Lindsey Horan scored the match winner in the 2017 NWSL final. Her 2018 season is shaping up to be even better. On Friday, the day before she leads the Portland Thorns against the North Carolina Courage in a repeat NWSL Championship, Horan was named 2018 NWSL MVP.
On Wednesday, USWNT coach Jill Ellis released her list of 20 players that will represent the U.S. in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship set to take place next month. The tournament, which will be held in three different U.S. cities from October 4-17, will serve as the North American qualifiers for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Eight teams will battle it out for the top three spots to book their ticket to France. Here are the American women who will hoping to lead the defending champions to the World Cup finals:
The North Carolina Courage defeated the Chicago Red Stars 2-0 on Tuesday night in the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs to setup a repeat of the 2017 final between the Courage and Portland Thorns FC. That match will take place at Providence Park on Saturday, Sept. 22, at 4:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on Lifetime.
On Tuesday morning, the U.S. women’s national team found out its group for Concacaf World Cup qualifying next month. Then the reigning world champions went out and routed Chile 4-0. And Tobin Heath was so gosh darn dominant, with her feet all over the USWNT vs Chile highlights, that it makes you wonder what the heck she has to do to get some recognition from the fools at FIFA who decide who is nominated for the FIFA Best Awards.
The United States is a big country. It spans four time zones just in the contiguous continental landscape. So it can understandably be a tough task to schedule a weekday match that kicks off at a time suitable for the entire country. Unfortunately, the USWNT vs Chile match on Friday night didn’t really kick off at a time suitable for any part of the country — except maybe Hawaii.
Seattle Reign star Megan Rapinoe pulled out of the USWNT camp due to a rib injury suffered in her team’s win against the Houston Dash last week. Jill Ellis called up Utah Royals forward Amy Rodriguez in her absence for two friendlies against Chile.
USWNT fans rejoice: Two major assets in Mallory Pugh and Kelley O’Hara have returned to the USWNT roster. Coach Jill Ellis announced the list of 23 players who would report to training camp for friendlies against Chile on Aug. 31 and Sept. 4 in California.
U.S. Soccer is still looking for a clear path forward after the shocking failure of the men’s national team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. In its search, the federation is turning to you, the soccer community, to help guide U.S. Soccer into the future in a new initiative called U.S. Soccer Voices.
A U.S. national soccer team being knocked out at the group stage of a major tournament is a headline that we don't often associate with the women’s side, but today produced an outcome not many in the soccer world could've predicted. The U.S. U-20 women’s national team saw its journey at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup come to a shocking end before it really even got started.
Down a goal in the first half, the U.S. women’s national team came back and then some on its way to winning the Tournament of Nations on Thursday night in Chicago. The team went undefeated and put away nine goals in the three-game series, lifting its first ToN trophy and continuing to build its case as 2019 World Cup favorite with a 4-1 win for the USWNT vs Brazil.