This week, we have the results of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Final and Third Place games, with Spain's much acclaimed tournament title coming after their 1-0 win over England as European sides finishing in the top three for the first time in nine events.
We also briefly look at UEFA's Qualifying format for next summer's Women's Olympic Games Final through the new UEFA Women's Nations League. We also review the 2023 WPSL summer season in North American and announce the first five teams for their future WPSL Division III Professional League.
Spain wins their first Women's World Cup title—UEFA finishes 1, 2 and 3 in the final placement.
Championship Final
August 20
Spain 1 vs. England 0
Spain is the champion of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, adding the senior title on August 20 to their current 2022 U-17 and U-20 titles—the first time any nation has done that—after their 1-0 win over England in Australia Stadium in Sydney in front of a crowd of 75,784. Defender Olga Carmona scored the winner in the 29th minute, her second game winning goal in two games and only her third goal in 30 internationals. On the goal, Lucy Bronze of England was stripped of the ball while dribbling from the left side into the middle of the field around the half-way line and Spain quickly countered, switching the ball to the left touchline, with Carmona breaking free on the overlap and then slotting her first time shot low into the far side of the net past Mary Earps in the England goal.
Carmona again played a key role in a the game with about 25 minutes left when she overlapped and dribbled towards the end line on the left side of the box, slipping past Bronze and just catching up to a ball before it went out of touch and flipping it into the middle of the box, where Kiera Walsh was called for a handball by VAR. Jenni Hermoso took the penalty shot in the 69th minute, but Earps read it all the way—even though she seemed to jump off her line before the ball moved—as Hermoso placed it low to her favored right side. In the 13 minutes of second half extra time, Spain controlled play with their brilliant interplay, though they decidedly did not try to burn time by heading for a corner, but kept trying to score a second as England was continually pulled apart. Spain scored 10 goals of their 18 goals in the first half of their seven games and this was a key factor in their first WWC title.
In addition to Carmona, Ona Battle was brilliant in defense the entire game and Aitana Bonmati in midfield was tremendous in finding space and freeing teammates; however, the whole team was in sync and played quite attractive soccer. Bonmati won the Golden Ball as the tournament's MVP while Jennifer Hermoso took the Silver Ball and defender Amanda Ilestedt of Sweden was awarded the Bronze Ball. Salma Paralluelo, who started the final, won the FIFA Best Young Player award for the Tournament. Carmona was named the MVP of the final game. Carmona said after the game, "I think all of us, we felt that this team had something special."
For Carmona (23), when she was a child, she wanted to football after watching her brothers play and loved the game, but her parents tried to steer her into other sports like swimming and tennis and she even tried flamenco dancing, but her parents finally allowed her to play football. Unfortunately, the Real Madrid defender learned that evening, after the game, that her father had passed away. Our prayers are with her and her family at this time.
La Roja head coach Jorge Vilda now has a 75-16-17 (W-D-L) record—whether he continues with the national team or goes elsewhere is a question for the future, with some feeling that Spain won because of his coaching acumen while others think that the players rose to the occasion in spite of his approach to players. For women's football in Spain, this win will continue to drive fan interest in the support, young girls being permitted to play, academy development and systems of play, sponsors to the game, even more imports to the Spanish first and second division leagues and more overall respect.
Spain is now positioned to become this decades' leader in women's football, which previously had been the mantle of the United States. Spain will dictate where the sport goes, along with England—it will be interesting to see if both teams can make the final in a U.S./Mexico hosted 2027 WWC, if the CONCACAF bid is the ultimate winner next year, which we would expect but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Last summer, Spain fell to England 2-1 in a quarterfinal that they led after a 54th minute goal from Esther Gonzalez, until Ella Toone scored with six minutes from time and Georgia Stanway scored the winner to cap the stunning turnaround. I remember Olga Carmona being stunned and in tears after the game—many analysts felt that Spain was talented but needed more experience in big games. A year on, they won their first ever finals tournament knockout matches (four in total) and have a world championship title, the fifth different winner after the U.S., Norway, Germany and Japan.
For England, their fans will be disappointed but they had a fine tournament and the courage they showed in fighting through the tournament—despite missing injured stars Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead—was outstanding and they should continue to build the game in a country that has shown fantastic support since last summer's EUROs. They have a good chance to qualify for next summer's Olympic Games Final through the new UEFA Women's Champions League (see below) and then they have the 2025 EUROS in Switzerland and the 2027 Women's World Cup, with the host nation(s) to be named next Spring—we would expect to see England make the semifinals again, at least, at all three tournaments. We do think that head coach Sarina Wiegman, under contract until 2025, will stay with England, despite a number of media outlets in the States speculating that she will leave to take over the U.S. WNT coaching position, arguing that she would be the best choice to lead the U.S. in the next WWC cycle and want the position, since Vltako Andonovski resigned a few days before the final (see more below).
Third Place Match
August 19
Sweden 2 vs. Australia 0
In a very even game statistically, Sweden won on two goals, the first on a penalty kick goal in the 30th minute by Fridolina Rolfo (29)—who is starting her third season at Women's Champions League title-holders Barcelona, after a move from Wolfsburg in Germany—and a 62nd minute goal from inspirational captain Kosovare Asllani (34) in her second season at Milan. Sweden led in attacking possession (44% vs. 39%) while Australia had a slight lead in shots (13 vs. 11) and were even on shots on goal (5 vs. 5) and also led in corners (3 vs. 0).
Claire Polkinghorne won her record 163rd cap for Australia in Brisbane, where she played for years with Brisbane Roar and is a native of the city, while Courtney Nevin won her first cap as a late substitute. Sweden definitely was the better team in the match and the Mathrildas seemed to run out of steam after a strong and emotional tournament. Australia had only two days rest after their 3-1 semifinal loss to England in Sydney while Sweden had an extra rest day but had to fly from Auckland after their 2-1 defeat to Spain.
Sweden has now made the semifinals of their last five major international tournaments—dating back to the 2016 Olympics (where they finished as runners-up), then finished third in 2019's World Cup in France, finished runners-up again in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021), finished fourth in England's 2022 EUROs (in which no third place match was held) and now third in the 2023 Women's World Cup.
2023 UEFA Women's Nations League/2024 Olympic Games Qualification
In the past, Sweden's top three finish would qualify them to next summer's Olympics, but with France as host and England and Spain in the finals, they would have missed out. Now however, the two finalists will be determined in the inaugural UEFA Women's Nations League A, with sixteen teams divided into four groups:
- Group A: England, Netherlands, Belgium and Scotland
- Group B: France (already qualified as host nation), Norway, Austria and Portugal
- Group C: Germany, Denmark, Iceland and Wales
- Group D: Sweden, Spain, Italy and Switzerland.
The group matches will be played starting in September and ending in December, with the semifinals for the group winners in February of 2024.
Note: England, Scotland and Wales are not individual members of the Olympic Games Organization, but Great Britian has participated in the past when England qualified for 2020 and hosted in 2012.
The Spain and Sweden matches will be eagerly anticipated rematches of their semifinal rousing game in Auckland, with Spain advancing 2-1 on a late Olga Carmona goal.
Sweden never receives the acclaim for their accomplishments on the international stage—particularly for their run in the last five major competitions, but their success has been built on a long-time support structure for women's football, with a very strong national league that has seen some of the top players in the world play in the Damallsvenskan, including top scorers like Brazil's Marta, Germany's Anna Mittag and the Netherland's Manon Melis. They have now captured third place in four of nine World Cups, and also finished runners-up to Germany in 2023.
If this was Kosovare Asllani's last major tournament, she will be missed. She played in the U.S. in the WPS, brought to the country by now Chelsea coach Emma Hayes when she was 21 for her first stint abroad with the Chicago Red Stars. She has played at home and for some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Manchester City, Paris St. Germain, Real Madrid and now AC Milan. She has been integral to all of those five consecutive semifinal appearances. She has 176 caps and 45 goals for Sweden. She was left off of the 2011 Finals team by then head coach Thomas Dennerby, a decision questioned by many including then U.S. and later Swedish WNT head coach Pia Sundhage, but she was a pillar to Sweden's last three WWC sides.
For Australia, they have finished fourth in their second consecutive tournament (though the Olympic Games Finals is only 12 teams versus the 32 in this edition of the Women's World Cup). Australia fell to Sweden 1-0 in the Olympic Games semifinal two years ago. They should be very proud of their tournament and how they have absolutely captivated the hearts of an entire country. The A-League Women competition—which we have covered extensively since year one in 2008-09—should be very interesting with now 12 teams and an expanded schedule of games. The league has certainly been a producer of local talent (Cortnee Vine purposely stayed at home and did not move abroad in the past; she scored the crucial penalty to send Australia past France in an epic quarterfinal) but will the league be able to attract top players from Europe, or more regionally in Asia and Oceania?
For FIFA, this co-hosted World Cup always depended on Australia's fans to support it to be successful, particularly with some questions as to how New Zealand would do once they were eliminated—poor weather affected some games there as well—but Australia delivered, in large part backed by support and then the wonderful run of their team, even though they were hindered by Sam Kerr's calf injury that kept her out of the group stage games.
Other WWC News
On August 17, Vlatko Andonovski resigned as U.S. women's national team head coach, which was not unexpected after the U.S. lost to Sweden in the Round of 16 and just made the knockout stage after a nail-biting 0-0 draw with Portugal, their lowest placing tournament ever. The next day, U.S. Soccer's WNT general Manager Kate Markgraf, a WWC winner in 1999, resigned as well; the former WWC winner in 1999 was the primary driver of hiring Andonovski after two-time World Cup winning coach Jill Ellis retired following the 2019 championship.
Current assistant coach Twila Kilgore was named as interim head coach and will be in charge for two friendlies against South Africa in September, at least. Kilgore (formerly Kaufman) served as an U.S. WNT assistant coach for the past year and a half. She worked as the head coach at University of California-Davis in Northern California from 2015-19 and as assistant at the Houston Dash from 2019 to 2021 before joining the USWNT program, where she has worked with the U-19s and U-23s. In 2021, she became the first American-born woman to earn U.S. Soccer's Pro Coaching License.
Matt Crocker (48), a native of Wales, has taken over this month as U.S. Soccer's sporting director and will be primarily responsible for delivering the next head coach through the vetting and interviewing process. He leaves Southampton in England where he was in charge of the head of football operations for the past four years, after spending seven years at the English FA as the head of youth teams. He also has had development/academy coaching positions in the past at Southampton and Cardiff City.
Some overhyped U.S. press speculation—even going into lobbying in some cases, justifying it by Crocker's links with the FA—is positioning for Sarina Wiegman to leave England for 'the best coaching job in the world. We commented on this after the U.S. was eliminated from the tournament: (see: The Week in Women's Football: World Cup finals review; What now for USA?; NWSL expansion - Tribal Football). Sarina Wiegman said last week: "I have a contract until 2025. I'm really enjoying my job and I have the impression that people still like me doing the job. I have no plans to leave."
Some of the speculation is driven because she played in the U.S. for one season at the University of Carolina-Chapel Hill, with a team that won the national title with U.S. WWC winners and legends Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Shannon Higgins and Carla Overbeck. The FA also weighed in on the subject, via FA chief executive Mark Bullingham commenting: "From our side, she's someone we'd like to have with us for a very long time." She is under contract through 2025 and the FA has said that they would not permit the U.S. to talk with her.
We still think Laura Harvey of OL Reign is the favorite for the position, with Jamaica's Lorne Donaldson and Nigeria's Randy Waldrum expected to interview, as both are based in America and have long been youth/professional/national youth team coaches. Any of the three would be a good selection and have the background in the American game (more than one season as a college player) to understand and impact the sport as it is currently in America. Tony Gustavsson, who was with the U.S. through three WWC cycles under Pia Sundhage and Jill Ellis, is well respected in the U.S. and could be a candidate too, though he turned down the job in 2019.
2023 WPSL Review
This week we continue with our look at the three summer amateur leagues in North America, which still are key developers of professional talent for the U.S. and other nations, with a prime example being a late call-up for Portugal's WWC side while she was playing for the Cleveland Ambassadors this summer. Last week we reviewed the W League and UWS: (see: The Week in Women's Football: World Cup review; Kaufman on Tennessee SC & Super League hopes; USL, UWS check - Tribal Football).
The Charlotte Eagles won the 2023 WPSL championship with a 1-0 win over Salvo SC of Woodbury, Minnesota—just east of the state capital of St. Paul—from a 91st-minute goal by Kelly Flanders (Appalachian State U.) at Neal Patterson Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma on July 23. It was both clubs' first trip to the WPSL Championship match. But the Eagles, in their fifth season in the WPSL, were a powerhouse in the old W-League for 16 seasons from 2000 through 2015—winning the league championship in 2001 after losing in the final in 2000 and they also made the national semifinals in 2006 and 2014.
Taylor Suarez of Charlotte (Florida State University commit and a U.S. youth international), along with Salvo forward Khyah Harper (University of Minnesota), shared the game's Most Outstanding Player award presented after the match. Charlotte defender Kristy Campbell (UNC-Charlotte) was named the game's Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Ayden Gagner, a high school junior goalkeeper, was key for Salvo's run to the Championship Final with six consecutive clean sheets.
The day before, Charlotte advanced from the Semifinal to play Salvo for the Jerry Zanelli Cup thanks to an 88th minute goal by Taylor Suarez in the Eagles' 1-0 win over the Rhode Island Rogues.
Salvo SC won their semifinal 2-0 over SC del Sol of Phoenix with Katelyn Beulke (who came up through their youth teams) and Khyah Harper scoring for the Central Region Champions. Meredith Haakenson (University of Michigan) did most of the work on the winning goal, racing for thirty yards and then feinted del Sol center back Carly Dobratz (ex-Washington State University), who impeded Sol goalkeeper Ayana Yapo (Auburn University), giving Buelke the space for an easy goal.
SC del Sol of Phoenix, Arizona bested reigning WPSL champions California Storm in the regional playoffs the week before. The two sides met in last year's West Regional Semifinals as Desert and PAC North Conference winners, with the Storm winning 1-0, who then went onto win their record fourth WPSL championship. Mat Evans, SC del Sol head coach said: "We learned a lot from that game last year. We knew we could compete with the best team in the league. It just came down to getting back to face them again."
The fact that the sites of regional tournaments rotate from each of the four conference winners each year also worked in del Sol's favor this year as they hosted the other West Regional champions: Westside Metros FC (Northwest), California Storm (PAC North), and SoCal Reds FC (SO CAL). Phoenix had record temperatures in July, even exceeding 115 degrees Fahrenheit during the two days of the regionals so the semifinals were staged simultaneously at 8 am on adjacent fields, with the final the next day, also starting at 8 am. The del Sol certainly had the advantage of dealing with that extreme heat, as Evans said: "That gave us a bit of an advantage going in. We know what playing in the heat is like. We start training at 6:45 in the morning because of the heat. We're used to it."
Phoenix del Sol faced unbeaten SoCal Reds FC in the semifinals, who came off a 3-0 win over the San Diego Surf in the conference championship match, with Phoenix winning 3-0. In the other semifinal, the Storm defeated Westside Metros FC from Beaverton, (suburban Portland) Oregon 1-0. In the West Final, del Sol defeated the Storm 1-0. Lieske Carleer's (Arizona State University and Netherlands youth international), scored a long-range goal in the 64th minute to send the del Sol to the WPSL Championship Semifinals for the first time in the club's 13-year WPSL history. Evans said: "We had a bit of a deeper team going in than we did when we played them [California Storm] last year in San Francisco. I think that was the difference this year, our depth. Because of our depth and experience, we were able to adjust tactically a little better against them this year."
To get back to the regional semifinals this year, del Sol had to survive a very competitive Desert Conference. Going 6-0-2 (W-D-L) on the season, they needed two 1-0 wins in a 24-hour span to clinch its second consecutive Desert Conference title. First, in del Sol's home finale, Tatum Thomason's (University of Washington) 56th-minute goal knocked long-time rival FC Tucson from contention. Sitting atop the conference table with 15 points, all del Sol needed was a draw against Arizona Arsenal SC (East Suburban Phoenix) in both clubs' final match of the regular season to repeat as champions. However, an Arsenal win would level the two clubs with 15 points apiece and force a series of tiebreakers to determine the Desert Conference winner. Sami Fisher (starting this fall at the University of Florida) put del Sol up in the 20th minute, and the defense held firm the rest of the way, with two of their three shutouts coming in their final two regular season matches.
This season's SO CAL Conference winners, SoCal Reds FC (9-0-2), based in Irvine and in their first season in the WPSL, went 8-2-0 (W-D-L) to win the division and then defeated Plymouth Division winners San Diego Surf (7-0-1), 3-0 in the SO CAL Conference final, with goals by Megan Chelf (Arizona University), Megan McCashland (who played four seasons at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and a fifth year at USC in Los Angeles), and Skylar Cano (Southern Utah University), to hand the nationally ranked Surf (a club with a rich youth soccer history)—that only conceded one goal leading up to the match—its first loss of the season. Over the course of Coastal Division play, the SoCal Reds averaged 3.3 goals per game, leading the division with 33 goals scored and conceding seven to average less than a goal against per game. Erin Healey (Gonzaga University) led the Reds in scoring with five goals and two assists on the season, followed by Emile Castagna (UC-Irvine) and Ginna Christiansen (University of Arizona) with four. A total of 14 players scored for the Reds over the course of the season.
In the Central Regional semifinals, Salvo beat FC Milwaukee Torrent in penalty kicks (7-6) after playing to a 0-0 draw in extra time, before upsetting nationally number-one-ranked Colorado Rapids Women 2-0 in the Regional Final. The Rapids Women knocked Salvo SC out of the WPSL Playoffs a year ago. Ayden Gagner flawlessly took over in goal for Payton Cahill (Wake Forest University) after she suffered an injury earlier this season; she had posted 5 shutouts in June alone. Salvo SC General Manager Matthew Cross said: "She [Cahill] has been a critical player in the success of the team this season and has helped pave the way for a younger player to step into her role and shine."
In attack, Salvo's leading scorer was two-time WPSL All-Conference selection Khyah Harper (University of Minnesota), who had 12 goals and six assists in 2023, including both goals in the win over Colorado, which sent them to the national semifinals. This is Salvo Soccer Club's fourth season in the WPSL, and after posting a 6-3-2 (W-D-L) mark in its debut season in 2019, Salvo went 5-1-2 in 2021 and 8-0-1 a year ago. The club was undefeated with an 8-0-2 record going into Stillwater after dominating its Northern Conference schedule and their pair of wins in the regional playoffs. During the regular season, five of its six wins were shutouts, including clean-sheet wins over St. Croix Soccer Club, Joy AC, Mankato United, Manitou FC, and Rochester United FC.
Rhode Island Rouges, as did the champion Charlotte Eagles (see below), finished second in their conference before knocking out the team who finished above them in the regional playoff finals. Founded in 2018 by soccer player and owner Shannen Kennawi, the Rogues are an independent team in every sense of the word. Not only is it not part of a larger youth club infrastructure, the players don't pay any dues to compete with the Rogues. For Kennawi, it's not the reason for the WPSL side's existence, saying: "We're simply here because we love the sport."
She played soccer and softball in college and brought a WPSL franchise back to the state. They finished in the bottom half of their conference in 2018 and 2019, but after the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID, the team improved on the field, finishing among the top three in its conference over the past three seasons, with its 2023 second-place finish the best in club history. In 2021 and 2022, the Rouges finished in third place. This season, Rhode Island (6-3-1) finished ahead of rival Vermont Fusion (4-3-3) in the regular season, although the Rogues had never beaten Vermont in league play, tying this season 2-2 on the road.
Clarkstown Soccer Club surprised the conference by going undefeated with an 8-2-0 record, leaping both sides to pick up an automatic spot in the 2023 WPSL Playoffs. For Kennawi and the Rogues, who had never made a playoff round, it had one last chance to make the playoffs via a wildcard matchup for the final spot in the East Region. Rhode Island needed one win to make club history, and it came against the Fusion, with a third minute goal by 21-year-old Jaydah Bedoya (University of West Virginia, who grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts and was capped by Ecuador's senior national team in 2022; she previously played at the University of Connecticut). Kennawi said after the match: "I was completely speechless. To even say we made it to playoffs, I was crying, a hot mess. I was saying, 'since day one, I'm just so proud of you to make it this far.'"
In the regional playoffs, Rhode Island defeated Reading United A.C (Pennsylvania) 3-1 from the Mid-Atlantic Conference. They then had to play another in-conference foe in Clarkstown Soccer Club, who Rhode Island finished behind in the Northeastern Conference. In the 56' minute, forward Katelyn Vieira (Massachusetts-Lowell) gave Rhode Island the lead. Clarkstown equalized in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with a goal from forward Kelly Brady (Ole Miss U.) As extra time loomed, Kennawi was planning on coming in—she still practices with the team to stay in shape but doesn't play often. In the 93' minute, Rhode Island won a corner and defender Rebecca Lancaster (Louisiana Tech U.) volleyed the set piece as it deflected off the Clarkstown defense. Lancaster followed through on the bouncing live ball to head it into the net to keep the miraculous playoff run alive. The Rouges had a tremendous season, even with their semifinal loss to the Charlotte Eagles.
Women's Premier Soccer League
Semifinals:
Charlotte Eagles 1 Rhode Island Rogues 0
Salvo SC 2 SC del Sol 0.
Final:
Charlotte Eagles 1 Salvo SC 0.
Regional Playoffs
East
Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 8
Fever SC 0 Reading United 1
NY Athletic Club 0 SUSA FC 2
Semifinals
Saturday, July 15
*Clarkstown Soccer Club 4 SUSA FC 0
Reading United A.C. 1 Rhode Island Rogues 3
Final
Sunday, July 16
Clarkstown Soccer Club 1 Rhode Island Rogues 2
Central
Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 8
FC Milwaukee Torrent 3 Columbus Eagles 2
Colorado Rapids Women 5 Utah Avalanche 1
Semifinals
Saturday, July 15
Colorado Rapids Women 1 KC Courage 0
*FC Milwaukee Torrent 0 Salvo SC 0 (6-7 on penalty kicks)
Final
Sunday, July 16
Colorado Rapids Women 0 Salvo SC 2
South
Semifinals
Saturday, July 15
Nashville Rhythm FC 1 AHFC Royals 0
FC Prime 0 vs Charlotte Eagles 1
Final
Sunday, July 16
Nashville Rhythm 4 Charlotte Eagles 5
West
Quarterfinals
Saturday, July 8
Fusion SC 2 FC Prime 4
SoCal Reds 3 San Diego Surf 0
Semifinals
Saturday, July 15
*SC del Sol 3 SoCal Reds FC 0
California Storm 1 Westside Metros FC 0
Final
Sunday, July 16
SC del Sol 1 California Storm 0
Elsewhere in the league, the Nashville Rhythm finished the regular season undefeated with a 7-1-0 record and their third consecutive regular season conference title, with seven players on their roster from Japan. Yuki Watari, who recently graduated from the University of Tennessee Southern—where she was a NAIA All-American First team selection after scoring almost a goal a game—led Nashville with 11 goals and three assists and hopes to play professionally. As a Brazilian and Japanese national, Watari competed for Japan's youth national teams initially but ultimately, at 16, decided to commit with Brazil.
The other players hailing from Japan have all played for or currently are with college programs across the country: Yuna Hazekawa (Salt Lake Community College), Seika Ikezoe (Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia), Miku Kayama (Snow College in Utah), Keilani Mcnaabb (Rollins College in Florida), Yukino Wakatsuki (New York University) and Kaoru Hayashi (Robert Morris University in Pennsylvania).
Rhythm head coach Scott Davidson, who also coaches the women's team at Cumberland University, believes in a possession-based style of football that is popular in Japan, explaining: "We want to attack, we want to be creative, and, you know, it just so happened that a lot of the players [that fit our style] are from Japan, and then we have a great core from America— players from all over. We also want players that are going to come in and enjoy it and be a part of a team and support each other away from the game as well."
Kayama, Hazekawa, and Ikezoe played together in high school in Sendai, Japan, so their time together in Nashville was also a reunion of former teammates. They all transferred to Cumberland University for this fall season to again play for Davidson.
In 2022, Keito Ido (Tennessee-Southern), led the team and the conference in scoring with nine goals and three assists and is from Tokyo. In 2021, Nashville's Kyoka Koshihima (Keiser University in Florida), from Kanazawa City, Japan, earned Offensive Player of the Year honors for the Southeast Conference.
Nashville fell to ultimate WPSL champions Charlotte 5-4 in the South Region Final. An earlier 1-0 loss on July 1 to the Rhythm left Charlotte second in the Southeast Conference but they earned a wildcard spot to make the playoffs after a 3-2 win over WFC of Charlotte. The Eagles ended the regular season with 17 points, scoring 31 goals with only five goals conceded. In the rematch, Charlotte was down 4-1 approaching halftime in the rematch against the Rhythm, after scoring the opening goal in the first few minutes of the game.
The Eagles were in a similar position last season after going down 4-0 at halftime against AHFC Royals in the South Region semifinal before ending its season with a 5-1 defeat. The second half was tremendous as the Eagles scored four goals of their own to advance to the national semifinals. The Eagles were led by Alexandra Jennings (George Mason U. grad), Morgan Leyble (UNC-Wilmington grad), and captain Emmi Dunn (Lenoir-Rhyne grad), who provided experience, while players like Laura Zemberyova (UAB), Chloe Marr (Liberty University), Briana Myers (Liberty University), Faith Adams (Lipscomb University), and Taylor Bryan (Virginia Tech) were also key contributors. Following the South Region playoffs, Jennings, Dunn, and Adams were named to the All-South Region team.
Elsewhere, for the Cleveland Ambassadors on June 27, Portuguese midfielder Maria Alagoa—who plays at Florida State University—scored in the 86th minute to tie their regular season match with Beadling Soccer Club in Pennsylvania. After the game she learned that she was called into the Portuguese 2023 Women's World Cup side.
Alagoa was a late cut for the initial 23 player roster, but replaced injured substitute midfielder Joana Martins (Sporting CP in Portugal). Portugal tied the U.S. in their first round group who had defender Naomi Girma and forward Sophia Smith—both former Ambassador players—who joined with now Chelsea midfielder Catarina Macario when the faith-based side tied Liverpool of the WSL 2-2 in 2019.
At the end of July, the Women's Premier Soccer League announced its first-annual All-National Team selection from the final four (including their college and year in college or year of their last season if they graduated:
Alex Jennings—F—Charlotte Eagles—George Mason University, 2017
Khyah Harper--F--Salvo SC—University of Minnesota, Sophomore
Ashton Armstrong—M—Rhode Island Rogues—Gordon College, 2020
Emily Heslin—M—Salvo SC—University of Minnesota, 2020
Emmi Dunn—M—Charlotte Eagles—Lenoir Rhyne, 2015
Londyn Lovell-M—SC del Sol—Santa Clara, Freshman
Meredith Haakenson—M—Salvo SC—University of Michigan, 2022
Sophia Fisher—M—SC del Sol—University of Notre Dame, Junior
Kelly Flanders—D—Charlotte Eagles—Appalachian State, 2018
Morgan Leyble—D—Charlotte Eagles—UNC-Wilmington, 2016
Jessica Kasacek—GK—Rhode Island Rogues—University of Maine, Senior
WPSL names first five teams for their Division III Professional League, which does not yet have a start date
On August 22, the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) announced five initial clubs that have signed LOIs [Letters of Intent] to advance the development of the WPSL PRO: Oklahoma City FC, Sioux Falls City FC (South Dakota) SouthStar FC (Dallas/Forth Worth), Austin Rise FC, and The Town FC (Northern California Bay Area).
In a press release, the league stated: "In initiating at the D-III level of professional play, the WPSL PRO sees a tremendous opportunity to fill in the gap between the large base of women's amateur and pre-professional soccer clubs and the top tiers of pro play."
We will continue to track this effort as well as other Division I, II and III league efforts in North America, as we have for the last few years.
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 Twitter: @TimGrainey
