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More NWSL teams clinched the playoffs, the WSL kicked off and the USYNT won bronze. We are so back! I’m Emily Olsen, here with Meg Linehan, Steph Yang and Jeff Rueter — welcome to Full Time!
Happy Fall, Y’all
For the next two-ish months, you’re busy with women’s sports. This weekend was a prime example:
- Two more NWSL teams clinched playoff spots.
- Manchester City and Arsenal added an exclamation point to the WSL’s opening weekend.
- The WNBA ushered in the first round of the postseason.
Yes, this is a soccer newsletter, but the WNBA and NWSL are intrinsically intertwined through their athletes’ interaction, fanbases and now ownership. We’ll explain.
Los Angeles Sparks part-owner Magic Johnson joined Michele Kang’s Washington Spirit investment group. On Wednesday, the WNBA announced that Portland Thorns owners Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal will oversee the league’s Portland expansion team in 2026. And somewhat relatedly, the North Carolina Courage could be the 13th team to undergo a major ownership change in the last few years, with former Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry in negotiations to buy a controlling stake.
Clear your calendars and settle in! If you need a note to excuse you from work/school/personal engagements, we’ve got you covered:
Gotham and KC clinch playoff spots
The expanded NWSL playoff spots are filling up. Half of the eight spots have now been claimed.
Yazmeen Ryan’s goal for Gotham this weekend guaranteed the reigning champions would get another shot, while KC Current’s 3-0 win over the Spirit earned them a chance to fight for a championship game at home.
With just six weeks left for the remaining teams to claim a spot, mathematical elimination is rapidly approaching:
Meanwhile, clinched teams are also jockeying for home-field advantage in the quarterfinals by finishing in the top four. The Orlando Pride have secured such a spot with 51 points, guaranteeing them a top-four finish. The Spirit just need four more points out of five games to also guarantee they’ll host a quarterfinal game.
Louisville’s quiet comeback
With the playoff places snapping up quickly, we asked Jeff Rueter to brief us on one unexpected team making a run:
Saturday’s home match against the Courage was the biggest test of Racing Louisville’s mettle, welcoming a team higher up the table to Lynn Family Stadium.
While the Courage carried a 1-0 lead deep into the second half, goals from rookie Emma Sears and a penalty converted by midseason acquisition Bethany Balcer saw them flip the result and earn three crucial points. The fourth-year club has yet to qualify for the playoffs, but Bev Yanez’s side holds an edge over Bay FC for eighth in the league table thanks to a +9 advantage in goal differential.
With an influx of young and versatile forwards, a deep midfield led by Savannah DeMelo and Taylor Flint, and Katie Lund’s capable goalkeeping, it may finally be the year that sees Racing earn an extra game at the end of its season.
Meg’s Corner: Gotham (and Meg) visit the White House
The smiles were everywhere at the White House on Monday morning. Yes, it’s mostly just a ceremonial honor for a championship team to get their moment in the East Room, but this time, the ceremony really did feel like something more — a moment of validation for Gotham FC, 2023 championship winners, and the NWSL as a whole. No one’s ever going to think a White House visit will suddenly add a million viewers to the weekly TV numbers, but being in the room felt special in a way I haven’t ever experienced with the NWSL.
“The league has been around for 12 years and never had this opportunity,” commissioner Jessica Berman told me. “We have arrived. We have received the highest possible honor in our country, as these athletes deserve.”
As seriously as everyone was taking this moment, and staying on message about how it was setting a foundation for further growth, it was also pretty clear that everyone was embracing the surreal, thrilling nature of being at the White House.
For the first time in National Women’s Soccer League history, it’s my pleasure to welcome to the White House the 2023 champions Gotham FC! pic.twitter.com/lgLS4cbi5M
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 23, 2024
As interviews wound down, Ali Krieger and Midge Purce wanted to get their West Wing on behind the podium, posing for photos both serious and as if they were taking questions from the room. No one, after all, is above wanting their C.J. Cregg moment (not even me).
Jerome Miron / Imagn Images
Notables
O’Hara’s final season ends with an injury
The past year has seen Megan Rapinoe leave her final game with a brutal leg injury and Alex Morgan abruptly call it a career as we learned she was pregnant with her second child.
Another mainstay of the USWNT over the decade has now seen her career close in bittersweet fashion, as Kelley O’Hara landed on Gotham’s season-ending injury list and promptly announced she had played her last game. Full backs hardly get the same hype as their attacking peers, but the 36-year-old O’Hara was a crucial fixture along the back line and part of the program’s culture as it won the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups. O’Hara’s illustrious career by the numbers:
- 160 — Senior international caps.
- 80 — Women’s footballers who have played more international games than O’Hara in their entire career, as of the conclusion of the 2024 Olympics.
- 31 — O’Hara’s age when she was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, making her the youngest enshrinee in the institution’s history.
- 3 — International goals through all those hard-run minutes, including one in the 2015 World Cup semifinal.
- 2 — NWSL championships, coming late in her career with Washington (2021) and Gotham (2023).
WSL underway across the pond
The 14th season of the Women’s Super League marks a new era, emphasized by the recent $50 million, three-year sponsorship deal with Barclays.
No team has better exemplified turning a new leaf than Chelsea, which collected its first three points in WSL under new manager Sonia Bompastor on Saturday. Jessy Parker Humphreys shared their key takeaways from the 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Unfortunately, the ramp-up to the season came at a cost, with midfielder Sophie Ingle and Jorja Fox sustaining ACL injuries last week.
Elsewhere, Manchester United got off to a winning start with a 3-0 victory over West Ham, despite a turbulent summer and apathy setting in with just 12,000 tickets sold at the Old Trafford opener. And Manchester City striker Vivianne Miedema scored against her former club, Arsenal, in a thrilling 2-2 tie. Read a full WSL weekend briefing here.
Full Time First Looks
Exclusive: Fresh off a new contract, Aitana Bonmati scored the winning goal for FC Barcelona in their 1-0 win over Sevilla this weekend. Before the game, Laia Cervelló Herrero caught up with the Ballon d’Or winner for an exclusive chat on her new deal, Spain and her future.
Promising: The U.S. U-20 women’s national team won three games in overtime to capture third place in the recent U-20 World Cup after a last-second own goal from the Netherlands.
Thought-provoking: Meg mentioned Hope Solo’s documentary last week — you can read more of her thoughts here — but this weekend, former USMNT goalkeeper Tim Howard had high praise for another USWNT goalkeeper. He called current U.S. No. 1 Alyssa Naeher the “greatest goalkeeper in the world, hands down.”
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(Top photo: Josh Morgan / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
