Tag: NWSL

NWSL Referee Assignments: 2024 Playoffs — Quarterfinals

Friday, November 8th

  • #1 Pride vs. #8 Red Stars: Alyssa Nichols (VAR: Ekaterina Koroleva)

Saturday, November 9th

  • #4 Current vs. #5 Courage: Brad Jensen (VAR: Greg Dopka)

Sunday, November 10th

  • #2 Spirit vs. #7 Bay FC: Ekaterina Koroleva (VAR: Shawn Tehini)
  • #3 Gotham FC vs. #6 Thorns: Danielle Chesky (VAR: Alyssa Nichols)

Source: PRO

For the full playoffs schedule, see “NWSL: 2024 Playoffs Schedule with USA TV and Streaming Details”.

NWSL: 2024 Playoffs Schedule with USA TV and Streaming Details

The 2024 regular season of the National Women’s Soccer League has come to close, with the Orlando Pride claiming the NWSL Shield as the top team of the league table, but eight teams are still in the hunt for the NWSL Championship trophy.

The 2024 NWSL playoffs officially get underway on Friday, November 8th, and continue through to the Championship match on Saturday, November 23rd.

In the United States, six of the seven playoff matches will be broadcast live on CBS or ABC. Only one match, the November 8th quarterfinal between the Orlando Pride and the Chicago Red Stars, will be shown solely on a paid streaming service.

This post was updated after the quarterfinals and semifinals.

For more on the Championship match, see “2024 NWSL Championship — Broadcast Details and Referee Assignments”.

Continue reading “NWSL: 2024 Playoffs Schedule with USA TV and Streaming Details”

NWSL News of Note: Chicago Red Stars rebrand; Leroux, DiBernardo, McNabb, and Brown extend; Lacasse and Ordóñez on SEI List; Montefusco retires

Among the notables that happened during the international break…

  • The Chicago Red Stars drop “Red” from the club’s name and introduced a new crest.
  • Four players signed new contracts: Sydney Leroux of Angel City, Vanessa DiBernardo of the Kansas City Current, Kristen McNabb of the San Diego Wave, and Ryanne Brown of the Seattle Reign.
  • Also, Megan Montefusco (née Oyster) of the Orlando Pride officially announced her retirement. Montefusco was twice capped by the senior USWNT.
  • Two players, Cloé Lacasse (ACL/meniscus) of the Utah Royals and the Houston Dash’s Diana Ordóñez (shoulder surgery) were moved to the Season-Ending Injury List.
  • In coaching news, Utah Royals interim head coach Jimmy Coenraets is no longer “interim” after signing a two-year contract.
  • The NWSL Disciplinary Committee announced additional match suspensions for Chicago Red Stars forward Ludmila and Washington Spirit forward Rosemonde Kouassi.

Additionally, the league announced that Grammy-winner Melissa Etheridge will be performing the National Anthem at the 2024 NWSL Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Chicago Red Stars rebrand; Leroux, DiBernardo, McNabb, and Brown extend; Lacasse and Ordóñez on SEI List; Montefusco retires”

NWSL Referee Assignments: November 1 to 3, 2024

This is the final weekend of the regular season.

The three bolded matches involve the three teams that are still in the hunt for the final two playoff spots: Portland Thorns, Bay FC, and Racing Louisville. If the Thorns and Bay FC do not lose their matches on Friday and Saturday, respectively, then Racing will be eliminated before their match kicks off.

The three italicized matches involve qualified playoff teams that could move up and/or down in their ranking slots. Besides Shield winner Orlando Pride, only #5 North Carolina Courage cannot change its positioning. The Spirit, Gotham, and Current are fighting for the #2 seed , which would mean home-field advantage for the semifinals, in addition to the quarterfinals.

For playoff scenario involving the #2 seed and the final two playoff spots, see this NWSL press release.

Referee Assignments

Friday, November 1st

  • Royals vs. GOTHAM FC: Adorae Monroy (VAR: Alyssa Nichols)
  • THORNS vs. Angel City: Brad Jensen (VAR: Greg Dopka)

Saturday, November 2nd

  • Pride vs. Reign: Melinda Homa (VAR: Danielle Chesky)
  • Courage vs. SPIRIT: Elvis Osmanovic (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
  • Dash vs. BAY FC: Matt Thompson (VAR: Katja Koroleva)

Sunday, November 3rd

  • RED STARS vs. CURRENT: Jaclyn Metz (VAR: Corbyn May)
  • Wave vs. RACING: Greg Dopka (VAR: Brad Jensen)

Source: PRO

Continue reading “NWSL Referee Assignments: November 1 to 3, 2024”

NWSL News of Note: Merritt Mathias and Desiree Scott announces retirement, Alexa Spaanstra and Shae Holmes extend, Wave sale completed, Expansion update

This week, two long-time NWSL players, who both played in the NWSL’s inaugural season, Angel City defender Merritt Mathias and Kansas City Current midfielder Desiree Scott, announced their retirements.

Meanwhile, three players —Portland Thorns forward Alexa Spaanstra, Seattle Reign center-back Shae Holmes, and Orlando Pride forward Summer Yates — are set to stay in the NWSL through the 2026 season.

Also, Racing Louisville back-up goalkeeper Olivia Sekany has been loaned to the Brisbane Roar of the A-League until early March 2025.

In team news, the sale of the San Diego Wave from Ron Burkle to the family of Lauren Leichtman and Arthur Levine has been completed.

Regarding expansion, an article from Sports Business Journal has added Nashville and Philadelphia to the list of known bids in the hunt for the second 2026 expansion franchise.

Finally, the Red Stars are not the only professional soccer team in Chicago looking to build a new soccer-specific stadium.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Merritt Mathias and Desiree Scott announces retirement, Alexa Spaanstra and Shae Holmes extend, Wave sale completed, Expansion update”

NWSL: Angel City FC’s statement on disciplinary sanctions

On Monday, Angel City FC posted a statement via social media regarding the three-point standings deduction and other disciplinary sanctions imposed by the league in response to the club violating the salary cap and other league rules.

Angel City’s statement includes two major notables:

  • First, it appeared that childcare benefits were the (or at least one of the) “undisclosed benefits” which caused Angel City to exceed the salary cap.
  • Second, Angel City “formally requested a reconsideration of the three-point deduction” by the NWSL. However, the league “confirmed that, based on the totality of their findings, the sanctions stand as is.”

Additionally, Angel City claims to have had the understanding that “childcare payments [did] not count against the salary cap”, which is hard to square with the text of the NWSL Competition Manual.

Regarding the first notable, on Friday, a The 19th article revealed that only one of the undisclosed supplemental agreements covered childcare payments:

A league source told The 19th that child care payments were only part of the reason Angel City was over the cap and got sanctioned. Only one of the five side letters addressed additional child care payments; the rest of that side letter and the other four letters were for additional amounts covering other terms.

Continue reading “NWSL: Angel City FC’s statement on disciplinary sanctions”

NWSL Referee Assignments: October 18 to 20, 2024

Friday, October 18th:

  • Reign vs. Dash: Brad Jensen (VAR: Alexandra Billeter)

Saturday, October 19th:

  • Current vs. Wave: Iryna Petrunok (VAR: Shawn Tehini)
  • Racing vs. Thorns: Calin Radosav (VAR: Kevin Broadley)
  • Bay FC vs. Courage: Elijio Arreguin (VAR: Corbyn May)

Sunday, October 20th:

  • Spirit vs. Red Stars: Adam Kilpatrick (VAR: Greg Dopka)
  • Gotham vs. Pride: Ricardo Fierro (VAR: Brad Jensen)
  • Angel City vs. Royals: Sergii Demianchuk (VAR: Abdou Ndiaye)

Source: PRO

U-17 WWC 2024: Official Squad Lists for All 16 Teams — Plus Superlatives and Known NCAA Verbal Commits for USA-Based Players

Edit (22-Oct-2024): Added verbal commit details for Caprice Chiuchiolo (Ecuador).

Last week, FIFA released the official squad lists for all sixteen teams participating in the 2024 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.

I have converted those lists into a Google Sheets spreadsheets, adding columns for a player’s age and a player’s height in inches. Also, for USA-based players that are not currently a professional or not already playing collegiately, their announced verbal commits have been added.

Downloads:

At least five non-USA players have attended U.S. Soccer youth camps. Among those is England’s Lauryn Thompson, who is a Florida State verbal commit.

Three players from the recently concluded U-20 WWC have been named to their country’s rosters for this tournament. Most notably, Choe Il Son, who won the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot in Colombia, is set to play for Korea DPR in this tournament.

Continue reading “U-17 WWC 2024: Official Squad Lists for All 16 Teams — Plus Superlatives and Known NCAA Verbal Commits for USA-Based Players”

NWSL News of Note: Dash sign U-18 midfielder Zoe Matthews, Olivia Wade-Katoa on SEI List, Bay FC sign midfielder Catherine Paulson

Friday’s notables all involve midfielders:

  • The Houston Dash signed 6’2″ midfielder Zoe Matthews under the U18 Entry Mechanism. Matthews is eligible to play for both Jamaica and the USA.
  • The Portland Thorns placed rookie midfielder Olivia Wade-Katoa is out for the rest of the season and will undergo knee surgery.
  • Bay FC signed Catherine Paulson for the remainder of the season. Paulson had been a National Team Replacement Player during Savy King’s absence.
Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Dash sign U-18 midfielder Zoe Matthews, Olivia Wade-Katoa on SEI List, Bay FC sign midfielder Catherine Paulson”