NWSL

This is what Reign fans were hoping for when Olympique Lyonnais became the NWSL club’s majority owner last year. This is what fans of all the other NWSL teams were afraid of when one of the league’s best-supported clubs joined together with the most dominant force in European women’s football.

OL Reign’s Lyon connection paid massive dividends in a 3-0 win over the Orlando Pride on Sunday. Two Lyon stars linked up for one of the prettiest goals you’ll see all year, an intricate piece of passing that highlighted the quality of Europe’s best footballers.

The Portland Thorns have already won two trophies this year and sit six points clear atop the NWSL standings. They are on fire on the pitch. Unfortunately, they’re catching fire off the pitch too.

The bus carrying Thorns players and staff while on a road trip to play the Chicago Red Stars caught fire on Thursday evening. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

I finally got around to watching the “LFG” documentary on the USWNT’s fight for equal pay earlier this week. My delay was mostly justified, as there wasn’t really any new information for anyone who has been paying attention to the saga over the last five years, but it was a good opportunity to see some of the world’s best footballers off the pitch and a strong reminder of the ongoing struggles women’s soccer players face.

If there’s one thing you should take away from Season 2 of Ted Lasso, it’s that mental health is of utmost importance. Christen Press probably already knew this, and on Thursday the USWNT forward announced she would be stepping away from the beautiful game to focus on herself.

The Burnaby’s soccer icon continues to be one of the best to play the game. Christine Sinclair captains her Canada squad and helped bring home the gold at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. Canada made history by defeating Sweden in penalty kicks to be named Olympic champions for the first time. As this squad went home to celebrations and supportive greetings from their home towns, Sinclair is still receiving praise for her accomplishment.

Ashlyn Harris has been one of the most consistent and hardworking goalkeepers in NWSL history, and she's been highlighted for her penalty kick saves and clean sheet records with the Orlando Pride. This year alone she's made five straight penalty saves and won eight NWSL Save of the Week honors.

As she continues to be a brick wall in goal, this past weekend Harris broke the NWSL all-time saves record while playing against Gotham FC. 

Alex Morgan, Becky Sauerbrunn and five other prominent NWSL stars signed on to a letter sent to the U.S. State Department asking the American government expedite the evacuation of Afghan women’s national team players from the country where the Taliban recently took power.

Christen Press is coming home. The Los Angeles native will play her future club soccer with Angel City FC after Racing Louisville announced a trade with the NWSL expansion club on Monday.

Christen Press Transfer Details

The Washington Spirit and Orlando Pride delivered a classic NWSL match on Sunday evening at Audi Field with Marta scoring a memorable goal for the visitors before Ashley Sanchez’s spectacular game-winner in the 89th minute.

The first half finished scoreless, but Washington’s Trinity Rodman was twice denied by the woodwork while Orlando’s Sydney Leroux was kept out following a sensational double-save by Aubrey Bledsoe.

But there was no keeping out Marta’s opener in the 68th minute, which was smashed off the inside of the far post from distance.