NWSL's Last Unbeaten Team Falls 🤯

Happy Tuesday, TWG readers!

It was a true weekend of comebacks… after Orlando’s late surge over Angel City and the Courage’s toppling of previously undefeated Kansas City, I thought the universe might align for Chelsea against Barcelona. That wasn’t quite the case, as you’ll read more about below, but at least Arsenal came back to beat Lyon and secure their place in the Champions League final on May 24! Comebacks or not, it was a goal fest this weekend in every league.

Last week, we dropped a really special in-person interview with the NC Courage’s Merri Speck, who has been one of my closest friends over the past 10 years since we first became teammates on the WNY Flash in 2016. Make sure to give that a watch on our Youtube channel and double check that you’re subscribed so you don’t miss Angel City’s Sarah Gorden on Friendlies this Thursday!

Spring is finally in the air here in Vermont, so I spent my weekend doing more garden prep. I planted some seeds for nasturtiums, marigolds, and dahlias, plus I repotted a poor Bird of Paradise plant that I think has mealybugs. If you’re here for the gardening updates or if you have any tips, let me know by sending an email to [email protected].

Thank you all for being here with us.

Love,
Sam

NWSL Week Six: The Final Undefeated Team Falls 🤯 

North Carolina Courage 3-2 Kansas City Current 

Ahead of Saturday’s matchday, Kansas City Current were the only undefeated team left standing with five wins from five games in 2025. North Carolina, on the other hand, were looking for their first victory of the season when they hosted the league leaders at home Saturday evening. From the moment KC’s Haley Hopkins scored her first team goal in the 39th minute, the Current looked in control and set to continue their winning ways. However, the Courage mustered a momentous comeback in the dying minutes of the game, with two goals in four minutes, including an Ashley Sanchez match-winner in stoppage time. 

• Sam’s Take 🗣️: This game felt to me like the NC Courage veterans had had enough of losing. Denise O'Sullivan, as usual, had a really great performance and seeing goals from unexpected places, like Kaleigh Kurtz and Ryan Williams – two players who have been a part of the Courage for a long time – is a sign that this team's leadership is ready for a new chapter in 2025. LFG Courage!

Orlando Pride 3-2 Angel City

Friday in Orlando, two of the season’s stronger performers went toe-to-toe, one week after both teams collected their first losses of the year. The Pride (who lost 1-0 to the Washington Spirit in a rematch of the 2024 Championship) got back in the win column with a 3-2 win against Angel City. With the win (and Kansas City’s loss), Orlando are now tied with the first-place Current on points, goal differential, total wins, and total goals, but remain in second due to card accumulation as the final tiebreaker. As for Angel City, they ended the weekend in ninth place after collecting their second-straight loss, and face another tough challenge against Washington Spirit next weekend. 

Washington Spirit 0-3 Gotham

One week after ending Orlando’s unbeaten run, Washington returned home and collected a disappointing loss against Gotham (who they beat on penalties in last year’s semi-final). Gotham entered the match amid a temperamental season: After struggling in their first few games, they collected two strong results against Angel City and North Carolina, but lost 4-1 to Portland last Tuesday. Saturday in the nation’s capital, they got revenge. Spanish forward Esther González collected yet another brace of goals in their victory, and finished the weekend atop the Golden Boot race with seven goals from their last four games.

• Sam’s Take 🗣️: Esther's form is kind of unbelievable right now. She seems to score goals like this in bunches, so I'm eager to see if she can continue at this rate throughout the season. If she does, she'd average a goal per game!

More: NWSL teams are embracing tension, new and old: ‘People love a good sports rivalry’

🥤 Olipop power everything we do here at The Women’s Game. You can use code TWG20 for 20% off your first order at drinkolipop.com/TWG20.

The Women’s Champions League Final Is Set 🏆

Chelsea 1-4 Barcelona (2-8 aggregate)

Sunday in London, Sonia Bompastor’s Chelsea squad hosted the back-to-back reigning champions of Europe with a Herculean task ahead of them. After losing 4-1 in Spain the previous weekend, England’s top team needed to outscore a blistering Barcelona squad by at least three goals to have a chance of making the Champions League final. They had a few chances, but despite the support of 26,702 fans at Stamford Bridge in West London, their hopes of success were essentially over by halftime. Back-to-back Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati struck first, Barca’s Polish striker and top-scorer Ewa Pajor followed shortly after, and the current UWCL goals-leader, Clàudia Pina, whipped in a third all before the ref blew the first-half whistle. Chelsea still have a chance to sweep all three English titles this season, but Barcelona booked their fifth-straight UWCL final appearance with relative ease. They’ll face Arsenal with the chance to extend their Champions League trophy streak to three in a row.

• Sam's Take 🗣️: Barcelona feel unbeatable. To have this kind of domination over Chelsea, one of the best teams in the world, is almost unfathomable. I definitely believe that anything can happen on any given day, especially in a final, but I think it would take a masterclass from Arsenal to best Barca in the Champions League final on May 24.

More: Chelsea humbled by Barcelona and Bonmati.

Lyon 1-4 Arsenal (3-5 aggregate)

After losing 2-1 to Lyon in London last weekend, the Gunners traveled to France with a more surmountable challenge this Sunday. Arsenal answered the call with aplomb, as they forced four goals past the eight-time European champions to book their spot in the UWCL final. Lyon were on the back-foot after an early own goal, and Spanish midfielder Mariona Caldentey, English striker Alessia Russo, and Australian forward Caitlin Foord added goals of their own to have the visitors up 4-0 by the 63rd minute. Haitian midfielder Melchie Dumornay pulled one back for Lyon, but it wasn’t enough to stymie the Gunners’ momentum. With the seismic victory in France, Arsenal return to their first European Championship final since 2007.

More: Slegers ‘so proud’ as Arsenal book UWCL final place after stunning comeback

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Bayern Munich Win a Third-Straight League Title 🇩🇪

Bayern Munich 3-1 Freiburg

With two weekends still to go, Bayern Munich clinched their third-straight Frauen-Bundesliga title after beating fifth-place Freiburg 3-1 on Sunday. Lea Schüller (who was Germany’s top-scorer in their bronze-medal summer in Paris) opened the scoring early in the first half. And team top-scorer, Danish forward Pernille Harder, as well as Icelandic center-back Glódís Perla Viggósdóttir, added two more to seal their victory. While the battle for the top spot was fierce this year in Germany, Bayern finished incredibly strong with a remarkable 11-game win streak to seal their seventh league title overall. 

More: Seven Key Moments in Seventh Title Win: FC Bayern Women’s Bundesliga Season in Review

News & Notes 🗞️

• Manchester City and Netherlands striker, Vivianne Miedema, who recently suffered a season-ending injury during international duty, has spoken out about her continued struggles with injury, which come downwind of an increasingly congested match calendar. 

• The USA’s top-flight NWSL, now in its 13th regular season, has submitted an application to the U.S. Soccer Federation with plans to launch a second-division women’s professional soccer league. The news comes shortly after WPSL Pro announced their intentions to seek status as a second-division league. If all the currently-planned women’s professional soccer leagues launch as planned, by 2026, the U.S. would have as many as 50 women’s professional soccer clubs. 

• U.S. goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce, who made a smashing debut for the USWNT with a shutout against Brazil this past April, will stay on with Manchester United in England’s WSL through 2028. 

• Former USWNT star Lauren Holiday, alongside her husband and NBA player Jrue Holiday, is joining the North Carolina Courage ownership group.

• After fighting to be promoted to the WSL this season, Crystal Palace have officially been relegated back to the second-tier Women’s Championship. Since the team's founding in 1992, they have steadily climbed the ranks of British football, all culminating in this season - their very first time taking the field with England's other top-flight teams. Unfortunately, their victory was short lived. The team struggled all year, walking away with only two wins thus far. They still have two games left to play, but the current seven-point canyon between themselves and the other clubs at the bottom of the table cannot be overcome. We hope to see them back in the WSL soon. ❤️💙🦅

Matches Worth Setting Reminders For 📺

WSL 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Manchester United vs. Chelsea (Wednesday, 3:15 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Tomorrow, two of the top three teams in WSL go head-to-head in a match that could have a massive impact on Chelsea’s campaign for the league title. Last Wednesday, Chelsea’s midweek league match saw U.S. forward Cat Macario score a brace against Crystal Palace, while fellow U.S. forward Mia Fishel scored her first goal for Chelsea since her ACL injury in February 2024. Tune in on Wednesday to see if the Blues can keep their treble dreams alive.

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal (Wednesday, 1 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Second-place Arsenal trail Chelsea by six points in their third-to-last match of the season. At the other end of the table, 10th-place Aston Villa are luckily safe from relegation as they welcome the Gunners, who look to be peaking at the right time after their dominant showing against Lyon in the Champions League. 

NWSL 🇺🇸

Portland Thorns vs. Orlando Pride (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET, ION)

Portland struggled in their first handful of games in 2025, but they picked up two wins in three weekends – their first of the year, including a 4-1 resounding victory over Gotham. They’ll host last year’s champions, who recently ended their undefeated run at the top, for what promises to be a fascinating test for both sides. 

San Diego Wave vs. Bay FC (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

A battle of California expansion clubs takes place on Sunday! Both teams have started the year on a strong foot, entering the weekend in fifth (San Diego) and eighth (Bay FC) place after six games. Each team has been solid, but packs lingering questions for their season ahead.

What’s the Story? 🗣️ NC Courage’s Meredith Speck on the Most Successful Years of Her Career

Sam Mewis: If you were like, what was the most successful time in your career?

Meredith Speck: I'm gonna say 2018 and 2019. On-the-field success at the end of the day is, I feel like, the most tangible and obvious for any athlete and those two years were insane. Having my friends or teammates say that “she made me feel embraced and supported” and I think you can't have a successful team if the people on it don't get that. You can't push someone out of their comfort zone until they feel comfortable with you, and that's what I try to do. Success for me is looking back and seeing that the Courage is still one of the top women's teams in the world and the foundation was built on people like me and you.

Watch the full conversation here.

Good Reads 📖

• From Lincoln Roch in The Colorado Sun, ‘The women’s soccer stadium in Kansas City has been a big economic success. Can Denver replicate that?’

• From Sophie Downey in The Guardian, ‘Why the Northern Super League can change football in Canada for good’

• From The Associated Press, ‘Women’s soccer star Almuth Schult says clubs didn’t want to sign a player with kids’

It’s TWG Trivia Time 🤔

We’re taking a week off from our trivia game, but wanted to answer last week’s question in the meantime.

Last week’s question: In 2012, Diana Matheson scored Canada’s game-winning goal in their bronze medal victory at the London Olympics. What team did they defeat in that win? We’ll let Akemi N., who was the first person to respond correctly, take it from here:

The answer to the trivia question is France. I’ll never forget that tournament as Canada’s game against the USA turned me into a soccer fan and I have been watching it ever since.

Thanks for answering and sharing your story, Akemi! If you could please respond to this newsletter with your email address, we’ll get a patch in the mail for you ASAP.

Moment of Joy 🤸

Kayden writes: Hi Sam, Lynn, and Becky,

So I just had to pause this week's Good Vibes episode to go and listen to “Good Vibrations” because I was so shook that Marky Mark was Mark Wahlberg, so you're not alone under your rock. So now I desperately need to know what the Good Vibes FC boy band, but make it a super cool girl band name and vibe, would be??

Sam writes: Hi Kayden - I am so glad to hear I am not the only one who was rattled by the Marky Mark revelation! And to answer your question about band names, I have to say, the band name you included in the subject of this email, “Sammy Sam and the Banana Bunch,” has a nice ring to it…

Thanks for listening and writing in!

Sam

📝 Want to be featured in next week’s TWG newsletter? Send Sam an email! All your questions, comments, and dog (or wedding) photos can be sent to [email protected]

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