NWSL

For years, N.C. Courage attendance numbers were some of the best in the NWSL. In 2022, no one wants to go see the Courage play, even when it’s the Challenge Cup final. 

The reasons are pretty obvious. Well, they’re obvious to everyone but the owners, it seems.

For the last few years (discounting the pandemic season of 2020), North Carolina has averaged more than 5,000 fans per game, always in the top half of the NWSL attendance rankings. It wasn’t hard to see why: The Courage won three NWSL Shields and two NWSL Championships from 2017-19. 

After fielding the oldest squad at both the 2019 World Cup and 2020 Summer Olympics, a changing of the guard was inevitable for the USWNT ahead of building toward the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Carli Lloyd, the team's most capped player and leading scorer, retired last year, but is Alex Morgan still on the USWNT?

Morgan is now the team's leading active goalscorer with 115 in 190 appearances (0.61 per game), and the 32-year-old figures to play a huge role at both this summer's Concacaf W Championship in Mexico and next summer's World Cup.

For the first time ever, 2022 NWSL salaries guarantee players a living wage. The NWSL and its players signed the league’s first Collective Bargaining Agreement on Feb. 1, 2022, increasing women’s soccer salaries across the board. So just how much do women’s soccer players make? The CBA, recently made public, tells us everything we need to know about NWSL salaries.

One of the NWSL’s budding stars hobbled off after a shocking challenge that went unpunished. A USWNT keeper’s head clanged awkwardly off the post. A fan favorite appeared to have a seizure on the pitch.

The North Carolina Courage edged the Washington Spirit 2-1 to claim the NWSL Challenge Cup trophy on Saturday in Cary, North Carolina, but the final score was one of the last things anyone was talking about after the match. 

When the Houston Dash won the 2020 Challenge Cup, it was a landmark moment for the National Women’s Soccer League. As the first professional team sport to return to play in the U.S. after Covid-19 shut the sports world down, the NWSL set the example for how leagues like MLS and the NBA could resume during a pandemic. For the players, however, there wasn’t much incentive to win beyond a bunch of Budweiser. 

Defending NWSL champion Washington Spirit opened its 2022 season Sunday with a thrilling 2-1 victory over OL Reign at Audi Field. 

The attacking trifecta of Ashley Hatch, Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez picked up right where it left off last campaign, but the Spirit had goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury to thank early.

In the ninth-minute, the Reign were awarded a penalty that Rose Lavelle couldn't convert.  

Portland has one of the greatest soccer communities in the U.S., and that community came together in beautiful fashion for a unique, mixed-gender charity match on Wednesday night at Providence Park. The “PTFC For Peace” match raised more than $500,000 for UNICEF USA’s relief efforts for children and families affected by Russia’s horrific invasion of Ukraine. 

Tobin Heath's time at Arsenal is over. The USWNT star and the North London club mutually agreed to end her contract early after she suffered a minor hamstring injury ruling her out for the rest of the season, Arsenal announced Thursday. Heath signed with the club in September and the contract was to last until the end of the 2022 season.