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Cut your bangs, it’s chaos season. Emily Olsen here with Tamerra Griffin, Melanie Anzidei and Meg Linehan — welcome to Full Time!
What Is Going On?
Never question the chaos
If the NWSL was a person, it’d be that one friend who finds joy in keeping the people around them on their toes. Tease them for being too afraid to cut their hair, and their next Instagram post will be a selfie from a barber’s chair, holding a tube of semi-permanent dye. You know the kind.
This weekend the NWSL saw the hand-wringing — some of it on the latest “Full Time” podcast, to be fair — about the crystallizing of an Elite Four and the other eight teams being left to the spots beneath them, and shrugged, “Say less.” Our bad!
- Gotham FC had a roller-coaster week, which included a 4-1 spanking by the Portland Thorns on Tuesday night, followed by a vengeful 3-0 dub over the Washington Spirit on Saturday afternoon.
- Angel City FC had a revival, nearly beating Orlando Pride a week after a 4-0 loss to Gotham. The reigning league champion Pride were about 20 minutes away from their second consecutive loss of the season before Marta redirected the tides and Carson Pickett went beast mode to lift the team to a thrilling 3-2 victory. Not a crumb of popcorn was left at the bottom of the bowl after that one.
- In Portland yesterday, just when it appeared that Racing Louisville was set to head home with a coveted road victory, the Thorns poked back. Rookie defender Jayden Perry converted her second penalty of the week to bring the home team level with Racing at 3-3 in the waning minutes of stoppage time. This match was brimming with goals and officiating controversy, and on the whole, the weekend was a humble reminder to everyone who dared question the chaos quotient in this league: The limit does not exist.
However, the chaos wasn’t limited to the top of the table.
After a winless start to the season, the North Carolina Courage finally found themselves with the biggest statement win possible, beating the formerly undefeated Kansas City Current 3-2 at WakeMed on Saturday evening. Courage defenders Ryan Williams and Kaleigh Kurtz scored the first two, and Ashley Sanchez, who’s been relatively quiet so far this season, got the go-ahead.
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🔮 Someone who saw it coming all along, head coach Sean Nahas, joined the “Full Time Focus” podcast on Friday. You can listen to the full interview here.
Goalkeeper throw-ins should count for something
Gotham scored three unanswered goals for all three points against the Washington Spirit on Saturday. But as the skies opened up and the rain poured down, the Spirit got at least one positive stat: most goalkeeper throw-ins.
In fact, Aubrey Kingsbury just became the first NWSL goalkeeper to take a throw-in since May 12, 2023 (Alyssa Naeher).
— Jeff Rueter (@jeffrueter.bsky.social) April 26, 2025 at 11:53 AM
That counts for something, right? Even if it’s only a less-than-ideal consolation for the loss and the red card to head coach Jonatan Giráldez in the final moments of the match.
Meg’s Corner: Rivalries need time even if entertaining doesn’t
Beyond our collective enjoyment from this weekend’s NWSL action, there was a helpful reminder that this league loves to buck off tidy narratives.
If you didn’t watch Friday night’s match between the Orlando Pride and Angel City FC, it’d be easy to assign a couple of quick takes about that final result. Orlando’s still good; Angel City with yet another collapse.
Both of those things are true on the surface, but barely sum up that wild 90-minute ride, plus the all-important stoppage time. Angel City had Orlando on the ropes for a while, making last year’s seemingly invincible team look all too human. The Pride had to find some reserve they had never needed to tap for the comeback victory, led by — who else — Marta and Barbra Banda. Angel City’s had too many games end like that, but Friday night will be a different level of hurt, one a new coach can harness to better the young core.
The league desperately wants rivalries to be one of the main stories driving attention as the front office works to build star power (see: Spirit vs. Gotham, a good game but certainly not in the top three for entertainment this weekend alone). Outside of Portland and Seattle, however, everything else needs real time and history to develop. Fortunately, this weekend proved that what’s happening naturally on the field is providing the spark in the meantime.
Kylie Graham / Imagn Images
Need to Know
NWSL applies to add a new league
The NWSL has submitted application paperwork to U.S. Soccer for sanctioning of a potential Division II league, theoretically starting in 2026. Commissioner Jessica Berman wrote in the application that having a Division II league was “essential for the development and sustainability” of the NWSL. There are some details in the document:
- Eight teams to start with proposed markets
- Every NWSL team would have a DII side by 2030
- The lower-division teams would use the NWSL’s existing training facility and stadium infrastructure
While it’s an interesting proposal, there’s a lot more that we don’t know. That includes if this league will even start by 2026. And not all of the teams listed in the proposal were on board before the information was submitted. Some of the pushback centered on the price of operating a second team.
As Jeff wrote today in his column, filling in the second division on the U.S. women’s soccer pyramid is a good thing for the game, there are just big existential questions right now about how that pyramid should be built. Jeff called it “a conundrum of U.S. Soccer’s own creation by opening the landscape like a marketplace instead of working to ensure a coherent structure.”
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Expect more on these big questions in Wednesday’s episode of “Full Time.”
Americans headed to Champions League final
Barcelona and Arsenal will meet in the Champions League final on May 24. Yesterday’s dramatic semifinals saw both teams topple their opponents in dominating fashion.
The championship game will also feature two USWNT defenders, with Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger both members of Arsenal’s backline. Both previously played in the NWSL, with Fox signing with the English club in 2024 and Nighswonger joining after her exit from Gotham FC this past offseason.
Barcelona outscored Chelsea 4-1 for a second time, bringing the aggregate score over the two matches to a shameful eight goals to two for the Blues. Meanwhile, Arsenal stunned Lyon, an eight-time UWCL champion, taking advantage of the French side’s poor defending and picking up on the early momentum from an own goal just five minutes in.
Arsenal’s legendary performance earned them a return to the UWCL final for the first time in 18 years. They’ll be up against a dominant Barcelona team, a three-time champion that has featured in the last four finals.
‘Life-changing’ treatments help freeze time
Seattle defender Lauren Barnes remembers the process of freezing her eggs well. The 35-year-old took advantage of her team’s partnership with a local clinic last year, but said it took six months for her to feel like herself again.
Barnes isn’t alone. Asli Pelit spoke to players who are taking advantage of fertility treatment options in NWSL that didn’t exist even five years ago.
But it’s not just about freezing eggs — it’s about trying to freeze time, to buy a chance in the game, on the pitch and off.
What to Watch
📺 Birmingham City vs. London City Lionesses
Sunday at 9 a.m. ET on YouTube
Who doesn’t love a winner-takes-all finale? The lone spot for promotion to the Women’s Super League in England comes down to a single match. Will Michele Kang’s investment in London City make the difference or will Birmingham City finally claw its way back to the top?
Full Time First Looks
Vested interest: Two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup winner Lauren Holiday has joined the ownership group of North Carolina Courage. Previously an investor in Angel City, Holiday is said to be taking a hands-on approach to Courage ownership. Along with husband, Jrue, the Holiday Family Trust will hold a main stake in North Carolina going forward.
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Foot in the door: A new partnership between IDA Sports and the USL Players Association will give every player in the USL Super League access to cleats specifically designed for women’s feet. Even cooler, the players will have a chance to give direct feedback and input on future designs. Research has suggested a link between improper footwear and ACL injuries, which makes this hopefully a revolutionary move.
Lonely milestones: Jacqui Oatley, who was a frequent voice on NWSL games last year, was the first woman to commentate on England’s Match of the Day program 18 years ago. She started that week thinking her biggest challenge would be adapting to the nuances of TV commentary, then came the stomach-drop moment when she realized she had become the story. Oatley recently reflected on the milestone and the isolation that followed.
📫 Love Full Time? These stories can also be found on Yahoo’s women’s sports hub, in partnership with The Athletic. Also, check out our other newsletters.
(Top photo: Jared Bundick / Imagn Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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