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: 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: 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: Jaedyn Shaw traded to Courage; Lauren Barnes re-signs with Reign; Chicago drops “Red”, keeps Sarah Griffith; Pride sends Sofia Manner to Toronto

Leading Tuesday’s notables is a big one: United States Women’s National Team attacker Jaedyn Shaw has been traded from the San Diego Wave to the North Carolina Courage.

In other player news…

  • With the re-signing of defender Lauren Barnes, the Seattle Reign have retained a second NWSL original for the 2025 season.
  • Forward Sarah Griffith has signed a half-season contract with the Chicago Stars.
  • The Orlando Pride have traded backup goalkeeper Sofia Manner to AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League.

Also, the Chicago Stars transitioned to its new name on Tuesday, with updates to its social media branding and its website, which is now at chicagostars.com.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Jaedyn Shaw traded to Courage; Lauren Barnes re-signs with Reign; Chicago drops “Red”, keeps Sarah Griffith; Pride sends Sofia Manner to Toronto”

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: 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: Denver takes the lead; Becky Sauerbrunn retires; Narumi Miura moves to Spirit; Angel City signs Julie Dufour and retains M.A. Vignola; Coachella teams

Leading this edition’s notables is the news that the league “is entering exclusive negotiations” with the Denver bid for the second 2026 expansion franchise.

Former USWNT defender Becky Sauerbrunn announced her retirement from professional soccer on Tuesday.

In other player news, Washington Spirit has landed free agent midfielder Narumi Miura, previously of the North Carolina Courage, while Angel City has signed 23-year-old French international Julie Dufour and re-signed defender M.A. Vignola.

Additionally, six NWSL teams have announced that will play preseason friendlies at the 2025 Coachella Valley Invitational.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Denver takes the lead; Becky Sauerbrunn retires; Narumi Miura moves to Spirit; Angel City signs Julie Dufour and retains M.A. Vignola; Coachella teams”

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)”

NWSL News of Note: Free Agency Moves — Delanie Sheehan to Dash, Madison Curry to Reign, Maitane López to Red Stars, Sam Hiatt to Portland, Madison Ayson signs with Canberra

Leading the free agency moves for the first week of December is midfielder Delanie Sheehan signing with the Houston Dash after being a regular starter for Gotham FC since May 2023. Gotham also lost a second midfielder this week, Maitane López, who switched over to the Chicago Red Stars, as well as a defender, Sam Hiatt, who is now a Portland Thorns player.

Defender Madison Curry, a regular starter for Angel City this year as a rookie, has signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Reign.

Additionally, rookie defender Madison Ayson, who was on the Houston Dash roster this season, but only saw limited minutes, signed with Canberra United at the end of November.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note: Free Agency Moves — Delanie Sheehan to Dash, Madison Curry to Reign, Maitane López to Red Stars, Sam Hiatt to Portland, Madison Ayson signs with Canberra”

NWSL News of Note, Players Edition: Claire Emslie, Penelope Hocking, Maddie Moreau, Hanna Glas, and Hannah Stambaugh all extend; Carrie Lawrence retires; Ouleye Sarr on SEI List

In November, Scottish forward Claire Emslie extended with Angel City for two more season, while Bay FC re-signed forward Penelope Hocking and rookie defender Maddie Moreau. Meanwhile, the Seattle Reign have secured Swedish defender Hanna Glas for at least another year.

Also, earlier this week, Angel City signed goalkeeper Hannah Stambaugh to a new one-year contract.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Washington Spirit placed French forward Ouleye Sarr on the season-ending injury list for a back injury suffered in September.

Additionally, based on an Instagram message by Annaïg Butel, it appears that the French defender will not return to the Washington Spirit for the 2025 season.

Note: Free agency moves will be covered in a separate post that should be published sometime this weekend.

Continue reading “NWSL News of Note, Players Edition: Claire Emslie, Penelope Hocking, Maddie Moreau, Hanna Glas, and Hannah Stambaugh all extend; Carrie Lawrence retires; Ouleye Sarr on SEI List”