The National Women’s Soccer League resumed regular season play this weekend following the Olympic break, with many Olympians from across the globe – including several players from the gold medal-winning U.S. Women’s National Team - returning to action for their respective clubs.
The action kicked off on Friday evening in Houston with the league-leading Orlando Pride taking on the Houston Dash. The Pride picked up right where they left off heading into the Olympic break, downing the Dash 1-0 to improve to 12W-0L-5D on the season. The only remaining team in the NWSL which has yet to lose a match this season, the Pride are now unbeaten in 18 consecutive regular season games dating back to the end of 2023, setting a new league record. Defender Emily Sams, an alternate for the USWNT at Paris 2024, played the full 90 minutes at center back while helping the Pride to their league-leading eighth shutout of the season. Fellow Olympic alternate Jane Campbell made seven saves for Houston in the defeat.
Action then continued out west with Utah Royals FC earning its third win of the season with a 2-1 victory over visiting Bay FC. Utah is now unbeaten in its last three matches and took a 2-0 lead by the hour mark before the visitors from Northern California pulled one back late.
Defending champions NJ/NY Gotham FC kicked off the Saturday slate with a 2-0 victory over Portland Thorns FC, becoming the fourth team to reach double-digit wins this season. Gold medalists Jenna Nighswonger and Emily Sonnett started the match for Gotham and saw their side jump out to an early lead, scoring just seven minutes into the game. Rose Lavelle and Tierna Davidson came on for Gotham early in the second half and quickly made their contributions felt as Lavelle tallied her first assist of the season in the 70th minute, setting up a goal by Yasmine Ryan to give the Gotham a 2-0 advantage.
On the west coast, Angel City FC prevailed 2-1 over San Diego Wave FC in a clash between the Southern California clubs. Alyssa Thompson scored her first goals of the 2024 campaign, which was the first brace of her professional career, tallying in the 20th and 29th minutes to give Angel City a 2-0 advantage.
Abby Dahlkemper scored from the Wave late in second-half stoppage time for her first goal of the season.
Racing Louisville snapped a five-game winless streak with a 3-1 win over the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday evening at Lynn Family Stadium. Tied 1-1 in the 60th minute, Louisville struck twice in the first half-hour to earn its fourth victory of the season. Alyssa Naeher made four saves for the Red Stars in her first action since a standout performance against Brazil in the gold medal match in Paris.
The Washington Spirit surged into second place in the league standings with a 4-1 win over the third-place Kansas City Current on Sunday afternoon at Audi Field. The Spirit opened the scoring in the ninth minute and doubled their lead in the 14th as midfielder and Olympic alternate Croix Bethune tallied her league-leading ninth assist of the season, picking out forward Ouleymata Sarr for the score.
Trinity Rodman – one third of the USWNT’s energizing “Triple Espresso” attack that excelled at the Olympics – continued her scoring form for club, scoring her sixth goal of the season with a left-footed strike to the upper corner in the 51st minute.
The Current cut the deficit to two with a goal in the 64th but Colombian international Leicy Santos tallied in the 74th to round out the scoring for Washington. Gold medal-winning defender Casey Krueger and alternate Hal Hershfelt also featured for the Spirit in the victory.
Seattle Reign FC capped off the weekend action with a 1-0 win over the North Carolina Courage on Sunday night in Seattle. The Reign beat Casey Murphy for the game’s only goal on a header from U.S. Under-20 Women’s World Cup team forward Emeri Adames deep into second-half stoppage time for their first regular season win since early May.
Broadcast information on more upcoming matches featuring U.S. Women’s National Team players can be found below. All times listed are ET.
| Friday, August 30 | ||
|---|---|---|
| NWSL: Portland Thorns FC vs. Bay FC | 10:00 p.m. | Prime Video |
| Saturday, August 31 | ||
| NWSL: Racing Louisville FC vs. Seattle Reign FC | 7:30 p.m. | ION |
| NWSL: Houston Dash vs. Utah Royals FC | 9:30 p.m. | ION |
| Sunday, September 1 | ||
| NWSL: North Carolina Courage vs. Kansas City Current | 2:00 p.m. | CBS; Paramount+ |
| NWSL: Angel City FC vs. Chicago Red Stars | 4:00 p.m. | CBS; Paramount+ |
| NWSL: Orlando Pride vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC | 6:00 p.m. | NWSL+ |
| NWSL: San Diego Wave FC vs. Washington Spirit | 8:00 p.m. | NWSL+ |
