No stranger to a trophy lift, 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Lindsey Horan helped Olympique Lyon capture the 2022-23 Coupe de France Féminine on Saturday, playing 65 minutes in Lyon’s 2-1 win over rivals Paris Saint-Germain in the final. The victory marked the 10th French Cup all-time for Lyon, the most by any club in the history of the competition. OL is in prime contention to add another trophy as the European season nears its end, currently holding a three-point lead over PSG in France’s Division 1 Féminine with just two match days remaining. Lyon can clinch the title outright when the teams meet on Sunday in Paris.
While Olympique Lyon are league leaders in France, their NWSL-affiliate – OL Reign – fell to second in the league standings following a 1-0 defeat to the North Carolina Courage on Sunday afternoon. Goalkeeper Casey Murphy and defender Emily Fox helped the Courage to their third clean sheet of the season and handed the Reign their first loss since the opening weekend of the season.
With the Reign loss on Sunday, Washington Spirit are the new league leaders and extended their unbeaten start to the 2023 season in thrilling fashion with a 1-0 victory over Angel City FC on Saturday night in Los Angeles. Scoreless through regulation, the Spirit were awarded a penalty kick in second-half stoppage time after an Angel City defender was ruled to have committed a handball in the box. Ashley Hatch confidently converted the game-winning penalty kick for Washington, netting her league-leading fifth goal of the season. Hatch, who won the NWSL Golden Boot in 2021, has scored three of her five goals this season from the penalty spot.
Unbeaten through seven games this season (4 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses) the Spirit are off to the best start to a season in club history and have now won three straight across all competitions, including a 4-2 midweek victory against the Orlando Pride in the Challenge Cup. After coming on as a late substitute, Ashley Sanchez scored off a brilliant chip from 25-yards out in second-half stoppage time to add the finishing touch on the Spirit’s offensive outpouring. It was Sanchez’s first goal of the 2023 Challenge Cup and second goal of the year for the Spirit across all competitions.
The reigning NWSL Champion Portland Thorns also entered the weekend unbeaten on the season, but saw their streak come to an end on Friday night following a come-from-behind victory by the Houston Dash. Playing on the road, Portland took the lead in the 34th minute, but a pair of unanswered second-half goals by Houston and two apparent Thorns’ goals waived off for offside, secured the 2-1 victory for the Dash.
San Diego Wave FC returned to the win column on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over the Kansas City Current in front of a crowd of 12,969 at Children’s Mercy Park, which set a home attendance record for the Current. Despite the home supporters, the Wave grabbed the momentum early and opened the scoring in the 26th minute. While officially credited as an own goal, Alex Morgan blasted a low strike from the right side which hit off the post and ricocheted off the back of KC ‘keeper Adrianna Franch and into the back of the net. San Diego doubled its advantage in the 44th and get stymied the Current in the second half to secure the road victory.
Racing Louisville FC registered its first victory of the 2023 regular season, defeating the Chicago Red Stars 3-0 on Friday evening at Lynn Family Stadium. Alyssa Naeher made her 150th regular season appearance for the Red Stars – the most by any goalkeeper in NWSL history – and became just the second goalkeeper in league history to eclipse 500 saves.
The lone draw of the weekend came on Sunday afternoon as NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Orlando Pride played to a 0-0 tie at Red Bull Arena. Gotham moved to third in the league standings with 13 points in seven matches to open the regular season (4 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses).
Broadcast information on upcoming matches featuring U.S. Women’s National Team players can be found below. All times listed are ET.
| Wednesday, May 17 | ||
| NWSL Challenge Cup: Racing Louisville FC vs. Kansas City Current | 7:30 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Saturday, May 20 | ||
| NWSL: North Carolina Courage vs. Angel City FC | 7:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| NWSL: Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit | 7:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| NWSL: Kansas City Current vs. Racing Louisville FC | 8:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| NWSL: Houston Dash vs. San Diego Wave FC | 8:30 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| Sunday, May 21 | ||
| D1 Féminine: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Olympique Lyon | 3:00 p.m. | Ata Football |
| NWSL: Portland Thorns FC vs. Chicago Red Stars | 5:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |
| NWSL: OL Reign vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC | 6:00 p.m. | Paramount+ |