This week, we look at Racing Louisville, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave, Seattle Wave, Utah Royals and the Washington Spirit. See our column last week for our preview of Angel City FC, Bay FC, Chicago Stars, Gotham FC, Houston Dash, Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage: The Week in Women's Football: Part 1 - Off-season ins/outs for NWSL - TribalFootball.com.
We also have some updates for the two 2026 expansion franchises in Boston and Denver. Finally, we look at the results from the 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League Quarterfinals with some surprising results which should see very competitive semifinals in May.
Orlando Pride
Last year was absolutely special for the NWSL Shield and Champions Orlando Pride, as they set league records for total points (60), wins (18) and games without a defeat (24). They have kept the vast majority of that winning side together for 2025 and added a 2023 Women’s World Cup Winner from Spain in defender Oihane Hernandez (24), who has signed a two year contract, with a mutual option for 2027. She signed in mid-February from Real Madrid for an undisclosed fee.
During her time at Real Madrid, she appeared in 31 matches and recorded two assists. Prior to Madrid, Hernández played for Athletic Club Femenino (part of Athletic Bilbao in the Basque region of Spain) where she made her first team debut in the 2018-19 season. In five seasons with Athletic, she played in 109 games and scored three goals. Internationally, she has played for Spain in the 2023 WWC and 2024 Olympic Games Finals.
The Pride’s Vice-President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said: “Oihane is a technically gifted defender who excels in both defensive organization and distribution from the back. She brings world-class experience and a championship mindset from her time with Spain’s national team. Oihane’s ability to perform in high-pressure situations and her tactical understanding and ability to read the game will be invaluable assets as we continue building a championship-caliber roster. We’re delighted to bring her to the City Beautiful.”
Another new signing is Zambian international forward Prisca Chilufya (25), who had been playing for FC Juarez in Liga MX Femenil; she signed a three-year deal through the 2027 season. She joined Juarez Bravas for the 2023-24 Apertura (Opening) season and scored 14 goals in 48 regular season and playoff games, including one goal in four matches thus far in the 2024-25 Clausura (Closing) championship.
She also played briefly with Fatih Karagumruk of the TTF 1. Lig, which is the second tier of Turkish football, scoring four goals in seven matches. Chilufya scored 18 goals in 14 appearances for Tomris Turan of the Kazakh Women’s Championship in 2022-23 in Kazakhstan. During the 2021 season in Kazakhstan, Chilufya scored 14 goals in 13 games, helping BIIK Kazygurt win the Championship.
Internationally, Chilufya has featured in the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics in 2018. She appeared in all three matches for Zambia at the 2024 Paris Olympics and served as an alternate for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
In the off-season Brazilian superstar Marta re-signed with the club for the 2025 and 2026 season, which is also an indication that she could play for Brazil again in 2027 in their home Women’s World Cup. It would be a tremendous boost for the 2027 Finals as she is an iconic role model to so many at home and around the world.
The Orlando Pride loaned forward Mariana Larroquette (32) to Newell’s Old Boys Women of the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino in Argentina until July 1.. Since joining the Pride during the 2023 season, Larroquette has appeared in 12 matches and scored one goal. Argentina will host the CONMEBOL Women’s Championships this summer and she is expected to be on the team, adding to her 82 senior caps and 22 goals.
For more on the Pride’s 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup match early in March, where they lost on penalties to Washington Spirit to open the season, see our column earlier this month: The Week in Women's Football: Challenge Cup; USL best vs NWSL; Cordova in Belize - TribalFootball.com.
Portland Thorns
A major signing for the club in the off-season was Venezuelan international forward Deyna Castellanos (25), who played last season with Bay FC. She gained free agency status and signed with Portland through the 2026 season, with a club option for 2027.
Coach Rob Gale said about his new signing: “We are looking forward to welcoming Deyna to the Thorns; she is a player who has qualities we feel we can continue to develop and enhance within our program. We are excited to challenge her in this next stage of her career and have her join our club ambitions.”
During the 2024 season, Castellanos recorded two goals and one assist in 25 matches across all competitions, including the first home goal in Bay FC’s inaugural match at their home stadium, and helped Bay FC make the playoffs in their first league season.
Castellanos played at Florida State University—where she helped the team win the College Cup national title in 2018 and scored 48 goals and 22 assists in 82 games; she holds the school record for most game winning goals (20)—and then moved to Spain to join Atlético Madrid, where she scored 26 goals with 12 assists in 71 matches. She then played three seasons with Manchester City in the WSL, scoring five goals with four assists in 36 games played in all competitions.
Internationally, Castellanos has been a pillar of the Venezuelan Women’s National Team, recording 22 goals and 15 assists in 38 matches, becoming the team captain in 2021 at just 21 years old. She helped Venezuela finish fourth at the 2014 FIFA U-17 WWC in Costa Rica.
TribalFootball.com talked to Denya Castellanos on March 20 on a media call and we asked: “You played collegiately in the U.S. and at Bay FC. Can you talk about what you have had to alter in your game after playing in Spain and England and coming back to America and playing in the NWSL (as well as) differences that you have seen across the leagues tactically and technically?”
She replied: “I think the physicality in the U.S. is the superpower here for sure and it is a very transitional game and very competitive. Any team that you play, you have the risk of losing a game, which is very exciting; it’s like playing a final every weekend. That is the biggest difference for sure.”
This season for Portland, she said that she: “wants to show a good attitude, good body language, energy and that I have fun playing.”
Portland Thorns FC have signed Brazilian central defender Daiane Limeria (27) through the 2026 season via a transfer from Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro for an undisclosed fee. She has played for clubs in Brazil, France, Norway and Spain. Most recently, Daiane played in 30 matches for Flamengo across three seasons. Daiane also spent three years in Spain playing for Real Madrid/CD Tacon and Madrid CFF. During the 2018/19 season, Daiane made nine appearances for Paris Saint-Germain FC in the Première Ligue, helping her team finish as the league runners-up.
Daiane began her career in Europe with Avaldsnes IL in the Toppserien in Norway, where she helped the Norwegian club lift its first-ever Norway Women’s Cup. Starting her professional career in Brazil, Daiane played for Rio Preto, Tiradentes and Kindermann-Avai, winning four state and cup trophies across the three clubs. On the international stage, Daiane earned 12 caps for the Brazil National Team and represented Brazil at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
This will be the first full season for head coach Rob Gale (47), who took over as interim head coach of the Thorns four matches into the 2024 season and the team won six games in succession. However, after being handed the job on a permanent basis in July, Gale and the Thorns won just two of their final 11 games as the wheels fell off, though they did finish in a tie for sixth place (with Bay FC) and made the playoffs, though they lost in the Quarterfinals 2-1 to Gotham FC away from home.
The native of Zambia, who grew up in England, played at Fulham and for clubs in Manitoba in Canada, and is certainly enthusiastic in his media meetings but the team has lost Sophia (Smith) Wilson—out on maternity leave—and Morgan Weaver, Nigerian international Toni Payne and German youth international Marie Muller to season-ending knee injuries. Weaver’s injury in January was to same knee she had surgery on in May 2024. Defender Toni Payne was injured in a match at the Coachella Valley Invitational pre-season tournament in Southern California. Marie Müller (24), who played 16 games for the Thorns last season after moving from Freiburg, injured her right knee while on duty with the German national team and was hoping to make her debut last month in UEFA Women’s Nations League matches against Netherlands and Austria.
The Thorns signed free agent and U.S. youth international defender Sam Hiatt (27) from Gotham FC through the 2026 season with an option for 2027. The former Boston College and Stanford University, she played from 2000 to 2023 with her hometown side Seattle Reign.
Reilyn Turner (22) came from Louisville mid-season in 2024 and scored goals in 23 games across both clubs (four in 16 games in Louisville) and has one goal in two games thus far in the 2025 regular season.
The Thorns signed free agent goalkeeper Morgan Messner (25) for the 2025 season. Messner (24) spent her rookie season in the National Women’s Soccer League with the San Diego Wave, making her professional debut during the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup against Club America. She played at Penn State and Boston Universities in college and for Racing Louisville in the summer W-League.
Portland Thorns FC also signed U-20 United States Youth National Team and Princeton University forward Pietra Tordin through the 2026 season, with a player option for the 2027 season. She was very impactful for the United States at the U-20 FIFA Women’s World Cup last year in Colombia, scoring four goals for her country as the U.S. finished in third place, their highest finish at the tournament since 2012. In three years at Princeton University, Tordin scored 30 goals and tallied 11 assists in just 45 matches, averaging nearly a goal contribution in every game she played. She is in the senior U.S. WNT pool, having participated in the U.S. Soccer Futures (U.S. U-23) camp in January.
The Thorns have waived forward Izzy D’Aquila (23), allowing her to pursue other opportunities. D’Aquila joined the Thorns ahead of the 2023 season as the 12th overall pick in the NWSL Draft. Throughout her two years with the Thorns, D’Aquila appeared in 29 matches, scoring twice. She joined Malmo in the Swedish Damallsvenskan in January on a two year contract and has scored twice in her first match, a 3-2 win over Hacken of Gothenburg on March 23.
U.S. international defender (with 219 caps) Becky Sauerbrunn retired from the game at age 39. She attended the University of Virginia and started at center back on the 2015 and 2019 U.S. World Cup championship squads, captaining the team in France. Her club career spanned 15 seasons—all three WPS seasons and the NWSL’s first 12 seasons. She won the following international and club titles:
• USWNT (7): Women's World Cup (2): 2015, 2019; Olympics (1): 2012; CONCACAF Women’s Championship (3): 2010, 2014, 2018; CONCACAF W Gold Cup (1): 2024.
• Portland Thorns (4): NWSL Championship (1): 2022; NWSL Shield (1): 2021; NWSL Community Shield (1): 2020; NWSL Challenge Cup (1): 2021.
• FC Kansas City (2): NWSL Championship (2): 2014, 2015.
• Røa (1): Norwegian Toppserien (1): 2009.
Sauerbrunn ends her career having played in 189 NWSL regular-season matches, along with 10 NWSL playoff appearances. Sauerbrunn joined the Thorns ahead of the 2020 season and appeared in 72 regular-season matches. Prior to joining the NWSL, Sauerbrunn played professionally for the Washington Freedom and magicJack (of Boca Raton, Florida) in Women’s Professional Soccer, D.C. United in the USL W-League and Røa IL in Norway’s Toppserien.
Racing Louisville
The ninth-place Louisville club narrowly missed out on the playoffs but set new club records in total points, goals scored and total home attendance in 2024. Former University of Utah star Katie O’Kane (23) has signed her first professional contract, joining Racing on a one-year deal for the 2025 season. She joined the club as a non-roster invitee to preseason in January. A forward in the college ranks, she is expected to play in the midfield as a pro. O’Kane, who grew up in Seattle, played for three seasons at Utah, starting every game in which she appeared — 54 in total — while scoring 16 goals and tallying six assists. She led the Utes in goal contributions in both 2023 and 2024 and registered two hat tricks during her time in Salt Lake City.
O’Kane played in the pre-professional USL W League with Oakland Soul in 2024. She helped the team to a second-place finish in the NorCal Division. Prior to joining the Utes, O’Kane spent two seasons in her hometown at the University of Washington. appearing in 29 games for the Huskies and scoring twice.
Racing Louisville FC and midfielder Linda Motlhalo (26) have agreed to a mutual contract termination, so Motlhalo could pursue other playing opportunities. The 26-year-old South African international joined Racing last spring and made only three appearances for the club across all competitions. She joined Glasgow City in January, of 2025, returning to the club where she played in the 2023-24 season. Motlhalo broke through with the senior team as a 17-year-old and played in two FIFA Women’s World Cups and a Summer Olympics in addition to winning the Africa Women Cup of Nations in 2022.
Finnish international defender Elli Pikkujämsä (25) exercised her side of a mutual option for 2025 in her contract, coming back for a third year and is still rehabilitating a torn patellar tendon in her left knee suffered in March. In her career in Louisville, she has scored one goal in 21 regular season matches.
Racing Louisville FC forward Elexa Bahr (26) has moved to her former club, Colombia's América de Cali Feminino, on a season-long loan in 2025. Bahr was raised in Buford, Georgia and played for Colombia at the 2023 WWC in Australia/New Zealand.
Bev Yanez said: “We are so grateful for Elexa’s contributions to Racing on and off the pitch over the past year. This is an opportunity with her former club that’s great for continued development. We look forward to supporting her in this process.”
Bahr started 14 of her 16 Racing appearances in 2024, her first year in Louisville. She scored a goal and an assist in the season opener as she became the first NWSL player in eight years to register that stat line in a club debut. Previously for América de Cali, Bahr scored six goals in 17 appearances in 2023 to help the club win the first stage of league play and finish as runner-up in the Liga Profesional Femenina knockout tournament.
Goalkeeper Olivia Sekany (26), who played at the Universities of California and Washington, is on loan in Australia with Brisbane Roar through March 2025. She has played 17 games for Brisbane, who should make the playoffs this season. Fellow goalkeeper Madison White (Dallas Trinity) is on loan in the USL Super League through the 2024-25 season, which concludes in April. She has played in 12 games to date.
New Zealand international defender (with 146 caps) Abby Erceg was at the end of her contract and thus a free agent; she did not re-sign with Racing Louisville and joined Toluca of Liga MX Femenil in February of 2025. She has played in eight matches thus far in the 2024-25 Clausura with Toluca.
San Diego Wave
The Wave brought in Swedish native head coach Jonas Eidevall, who was let go earlier this year as coach of Arsenal in London of the WSL. Former Angel City FC head coach Becki Tweed headed down the I-5 to join Eidevall’s staff. Tweed, a native of Bristol, England, will provide important insight on NWSL teams and players to Eidevall, who has never coached in America, as she has been an assistant/head coach in the league since 2020, first with Gotham FC before joining Angel City as an assistant in 2023, then moving up to interim head coach when she took the team to the playoffs for the first time before being named as a permanent solution for 2024. Tweed was let go by the Los Angeles side after the team missed the playoffs last season.
The Wave have signed a number of international players for the 2025 season, led by French international midfielder Kenza Dali (33) who played for France in the 2024 Olympics Games Finals at home. Since making her professional debut in 2009 with Olympique Lyonnais, Dali has made 265 appearances across all competitions, contributing 66 goals and 29 assists throughout her career.
Dali joined Rodez AF in 2010 before transferring to Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, where she spent five seasons, scoring 36 goals in 89 appearances. Following her time with PSG, Dali returned to Lyon (2016-17) and helped the club win the UEFA Women’s Champions League. From 2018-19, she played in Division 1 Féminine in France on loan with Lille and signed the following season with Dijon. In 2019, Dali transitioned to the WSL, signing with West Ham United, where she made 32 appearances and netted five goals over two seasons. She then joined Everton in 2021, adding 20 appearances before moving to Aston Villa in 2022. In two-and-a-half seasons with Villa, Dali appeared in 46 matches (45 starts) recording six goals and 10 assists. With France she has played at multiple youth levels and has 13 goals in 75 senior caps. She was with the French side at the 2023 WWC and 2024 Summer Olympics at home.
The Wave also signed Nigerian midfielder Fayour Emmanuel (22) to a two-year deal through the 2026 season, with a mutual option for 2027. She previously played for Lokomotiv Moscow in the Russian Women’s Football Championship in 2024, helping the team win the Women’s Cup. She also won a league championship at home with Bayelsa Queens. The side also finished in third place in the CAF Women’s Champions League in 2022.
Another Nigerian was signed in mid-January—forward Chiamaka Okwuchukwu (19). She was the CAF Young Women’s Player of the Year finalist. The Wave paid an undisclosed fee to Rivers Angels FC in Nigeria. Okwuchukwu was a revelation for Nigeria U-20 Women’s National Team at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, where she played in all four matches, scoring two goals and providing one assist. Previously, Okwuchukwu represented Nigeria at just 16 years of age during the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica. During that tournament, she helped Nigeria go undefeated in the group stage and advance to the quarterfinals before falling to the Netherlands.
Canadian international forward Adriana Leon (32), who won an Olympic Gold Medal in 2021 at the 2020 Olympic Finals in Japan, signed a two-years contract through 2026, with a mutual option for 2027. Leon made her international debut with the Canadian Women’s National Team 12 years ago and has 121 appearances (64 starts), 41 goals, and eight assists; she is currently the nation’s all-time leading active goal scorer across both the men’s and women’s national teams. She has played in three WWC Finals, 2015, 2019 and 2023.
At the club level, Leon spent six seasons in the NWSL for the Boston Breakers (2013), Chicago Red Stars (2013-15), Western New York Flash (2015), Seattle Reign (2017), and Sky Blue FC (2018). She also had a brief loan spell in 2016 with FC Zürich, where she scored three goals and tallied three assists in the UEFA Champions League, in addition to one goal and three assists in the Swiss Cup.
Leon made the move to the WSL in 2018, where she has spent nearly eight years, making 77 appearances, scoring 19 goals, and providing four assists across three clubs – West Ham (2018-22), Manchester United (2022-23) and Aston Villa (2023-25). In 2023, while at United, Leon made a brief return to the NWSL on a three-month loan with the Portland Thorns, making five appearances in her stint.
The Wave signed forward Gia Corley (22) via transfer from German Frauen-Bundesliga side TSG Hoffenheim Frauen for an undisclosed fee. Her contract with the Wave is a two-year deal through the 2026 season. At TSG Hoffenheim, she spent four seasons, tallying 70 appearances (46 starts) with 14 goals and 12 assists, including two goals and three assists in the current 2024-25 season.
Prior to her transfer to TSG, Corley began her professional career at just 16 years of age with FC Bayern München, where she made 14 appearances (five starts) and added two assists. She has made an immediate impact at the Wave, scoring five minutes into her first regular season match in a 1-1 tie away to Angel City and then the winning goal in their 3-2 home win against Utah on March 22.
On the international stage, Corley has been a member of the German Youth National Teams from the U-17 to U-23 levels and has competed in two FIFA World Cups (U-17 and U-20), netting a total of three goals. In addition, she also captained the squad at the 2019 UEFA U-17 Championship, leading Germany to their seventh title in a penalty shootout victory over the Netherlands. She is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Germany as she was born in Tacoma, Washington, before moving to Germany as a youngster.
Colombian youth international Sintia Cabezas (18) signed with the Wave and then was subsequently sent on loan to Lexington SC of the USL Super League, where she has played in one match thus far. She previously played with America de Cali at home.
In global news during the off-season, U.S. international defender Naomi Girma (24) moved to Chelsea of the WSL for a world record women’s football transfer fee of $1.1 million. Since being selected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, Girma has been acclaimed as a world-class defender.
In her rookie season in San Diego, Girma made 27 appearances (27 starts) while playing every single minute for all matches she was available for and won 2022 NWSL Rookie and Defender of the Year honors, becoming the first player in league history to secure two individual awards in a rookie season.
She said about her transfer and time with the Wave: “San Diego Wave has been such an important part of my journey. I’ll forever be thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to grow here and for the incredible relationships I’ve built with my teammates, the sporting staff, and our amazing fans. I’m especially grateful to ownership and Cami (Wave Gm Camille Ashton) for supporting my dream of playing in Europe. San Diego will always hold a special place in my heart, and I wish nothing but the best for the team moving forward.”
The Wave signed defender Trinity Armstong (17) as a targeted replacement for Girma. Armstrong won the 2021 NCAA College Cup title in her only season at the University of North Carolina. She also helped the U.S. finish third at the 2024 U-17 FIFA WWC in Dominican Republic.
Forward Trinity Byars (22) is a rookie from the University of Texas where she had 47 goals in 67 matches from 2021-2024. She signed a 3 year contract with the Wave. She is a U.S. youth international and played at the 2018 U-17 WWC in Uruguay and 2022 U-20 World Cup in Costa Rica.
Seattle Reign
Forward Veronica Latsko (29) suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the second half of Reign FC’s first preseason match at the Coachella Valley Invitational (outside Los Angeles) against Bay FC and was placed on the season-ending injury list. She has seven goals in 44 games with Seattle since joining for the 2022 season.
Club captain and defender Lauren Barnes (35) has been with the Reign since 2013—and has played in the most matches in league history (232) and missing only the 2020 season when she was with Kristianstads of Sweden. She has played for the U.S. at youth levels and took some time before deciding to return for the 2025 season.
Departures in the off-season including Canadian international midfielder Quinn (29) moving to the Vancouver Rise of the new Canadian Northern Super League, after spending six seasons with the Reign. American midfielder Nikki Stanton (34) has also moved to the Vancouver Rise after three seasons in Seattle. Stanton played in only seven games last season, totaling just over 100 minutes. American forward Tziarra King (26) was a number eight overall draft choice of the original Utah Royals in 2020 and then spent the last four seasons with the Reign, scoring five goals in 68 games. She played for the U.S. U-23 WNT and at U-17 and U-20 levels for futsal. King, who is married to Wales international Jess Fishlock (who did come back to the Reign for the 2025 season), was not happy about Seattle not-offering a new contract. She said on Instagram that: “In a really disappointing turn of events, my time at the Reign has come to an end.”
Midfielder Sam Meza’s (23) loan to Dallas Trinity ended in December and Wales international defender Lily Woodham’s (24) loan to Crystal Palace of the WSL is slated to finish at the end of January. Meza was named the USL Super League Player of the Month in November. She finished her loan spell with two goals and one assist in 13 games. She played four seasons at the University of North Carolina. She also led the team in shots and tackles and duels won. Woodham has started 15 of her 16 games at Crystal Palace.
We covered a number of changes in our wrap up of the Seattle Reign’s 2024 season late last year, see: The Week in Women's Football: Expansion battle; NWSL review PII; Chicago change - TribalFootball.com.
Utah Royals
Midfielder Claudia Zornoza (34) of Spain was a revelation in 2024 after coming on board mid-season as Utah went 5-4-1 (1.6 points per game) with Zornoza in the team, having gone 2-11-3 (0.5 points per game) prior to her arrival. She has been capped 13 times for Spain and is a superb passer and set-piece specialist. She arrived from Real Madrid where she had 10 goals in 80 matches over three seasons; this is her first time playing abroad.
Defender Ana María Guzmán was signed on a one year loan by Utah from Bayern Munich of Germany. Guzman (19) is a Colombian international who was first capped in 2023 (with six caps to date) and has also been a U-17 and U-20 international. She scored three goals last season with Bayern Munich’s second team in only six matches.
In December of 2024, the Royals signed local prospect KK Ream (15) to a professional contract through the league’s U-18 entry mechanism. Ream had been with the Utah Avalanche Boys ENCL 09 squad and Girls 05/06 squads. The Utah native is signed with the Royals through the 2027 season. Ream became the youngest Utah Royals FC signee signing at 15 years and 157 days of age, surpassing Ally Sentnor who signed at the age of 20 years and one day.
URFC Sporting Director Kelly Cousins said: “We are excited to have KK officially join the squad as the youngest ever Royals player and start her career here in her home state. At just 15, she has proven that she is ready to be part of the professional environment, and we are looking forward to fostering her development on the field and as a member of the Utah community.”
Ream has had history with the Royals as she attended the Utah Royals FC AZ academy (in Casa Grande, Arizona) from 2019 to 2022 before moving over to RSL Arizona and playing with the boys from 2020 to 2022. Ream has a twin brother currently with Real Salt Lake academy in Herriman, Linkon Ream, who appears for both the U-18 and U-16 squads. Ream has played with U.S. youth national teams and most recently appeared for the USYNT U-15 Girls team in the 2024 U-15 CONCACAF Championship. This year’s title marks the fourth consecutive time the United States U-15 Girls’ National Team won the CONCACAF Championship.
Washington Spirit
The Spirit had a very strong 2024 season, setting a league and club record for wins in a season (18) with an expanded regular season with two new expansion franchise and Spirit records for points (56) and goals scored (51). New to the league and D.C. this season is Brazilian forward Tamara Bolt (21), who signed with the Spirit from SC Internacional of Brazil. She previously played with Bahia in the Northeast and moved to SC Inter in 2021, playing in 72 matches for the Rio Grande do Sul State team in the last five years, scoring ten goals and adding five assists. At Inter, she won two state championships with the main team and two Brazilian U-20 Championships.
Another new signing this season is Ugandan international defender Shadia Nankya (23), who had been playing with FC Masar of Egypt, and previous at Uganda Christian University Cardinals. She signed a two year contract after her transfer from Masar. She was loaned by D.C. to the Dallas Trinity of the USL Super League for the spring season.
Off the field, The Washington Spirit have grown their season-ticket base by 71% for the 2025 NWSL season, which team president Kim Stone says is the biggest year-over-year increase in the league. In 2024, compared to 2023, they had a 30% increase in attendance to 13,937 for fourth in the 14 team league and behind only San Diego (19,575), Angel City (19,313) and Portland Thorns (18,725).
Stone explained the huge jump in sales this year: “It was having a longer sales cycle, having a full staff and then being very strategic in what products and when we were out selling in the market. We did a traditional renewal campaign during the season—we had (a) 93% renewal rate for season tickets. But we did that in late summer, so that gave us the rest of summer and fall, including the playoffs, to be selling people on season-ticket packages when you have that enthusiasm.”
Stone said the club also increased sponsorship revenue by 18% for the 2025 season after bringing sales in-house in the fall of 2024. New sponsors for the 2025 season include Audi, iHeartMedia, James Creek Marina, Mars—the maker of snacking, food, and pet products and services—and CVS Health, the latter which renewed for three years in a multi-million dollar investment, which is reportedly one of the highest revenue sponsorships in league history. Octagon, which still has a relationship with the Spirit, had previously been its agency of record for sponsorship sales.
2026 Expansion Team News
Boston
Boston’s 2026 expansion franchise is changing its name from BOS Nation FC after receiving extensive condemnation for the name and their initial marketing approach, when they announced the name in October. BOS Nation is an anagram for “Bostonian” but that was not apparent to most people outside of the metro area, and even some within the Boston area who didn’t like the name.
Their marketing tag line of “Too Many Balls” to point out the lack of women’s professional sports teams in the city did not help as it was seen as offensive. They are also having trouble with their private-public partnership with the city of Boston to renovate 66-year-old White Stadium and share the space with Boston Public Schools athletics—a model that has worked quite well in Spokane with the USL Super League’s Zephyr, League One Men’s side the Velocity along with high school American football and soccer for the area. The budget for the Boston stadium has roughly doubled since it was first proposed in 2023, and faces ongoing legal and political challenges, as well as backlash from local residents.
The plan is the stadium rebuild would be partially funded by taxpayers. The club argues that it is covering over 50% of White Stadium renovation costs for less than 5% of its use (calculated hourly), with the majority of use reserved for community and Boston Public Schools student access, along with an additional pledge to invest $5 million over ten years in “local organizations and initiatives.” There is a time constraint here as White Stadium was just recently torn down and the team has less than a year to prepare it for use as their new home for the 2026 NWSL Season.
Note: as we were going to press on March 26, the team announced its new name as Boston Legacy Football Club. They took the wise move of using market research to determine the name. The team revealed that they conducted a survey of 1,500 fans and branding professionals, which developed over 500 name ideas and then cut it to a final list of 14. The team wanted a name that was self-explanatory and would become a long-lasting name, while also avoiding common Boston sport team names that had colonial or nautical themes.
In even more bad news, local media executive Linda Pizzuti Henry is backing out of her investment in Boston Unity Soccer Partners, the ownership group behind the 2026 NWSL expansion club in Boston, which she announced in an Instagram post. Henry is the CEO of Boston Globe Media, the entity which runs the Boston Globe, Boston.com, and Stat News. She co-owns Boston Globe Media with her husband John Henry, the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group which has controlling stakes in the Boston Red Sox (Major League Baseball), Liverpool FC, and the Pittsburgh Penguins (National Hockey League).
Linda Henry explained that she had always intended to be a limited investor when the group started and now “just wants to be a fan.” Other minority shareholders after Linda Henry’s departure include Olympic gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, actress Elizabeth Banks, and Boston Celtics (National Basketball Association and reigning world champions) president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his wife Tracy.
Denver
The NWSL’s Denver franchise announced plans to build a 14,500-seat soccer stadium in central Denver which is expected to open in the spring of 2028. Their temporary home will be announced soon. The project will include a 3.5-acre recreational park and future mixed-use development. The stadium will be located near Broadway and Interstate 25, known as Santa Fe Yards, adjacent to the Broadway Station light rail stop.
Denver NWSL controlling owner Rob Cohen described the project as one of the “largest overall investment in a women’s professional sports team in history” and the 14-acre redevelopment “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to leverage this massive private investment to revitalize and transform Santa Fe Yards.”
Denver’s group has set a record as the first NWSL team in league history to surpass 5,000 season ticket deposits in just three days after sales opened, with 5,280 tickets.
At press time, reports stated that the suburban community of Centennial, Colorado will be the home of the team’s headquarters, training facility and their temporary home stadium until the new stadium in completed in 2028, seating 15,000 for NWSL games and then turning into a 4,000 permanent stadium. The expansion NWSL team would work with the Cherry Creek Board of Education, who could contribute tens of millions of dollars, with the rest of the financing coming from the team.
The site would have two natural grass soccer files and an artificial turf field that could be used for training, along with “at least” four additional turf fields for the school district’s use. The site would be across the street from the NFL’s Denver Bronco’s training complex. The city of Centennial owns the 43-acre undeveloped property and would lease sections out to the team and school district for nominal fees. The city bought the land from the U.S. Postal Service in 2011 for $3.3 million dollars.
Reportedly, the school district would contribute $15 million from their successful bond measure to build the training fields and share-use fields, while the district and the team would split the design, construction and development costs for the stadium, which is estimated to cost $20 million to $25 million. The team will be largely responsible for maintaining and operating the fields for 20 years, sharing the revenues with the school district. According to public documents, the NWSL team will donate $100,000 to the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation. The district will also receive 500 free tickets per season. The team will donate team merchandise and equipment for district fund-raising events, and it will make staff and players available for student opportunities.
AFC Women’s Champions League Quarterfinals
Earlier this month we previewed the AFC Women’s Champions League Quarterfinals with projections (see: The Week in Women's Football: Challenge Cup; USL best vs NWSL; Cordova in Belize - TribalFootball.com). In the first games on March 22, 2025, there was one upset and one game that held form. In an absolutely stirring match in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, the host side came back from a 3-0 half time deficit to Abu Dhabi Country Club of the United Arab Emirates to win 5-4, with the help of an Abu Dhabi own goal in the 90th minute for the winner.
Ghanaian midfielder Eugenia Tettah (22) scored Abu Dhabi CC’s third goal just before the half-time break and then added a goal in the 74th minute to give the UAE club a 4-2 lead, but the Vietnamese side came back to score three goals in the last 14 minutes—one from Vietnam full international midfielder Bao Chau Tran Nguyen (33) in the 76th minute and Vietnamese youth international forward Hong Nhung Ngo Thi (24) in the 83rd minute, both of which were fantastic long range blasts from well outside of the penalty box past the goalkeeper—before Al Zaabi’s late own goal gave Ho Chi Minh City the win. We did expect a close game: our projection was a 2-2 tie with the UAE side advancing 4-2 on penalties. This was a fantastic match with nine goals in regulation time and a huge credit to both teams as well as a fine advertisement for the tournament.
Incheon Red Angels of Korea Republic defeated the visiting side Bam Khatoon of Iran 1-0 on a goal nine minutes from time by Korea Republic youth international midfielder Myeong-Jin Kim (22). Bam Khatoon did very well throughout this expanded club tournament (this column had projected that they would lose 6-1) and Iran’s women’s football is growing rapidly, including at the national team level, with some team members playing professionally in Armenia as we discussed last year; we look forward to seeing Bam Khatoon in future regional and full confederation tournaments.
On March 23, Melbourne City got an early start as Marian Speckmaier (27), a Venezuelan international who grew up in the U.S., gave City a fourth minute lead at AAMI Park in Melbourne. Defender Pie-jung Li (24), who plays internationally for Chinese Taipei, put through her own net in the 43rd minute to double City’s lead to 2-0 at halftime. Australian international forward Holly McNamara (22) scored from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute for the final goal of the game for a 3-0 win. This column had projected an 8-0 win for Melbourne City.
Taichung Blue Whale is building an International Football Sports and Leisure Park (TIFSLP) which the men’s and women’s teams hope will help the sport overtake baseball as the most popular sport in the country. Taichung women’s head coach Lu Kuei-hua, who formerly coached Chinese Taipei’s WNT, said that the stadium should: “help us to attract more players and possibly international ones.” The TIFSLP facility is estimated to cost $48 million and will include an 11-a-side artificial turf, two five-a-side files, a 6,000 capacity stadium with a grass field along with underground parking and public transportation links.
Also, on March 23, in another quarterfinals upset, Wuhan Jiangda of China advanced to the semifinals on penalties (6-5 after eight rounds) over Japan’s Urawa Reds after a 0-0 deadlock in 120 minutes. Substitute Wuhan keeper Chen Chen (31) saved two Urawa Reds attempts in the shootout after coming on in the 120th minute just for the penalty kicks, replacing Xuan Ding (36), a full Chinese international goalkeeper. This column projected Urawa Reds winning 4-2 in 90 minutes.
On May 20, Incheon Red Angels will face Melbourne City and Wuhan Jiangda will face Ho Chi Minh City in the one game semifinals. We will suspend projections at this time as any of the four teams could triumph, particularly Ho Chi Minh City with their fantastic goal scorers, but if Melbourne City can get past Incheon, they will be favored.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey