside-back Ana María Guzmán on a one season loan from Bayern Munich.
On Monday, Canada Soccer officially announced the appointment of former San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney as the next head coach of the Canada Women’s National Team. Details of Stoney’s contract, namely its length, were not made public.
Stoney’s first matches as head coach of Canada will be a trio of friendlies at the Pinatar Cup in Spain during the February international window. The opponents for these matches have not yet been publicly announced.
At least part of Stoney’s salary and/or benefits are being funded through non-revenue sources, including donations to Canada Soccer. From the press release:
Stoney’s appointment is supported by philanthropic contributions to Canada Soccer, and she is the first beneficiary of a new fund established specifically to support women in elite coaching.
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.
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.
During the first full week of 2025, several NWSL players signed new contracts with their respective clubs.
Leading the signings is Brazilian legend Marta, who inked a new two-year deal that should keep her with the Orlando Pride through the 2026 season.
The Washington Spirit’s converted center-back Tara McKeown has been mutually optioned for the 2028 season. Meanwhile, Utah Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn is now under contract through the 2029 NWSL season.
McGlynn’s Royals teammate, forward Paige Monaghan, re-signed through the 2027 season.
Japanese forward/midfielder Manaka Matsukubo signed a new contract with the North Carolina Courage that should keeper in the NWSL through the 2026 season.
Additionally, backup goalkeepers Marisa Bova of the North Carolina Courage and Jordyn Bloomer of Racing Louisville signed extensions through 2027 and 2026, respectively.
The first full week of 2025 was chocked-full of NWSL news.
Leading the team-related notables are the hiring of former Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall as the head coach of the San Diego Wave and the signing of former United States Men’s National Team defender Jeff Agoos as the new General Manager and President of Soccer Operations for the Portland Thorns.
Also, Racing Louisville officially introduced its director of operations, Caitlyn Milby, as its interim general manager.
Additionally, a belated update on the lawsuit against the San Diego Wave: A sixth plaintiff was added in late October 2024 as a second ‘Jane Doe’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Women's Soccer Express 