In this week’s women’s soccer news, the Washington Spirit won the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup; Yuki Nagasato announced her retirement ; Sabrina Ionescu joins the Bay FC ownership; and more!
High of the Week
The Washington Spirit are the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup Champions. It was a good game that came down to a penalty kick shootout, but the Spirit won over the Orlando Pride.
Orlando got on the board first with a beautifully taken shot from Rafaelle. The Pride earned a free kick just outside the box. Marta took the kick but it bounced off the Spirit wall directly to Rafaelle who sent the ball flying into the side of the net. In the 72nd minute, the Spirit leveled the game thanks to a goal by Leicy Santos off a beautifully taken free kick. With it level after 90 minutes the match went straight to penalty kicks to decide the winner. The Pride missed two penalties with one off-target and one saved by Aubrey Kingsbury. Washington made all of their kicks with Tara McKeown hammering home the winner.
It is the Spirit’s first Challenge Cup trophy. The Challenge Cup began in 2020 and five different teams have won it; Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage twice, Portland Thorns, San Diego Wave, and now the Washington Spirit.
Confetti showers and trophy lifts 🙌 🎊 pic.twitter.com/NsEtTOY5qf
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 8, 2025
Low of the Week
This week Yuki Nagasato announced her retirement from the game. Nagasato began her professional career in 2001 and has played for many club teams including Chelsea, Wolfsburg, and Frankfurt before coming to the NWSL. In the NWSL she played for the Chicago Red Stars, Racing Louisville, and the Houston Dash. She’s got a long list of accolades at the club level including two Bundesliga titles (2010 and 2011) and the UEFA Champions League in 2010. At the international level, Nagasato represented Japan for 12 years making 132 appearances and scoring 58 goals. With Japan, she helped them win the Women’s World Cup in 2011 and a silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
In 2020, Nagasato made history as the first woman to play for Hayabusa Eleven a men’s club in her hometown of Atsugi City, Japan. She played with her brother at the club on loan and made five appearances.
Nagasato goes down as a legend of the game and we’ll miss seeing her on the field.
The game will miss you, Yuki 🧡 pic.twitter.com/JrDOTSg1nR
— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) March 3, 2025
News of the Week
The women’s soccer world got good news this week when Sophia Wilson (nee Smith) announced her pregnancy. Wilson recently got married to her husband Michael Wilson who is a wide receiver in the NFL. We’ll have to wait awhile to see Wilson back on the field but it’s an exciting new chapter for her. Congratulations Sophia!
Baby Wilson on the way! Congratulations to Sophia and Mike on THE BEST NEWS ❤️🍼
(via Sophia Wilson/IG) pic.twitter.com/YnFeIA8F35
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) March 5, 2025
Win of the Week
Bay FC announced that Sabrina Ionescu has joined their ownership group as an investor and commercial advisor. Ionescu is a Bay Area native and a WNBA superstar. She’s a WNBA Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. Ionescu isn’t the first WNBA star to invest in women’s soccer as Sue Bird joined the ownership group for Gotham FC in 2022. Caitlin Clark also crossed over into the women’s soccer world by joining the bid to bring an NWSL team to Cincinnati.
Love for the Bay#BayFC x #BayAreaUnite pic.twitter.com/fk3C9CBcVp
— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) March 3, 2025
Team of the Week
Liverpool pulled a massive upset this weekend with a 1-0 win over Arsenal to advance to the semi-finals of the Women’s FA Cup. Liverpool caused problems for Arsenal throughout the whole game but were finally able to break through in the 78th minute. Sophie Roman Haug controlled the ball in the box and then struck a half volley that knocked off the post and the back of Arsenal’s goalkeeper Daphne van Domselaar. The goal went down as an own goal for Arsenal but it was the game-winner for Liverpool.
Liverpool will face Chelsea in the semi-final round of the FA Cup on April 12th.
WE’RE INTO THE FA CUP SEMI-FINALS 😍
GET IN!!! pic.twitter.com/pQNzAncGWG
— Liverpool FC Women (@LiverpoolFCW) March 9, 2025
Goal of the Week
One of the best goals of all time was scored this week by Lizbeth Ovalle for Tigres. It’s a goal that everyone should watch multiple times. With a cross sent into the box, Ovalle managed to hit a spinning backheel that arched perfectly into the top corner of the net. We’re not sure how she did it but it was an amazing goal.
📹🤯 Es increíble desde todos los ángulos. pic.twitter.com/xIeJeRnR5U
— Club Tigres Femenil 🐯 (@TigresFemenil) March 4, 2025
Transfer of the Week
The Portland Thorns acquired Kaitlyn Torpey from the San Diego Wave for 10,000 in intra-league fees. Torpey joined the Wave in 2024 and made 14 appearances for the club. The defender has also represented the Australian National Team, making her senior team debut in February 2024. She will likely play a big part for this Portland team that has lost some key defenders like Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelli Hubly.
📰 | We’ve acquired Australian international defender Kaitlyn Torpey from San Diego Wave FC in exchange for $10,000 in intra-league transfer funds.
Welcome to Portland, Kaitlyn! 🌹
More here: https://t.co/74JZC7yFRb pic.twitter.com/0pYZKh8zTz
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) March 5, 2025
What To Look Forward To
The 2025 NWSL regular season starts this week! The season will officially kick off on Friday with the Orlando Pride hosting the Chicago Red Stars at 8 p.m. ET and the Houston Dash hosting the Washington Spirit at 8 p.m. ET as well. The rest of the weekend schedule looks like this:
Saturday
Kansas City Current vs. Portland Thorns at 12:45 p.m. ET
Racing Louisville vs. North Carolina Courage at 5 p.m. ET
Utah Royals vs. Bay FC at 7:30 p.m. ET
Seattle Reign vs. Gotham FC at 10 p.m. ET
Sunday
Angel City FC vs. San Diego Wave at 6:50 p.m. ET
Happy opening week 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ylws2OqKdz
— Houston Dash (@HoustonDash) March 9, 2025
GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS
