NWSL takes a break. Plus: María Sánchez's Tigres return

New York Times

24-06-2025

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Suggesting a Connections: Sports Edition category for my colleague Mark Cooper.
Clues: Attend the Cowboy Carter tour, go to a water park, read a book, watch more soccer
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Category: Things you can do while do while NWSL is on a break
Emily Olsen here with Meg Linehan, Tamerra Griffin and Asli Pelit — welcome to Full Time!
NWSL midseason review
We are officially halfway through the 2025 NWSL season. We've arrived at the summer break, though it's hard to call it that. Here are three key numbers to illustrate where the league stands after 13 action-packed weekends:
Every team has squared off with every other team once, and the reverse matches take place after the league returns to regular-season action on Aug. 1.
In the meantime, several players will depart for national team duty. In addition to the trio of USWNT games that will heavily feature NWSL players this week and next, other players will embark on a month-long chase for a trophy in the European Championship, Women's African Cup of Nations and Copa America Femenina.
Even those who don't get the call for their country won't necessarily be jetting off to the beach. Many NWSL teams have their own friendlies or tournaments during this time. I'm not sure you can call this a 'break,' exactly.
Where everybody knows your name
With all this soccer, we're going to need a place to watch it. Lucky for those in the Bay Area, where the 2025 NWSL Championship will take place, the newest sports bar in the area can guarantee the games will be on. Tamerra went to Rikki's to find out more:
'What's on today?' I asked the bouncer at the entrance to Rikki's, the new women's sports bar that opened in San Francisco on June 11. I knew I'd find what I was looking for, but I wanted to hear her say it.
The Golden State Valkyries had just concluded their 87-63 drubbing of the Connecticut Sun, the bouncer told me while she stamped my wrist with a purple smiley face. 'We're about to put a soccer game on now,' she said of the San Diego Wave-Washington Spirit match. I took my time searching for a table, delighting in the framed jerseys of not only Bay FC and the Valkyries, but the semi-pro Bay Breakers women's rugby team and professional women's ultimate frisbee Bay Area Falcons squad.
The crowd swelled late into the night as people across race and gender spectrums exchanged hugs and shouted over plates of duck confit, dry rub BBQ chicken wings (highly recommend) and signature cocktails inspired by icons like Kristi Yamaguchi and Miss Gaviota, Mexico's first trans lucha libre wrestler.
Rikki's is named after the late Rikki Streicher, a champion of women's sports who ran queer and lesbian bars in San Francisco. What struck me most about the space was how quickly it has transcended its purpose as a gathering place for women's sports to a place for folks to simply gather, with the games playing on its well-placed TVs a normalized and necessary background.
NWSL's leading goal scorer
Esther González may stand just 5 feet 5 inches, but the Spanish striker continues to tower over the NWSL.
She was nearly unstoppable again last weekend, earning Player of the Match honors in Gotham FC's 2-1 win over Bay FC. Now the league's top scorer with 10 goals in 13 games, González has already claimed April's Player of the Month. As Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós put it earlier this season, her soccer IQ is next-level.
A 2023 World Cup winner, she's locked in through 2027 with Gotham as the heartbeat of the team's front line and a nightmare for opponents. Esther is now headed to Switzerland, chasing Euro glory with La Roja.
With the first half of the NWSL season wrapped, the next six weeks should prove a pretty fascinating time for women's soccer in America, even with three major summer tournaments that don't feature the U.S. This, more than the drama of a World Cup, should help reveal the actual state of the game both from a fans' point of view and within an NWSL framework.
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With the USWNT's three friendlies in this FIFA window — including what should be a fun first showdown between U.S. head coach Emma Hayes and Canada's Casey Stoney on the touchline — the NWSL players on the roster are taking center stage while the European kids take a break (aside from Naomi Girma, who asked to be included).
With plenty of competition from the Gold Cup and the Club World Cup on the men's side, if the U.S. women can pull attendance and eyeballs even with inconsequential matches, that will mean something.
The same goes for the three major continental tournaments happening in Europe, South America and Africa. The NWSL was smart enough to take the full month off due to the sheer number of international players involved, but the Euros, in particular, will be a good test of how hungry the American audience is for women's soccer of every kind. Fox is betting big with its presentation, which includes Carli Lloyd in the studio. The network is showing 19 games on the flagship channel and 11 on FS1, with only a single match bumped to FS2. Look how far we've come!
Two challenges await: for the NWSL, it's to insert itself into this summer of soccer despite not playing games, and for the fans, it's to prove the audience is there.
The results may surprise us all.
María Sánchez leaves San Diego
Summer also means player movement. And one player who has seen plenty of changes in the last few years is headed back to her former club.
Forward María Sánchez has left the San Diego Wave to join Liga MX Femenil's Tigres UANL on a four-year deal, her agent confirmed to The Athletic.
The American-born attacker arrived in San Diego last year after requesting a trade away from the Houston Dash. Houston had previously signed Sánchez on a $1.5 million deal, then considered the richest contract in the NWSL. She scored nine goals and recorded seven assists across 40 games with the Wave, an improvement from her time with the Dash, where she totaled eight goals and 14 assists across 62 matches.
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Stadium designs with everyone in mind
As women's sports rise in visibility and popularity, stadium design is finally catching up. Asli has been speaking with architects, designers and industry experts about how stadiums have long excluded the needs of women — down to the size of the seats. Clubs and leagues are now rethinking how these spaces should function more inclusively. Here is Asli's biggest takeaway:
'I spoke with architects Fran Weld from Canopy Team and Rita Ochoa (AFL) who walked me through every small (but impactful) detail: from shower designs to smoothie machines and seats with sightlines that account for shorter heights.
'As Weld put it, leadership means using privilege to create space for others. Mixed-use spaces aren't just good planning, they're good business.
'For design geeks like me, here is the full story.'
International Friendlies
📺 USWNT vs. Ireland
Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, free on TBS, TruTV and Universo
The U.S. faces off in two matches against Ireland this window, the first on Thursday and the second on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. As we've mentioned before, this camp features almost exclusively NWSL players. Prepare for rotation.
Elsewhere, several European nations are gearing up for the Euros with key friendlies. We're keeping an eye on updates out of Spain vs. Japan on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
Making moves: Sánchez isn't the only one on the move: There was a triple change among Michele Kang's teams last week. The Spirit added forward Sofia Cantore from Juventus, who will be the first Italian player in the NWSL. In France, Ingrid Engen joined Lyon from Barcelona, and Netherlands midfielder Danielle van de Donk joined London City Lionesses from Lyon.
Juneteenth celebration: The Black Women's Player Collective doubled down on its core values, using Juneteenth as both a celebration and a call to action across women's soccer. And the work isn't limited to one day. Dash goalkeeper Abby Smith also joined 'Full Time' to talk about what Juneteenth means to her.
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Next in goal: Speaking of the Euros, we've talked a lot about the players left off England's squad, but now we are hearing from the players headed to the tournament. Goalkeeper Hannah Hampton says she will do her best to 'fill the gloves' of the goalkeepers who came before her, including Mary Earps, who announced her retirement from international football last month.
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