HAPPY RETIREMENT KELLEY O'HARA 💙; One More Week of NWSL Regular Season 🗓️

It’s October 21, 2024. Give us four minutes, we give you everything The Women’s Game.

Happy Monday, TWG readers! I’m writing to you on my way home after celebrating Kelley O’Hara’s retirement last night at the Gotham game. It was so special to be there for Kelley in this moment — we have shared many of the ups and downs of approaching retirement over the last couple of years with each other and I’m so grateful for her presence in my life. Kelley has always been the teammate who pushes everyone to be their best, and so to see her career celebrated with all the people she loves was really well-deserved.

The first international break since the Olympics is finally upon us! Over the next 10 days, we’ll watch the USWNT take on Iceland twice and Argentina, celebrating their win over the summer while simultaneously laying the groundwork for all that is to come in the Emma Hayes Era. Here at The Women’s Game, we’re all over the content this week. Today, we dropped an interview with Mal Swanson thanks to our friends at Michelob Ultra. I got to ask Mal all about her tournament-winning goal and hear about what she’s expecting at this upcoming camp.

Tomorrow, we have an episode of Good Vibes FC with Becky Sauerbrunn, where we’ll review the NWSL standings and break down the playoff push. Wednesday, we have an all new episode of Sammy Banana Phone, where you all call in to ask me questions about the USWNT (call me at 855-611-4050). I’m having so much fun answering your questions and I can’t wait for everyone to hear this episode. On Thursday, we’ll drop a Friendlies interview with Naomi Girma and then we’ll go live after the USWNT game on our YouTube channel. 

It’s going to be a great week and I’m so glad you’re along for the ride with us! Thank you all so much for being here and as Kelley would say… LFG!

Love,
Sam

I. NWSL Matchday 25: Temwa Chawinga scores 20, ONE MORE MATCHDAY TO GO 1️⃣ 

a. Kansas City Current star forward, Temwa Chawinga, scored her 20th goal of the season in a 4-1 win over San Diego Wave on Saturday. After breaking Australian striker Sam Kerr’s 2019 record for scoring 18 goals in a single season last week with her 19th goal of the season, Chawinga is now the first player to score 20 in one regular season, and the first NWSL player to score against all 13 active NWSL teams in one season.

More: Kansas City Current star Temwa Chawinga becomes 1st NWSL player to 20-goal mark

b. After going 24-games unbeaten, the NWSL’s first-place Shield winners, the Orlando Pride, picked up their second straight loss of the year in a 3-1 defeat to Gotham this past Sunday. The reigning champions celebrated the legacy of retiring NWSL and USWNT veteran defender extraordinaire Kelley O’Hara ahead of the match, before going on to clinch a resounding home victory in her honor, featuring goals from Sam Hiatt, Rose Lavelle and Ella Stevens. 

More: Making memories: best moments of defender Kelley O’Hara’s USWNT and professional career 

c. Three more teams were eliminated from the postseason after matchday 25. Despite each securing a point in a 1-1 draw, Angel City and Utah Royals were both eliminated this weekend with Bay FC’s 1-0 win over North Carolina Courage. Bay’s newly signed USWNT veteran defender, World Cup winning center back, and Bay Area native, Abby Dahlkemper, scored the game-winning goal for the expansion club looking to make history with a postseason berth. San Diego Wave were also eliminated with Bay FC’s win and their 4-1 loss to Kansas City.

d. ONE MORE MATCHDAY: With one game remaining in the regular season, three teams are fighting for a playoff position. Ninth-place Racing Louisville is the only team that can still break into one of eight playoff spots. The team hopes to make their first postseason in club history, after clocking a pivotal 1-0 win against Portland on Saturday featuring a game-winning goal from Taylor Flint in the dying minutes. They’ll play Flint’s former club, San Diego Wave, in their final game (Sunday, Nov. 3, 5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). Seventh-place Portland Thorns remain in the playoff picture (and fans will be thrilled that U.S. star forward Sophia Smith is back), but they’ll likely need a result in their final game against Angel City to hang on (Friday, Nov. 1, 10 p.m. ET, Prime Video). And finally Bay FC are in eighth-place, the last playoff spot, as they head into their final matchday against last-place Houston Dash (Saturday, Nov. 2, 9:30 p.m. ET, ION).

While we await the final results, NWSL has confirmed the schedule and hosts for the first round of playoff games on Nov. 8, 9 and 10.

II. Emma Hayes names first USWNT roster since winning Olympic Gold 🇺🇲🥇

Last Thursday, U.S. manager Emma Hayes named a 26-player roster for the Olympic gold medalists’ first camp since Paris. The roster includes 18 members of the 2024 Olympic team, as well as six uncapped players, as Hayes continues her focus on building for the future. Those uncapped names include 22-year-old Racing Louisville forward Emily Sears, who has five goals for Louisville in her rookie season, and 25-year-old Gotham forward Yazmeen Ryan, who has four goals and four assists for the reigning champions. North Carolina Courage midfielder Ashley Sanchez and Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson return to the squad for the first time in 2024 after standout seasons in the NWSL. The U.S. will play three friendlies this window, including two matches against Iceland followed by a match against Argentina. Be sure to join The Women's Game on YouTube right after each match for full breakdown and analysis.

More: First roster since Olympic gold shows USWNT getting younger, less reliant on known stars

Also: An all new episode of our call in show, Sammy Banana Phone is dropping THIS WEDNESDAY. CALL SAM 855-611-4050 and let us know your questions about the upcoming USWNT camp! ⏰🍌

 III. European Roundup 🌍

a. In England’s Women’s Super League (WSL), Arsenal is back in the win column with a 2-0 win over West Ham, after parting ways with Swedish manager Jonas Eidevall in the midweek. Third-place Manchester United and fourth-place Brighton drew 1-1, with English midfielder Grace Clinton claiming her third goal of the year for United.

Manchester City remain in first place after a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. 27-year-old Dutch midfielder Jill Roord scored her first goal since returning from an ACL injury to seal City’s comeback victory. But Chelsea are one point behind them in second with a game in hand, after beating Tottenham 5-2 at the weekend.  🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

More: Jonas Eidevall resigns as Arsenal’s head coach after miserable run of results

b. Barcelona remains top of Liga F after defeating Levante 4-1, as the only team to win every game, seven games into the year. The Spanish giants have now scored a remarkable 36 goals in the regular season, with nine of them from Polish striker Ewa Pajor, who was signed from German side Wolfsburg over the summer. 🇪🇸

c. In France’s Première Ligue, PSG are the last remaining team to win every game of the new season after a 2-1 win over Fleury on Friday. USWNT gold medalist Korbin Albert scored the first of two goals for the Parisians in the win. Second-place Lyon drew third-place Paris FC 0-0 to mark their first non-win of the season. The two French rivals, PSG and Lyon, play each other next weekend in their first clash of the season. (Sunday, Nov. 3, 8 a.m. ET) 🇫🇷

d. Bayern Munich are back on top of the Frauen Bundesliga after defeating Leverkusen 3-2. Frankfurt fell to second, as they picked up their first loss of the year in a 1-0 defeat to Werder Bremen, featuring this golazo from 22-year-old German forward Sophie Weidauer. 🇩🇪

e. 17-year-old Springfield, Va. native, Lily Yohannes, has been nominated for the European Golden Girl Award, highlighting the best female footballer under 21. While the star midfielder is eligible to play for both the U.S. and the Netherlands, Emma Hayes recently expressed optimism that Yohannes would pick the USWNT, but needs time to make the choice. 

IV. UEFA Women’s Champions League Group Stage Matchday 2 🏆

The UEFA Women’s Champions League (UWCL) continued the group stage with matchday 2 last week. Manchester City fell behind 2-1 against Austrian club St. Pölten, but came back to win 3-2 in Vienna. Australian striker Mary Fowler scored City’s match-winner off a corner to finish matchday on top of Group D. The reigning champions, Barcelona, recovered from their loss to Manchester City with a 9-0 win over Sweden-based Hammarby. In Group C, Bayern Munich remain on top with a 2-0 win against Juventus (Danish forward Pernille Harder scored her fourth goal in two games for Bayern, making her the UWCL topscorer after two games), and Arsenal bounced back from their loss to Bayern with a 4-1 win at home over Norwegian side Vålerenga, featuring U.S. defender Emily Fox opening the scoresheet with her first-ever goal for Arsenal. Chelsea are top of Group B after beating Dutch side Twente 3-1, featuring a blistering goal from 20-year-old Japanese forward Maika Hamano. Last year’s runner up, Lyon, continued their strong form with a 2-0 win over German giants, Wolfsburg. U.S. captain Lindsey Horan scored her sixth goal in six games across all competitions in the victory. But Roma are first in Group A on goal differential, after defeating Turkish team Galatasaray 6-1.

More: UWCL talking points

V. News and Notes 🗞️📰

a. The NWSL’s next expansion team, BOS Nation, announced its name and branding last week to considerable displeasure from fans. While some questioned the team’s name, “BOS Nation”, many focused on the “Too Many Balls” brand rollout, which included an ad campaign featuring famous male athletes from the city. The club has since apologized for their attempt at eye-catching humor, which was seen by some as offensive, and failed to acknowledge the pre-existing women’s professional sports teams in Boston. Sam weighed in after the launch, “I hope that the club takes feedback from the people close to the city and from the fans.” 

b. The 8th edition of the U-17 Women’s World Cup started last week in the Dominican Republic. The USA’s U-17 team is competing in Group B, alongside Spain, Colombia, and South Korea. The U.S. started their campaign with a 3-1 loss to Spain. San Diego Wave’s Melanie Barcenas scored the lone goal for the Stars and Stripes. As the most capped player on the US U-17 squad, Barcenas was able to select her jersey number first, and selected No. 13 in honor of recently retired San Diego teammate, Alex Morgan. 

c. The semi-finals of the inaugural Concacaf W Champions Cup are set. After the final matchday of the group stage played out last week, Gotham confirmed their place after a 4-4 draw against Tigres, and will play Mexico giants Club América in the next round. Tigres will also progress, meeting Portland Thorns in the next round. Portland beat Vancouver Whitecaps 6-0 to move on. Retiring Canadian legend Christine Sinclair scored the fifth goal of the match in Vancouver, and received a standing ovation from the home crowd in her honor. 

d. The 10th year of the BBC’s Women’s Footballer of the Year awards are open for voting. 2024’s five nominees include Spain’s reigning Ballon d’Or winner, Aitana Bonmati; Orlando Pride’s leading scorer and Nigeria forward Barbara Banda; Norwegian and Barcelona forward Caroline Graham Hanson; and the USA’s gold medalists, forward Sophia Smith and defender Naomi Girma. Team USA’s inimitable Naomi Girma is joining us for a brand new episode of Friendlies on Thursday. SUBSCRIBE TO TWG ON YOUTUBE.

e. Last Monday, Oct. 14, Angel City FC released a statement addressing NWSL’s recent disciplinary sanctions for violating the salary cap. Per Angel City’s statement, at least some of their infraction was due to childcare support for their players. 

f. More than 100 women's footballers from 24 countries have signed a letter to FIFA urging them to reconsider a sponsorship deal with Saudi oil company Aramco, citing humanitarian and environmental concerns. USWNT and Portland Thorns veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn is among the signatories, as is Netherlands and Manchester City striker Vivianne Miedema, who told the BBC: "I think as footballers, and especially as women's footballers, we carry the responsibility to show the world and the next generation what is right.

VI. Parting Shots 🥃

Jeopardy fan? You may have noticed NWSL’s North Carolina Courage was a clue in Friday’s edition of the classic TV show. The clue read: “One of the USA’s premier soccer complexes and home to The NWSL’s Courage, WakeMed Soccer Park, is in Wake County in this State”. 📺

VII. Good Reads 📚

a. From Emma Sanders in BBC Sport, ‘The black coaches leading Orlando Pride to success’

b. From Suzy Wrack in The Guardian, ‘The purpose is social good: Watford Women draw unique U.S. investment’

c. From Tom Garry in The Guardian, ‘Liverpool Feds’ plight a warning of trouble in women’s football pyramid’

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