Dear readers, thank you for allowing me the chance to share something different with you all last week. Vulnerability is scary, but I felt like someone had to say the words. Thank you for your overwhelming support for myself and for Fearless SC. I truly like so much of what we’re doing here, and your support means the world. This week, it’s back to the business of football. For the first time since the NWSL restarted, we had more wins than draws during a match day. The chaos is back from a record-breaking weekend. Let’s get into it.
It’s baseball night in the NWSL
Credit: San Francisco Chronicle
On Saturday, Bay FC hosted the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants, to a record crowd of 40,091. This broke the previous record set last season by the Chicago (Red) Stars in a match against Bay FC.
The match itself started off poorly for the struggling home side, as they went down by three goals, including a wonderful goal from Croix Bethune and an own goal that led to the third goal. Bay FC fought back with goals by Rachel Kundananji and Kelli Hubly and had a game tying chance in the dying moments, which induced a wonderful save from Aubrey Kingsbury.
Despite the results, the match met the moment and was entertaining for all involved. Trinity Rodman got the start, and the Washington Spirit seem to be healthy for the first time all season and will be a tough out for any team they face. Bay continues to try and find goals in the absence of Penelope Hocking, and their shutdown defense from the last half of the season has started to bend more in 2025.
Both teams still have time to decide their postseason fate, with DC chasing a home match and Bay chasing a playoff spot, but they can both be proud to be part of a larger moment for the game.
The youth of a nation
THE GOAL. THE CELLY. THAT’S ALYSSA THOMPSON 😤
The start and end of the weekend gave us a pair of 1-0 matches that were decided by two young USWNT stars. Alyssa Thompson got back on the score sheet with a lovely individual goal that she scored against Marta. This win was huge for Thompson, and also her team, as they get their first win under new coach Alex Straus, and place themselves firmly back in the playoff race.
At the tail end of the weekend, Racing Louisville played the last of their three (3) match road stretch against the Top 4 teams in the table and got a deciding goal in the second half from their leading goal scorer Emma Sears. They spent the rest of the match defending for their lives, but in an organized way, keeping San Diego narrow and unable to create their chances from the width.
It was a huge three points for Racing, who are now four (4) points clear of Gotham in 7th place. Racing has finished in 9th place every year of their NWSL existence. They are in an all out push to finish above 9th and secure a playoff spot, and that looks more likely with each passing week. They’re doing it without superstars, but they may have one in the making in Sears.
Keep an eye on both teams, and the other teams at the bottom of the table, who are having a solid run of form so far, and are gaining some ground on the teams ahead of them. There’s still a lot of season left, so buckle up and enjoy the ride. Speaking of the bottom of the table and records…
The cardiac Stars
Ludmila scores, she soars! 🤸♀️
— Chicago Stars FC (@chicagostars.com) August 23, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Ludmila has entered the Golden Boot race off the strength of the fastest hattrick in NWSL history. What makes it truly special is that it was a true hattrick. One goal scored with her right foot (her first), one goal scored with her left foot (her second), and one goal scored with her head (her third).
The first goal was scored with Chicago down 2-0, a slight improvement from their three unanswered goals on Monday against the Seattle Reign. They quickly conceded a third goal to North Carolina, thanks to a defensive lapse and the fancy finishing of Jaedyn Shaw, but the Stars are the scrappy team of old that refuses to say die. They are unbeaten in four, and although they have all been draws, it has shown the fight of this team and their desire to play for Ella Masar and one another.
Chicago still has many needs, and they will now be without Shea Groom for the rest of the season, as she suffered a broken leg and discovered blood clots in the process, but they are unlikely to be a boring side. They’re playing with house money and a fighting spirit, and that is a hard three (3) points for any opponent on a given day. Maybe the trick for Chicago is the start all matches as if they’re down two or three goals. They seem to find their focus with their backs against the wall, but it would be nice to see them play a complete game with that energy. It’s a building process, but a tip of the cap to them.
Place ball on forehead, break record
Credit: NWSL
It feels like the record for all-time NWSL assists has been stuck at 31 for several seasons now. Sofia Huerta was tied with now retired Jessica McDonald, out on maternity leave Vanessa DiBernardo, and now teammate Lynn Biyendolo for the record, despite spending the last half of last season on loan at Lyon. On Sunday evening, Huerta finally separated herself from the pack with career assist 32, on a perfect ball into the box, that landed on Jordyn Huitema’s head perfectly, as she headed past Jane Campbell to tie the match 1-1.
It was far from Seattle’s best match, a common refrain for the Pacific Northwest team since the restart of the season (they have just one win in that time), but they managed to secure a point against a Dash side that is unbeaten since the restart with two wins and two draws. They played their most complete match of the season, but they underperformed their xG this match, while previously outperforming it, and could not snag yet another last-minute goal to get all three (3) points. They have a favorable stretch the next few matches, but their end of season run of games is brutal, so they’ll need to get as many points as possible now.
As for Seattle, they still have the entire top of the table to play, including Orlando away on decision day, but it remains to be seen how long they will wait to deploy Biyendolo and new signing Mia Fishel at the same time. It’s one of the most anticipated pairings in the league, and Seattle could use the goals. For now, we wait for another week to see if it finally happens.
A magician arrives, a superstar falls
Bienvenida a Orlando ✨
The Orlando Pride have signed Mexican forward Jacquie Ovalle to a world-record deal through 2027, with a mutual option for 2028.
READ MORE: https://t.co/4jcWiHmngN pic.twitter.com/302FKwres6
— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) August 21, 2025
It’s been a rough ten (10) days or so for Orlando. They were the other team in the debacle in Kansas City, thwarting a much anticipated, marquee matchup that ended in a 0-0 draw, with both teams just hoping to get out of town with their health in tact. Unfortunately for Orlando, they did not get their wish.
Barbra Banda went down early in the match against Kansas City, but returned to the bench, which made us all hopeful that it wasn’t a serious injury. It turns out, she suffered a painful, season ending injury that most of us had never heard of until this past weekend. The reigning finals MVP and Ballon d’Or finalist has an injury that is listed as “a full thickness avulsion of her right adductor longus tendon.” If you’re wondering what exactly this means, it basically means the tendon inside her hip area popped like the release of a pressure cooker.
It’s not a common injury, it’s not an injury that happens to footballers, and it is not an injury caused by the wear and tear of playing a topflight sport. We cannot make a causation or correlation here, but I bet in the not so quiet rooms, the Orlando Pride would attribute this injury, in part, to the lack of warmup time last Saturday. It is a devastating blow to the defending champions, and Banda’s absence was noticeable against Angel City, with Orlando unable to stretch a defense with Banda’s threat in behind.
This is also devastating because this should have been a time of joy for the Pride. Orlando made history last week with a record-breaking transfer for 25-year-old Mexican winger Lizbeth Ovalle of Tigres. The left winger, whose nickname is La Maga, or The Magician in English, is one of the most exciting attacking players in the world, and has spent her entire professional career in Monterrey, until now. She was supposed to come on and be the complimentary piece to Banda, a role that Orlando hasn’t filled since the departure of Adriana in the winter. Now, the goal scoring will fall to Ovalle while she adjusts to a new league and style of play.
Much has been made of the dollar amount attached to her transfer, with shows of pride (no pun) from the Mexican players, fans, and media, and some skepticism from those outside of it. Only time will tell the true value of the move, but it is a bold and loud statement from an organization that’s not content with resting on its laurels.
Well, that’s all for this week Fearless readers. Let’s hope the next match day brings us some more drama and entertainment. We have matches on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of next week, so be sure to get your fill. And, until then, go outside and touch every blade of grass.
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Sylvia Bullock is 1/2 of Shea Butter FC and the world’s foremost Christen Press and Crystal Dunn truther. She’ll be covering the NWSL every week for Fearless SC. You can find her on BlueSky at Southern Sylvs.
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