USWNT roster spotlights European club stars as Press calls it a career

They’ll pass you by, glory days…

Trinity Rodman, European club stars headline USWNT roster drop

The USWNT is getting the band back together, as manager Emma Hayes dropped her first 26-player roster since June this morning ahead of October’s three international friendlies.

• The team’s European-based players are stepping back into the spotlight, after Hayes chose to rest stars Lindsey Heaps, Lily Yohannes, Emily Fox, Phallon Tullis-Joyce, and Catarina Macario over the summer.

• However, Chelsea defender Naomi Girma will sit this one out, as she continues to recover from a calf injury that’s sidelined her from club play.

• The roster also highlights the return of favorites Trinity Rodman, Rose Lavelle, and Jaedyn Shaw, as well as a first call-up for San Diego Wave defender Kennedy Wesley. (See full roster)

Big picture: As next fall’s 2027 World Cup qualifiers quickly approach, Hayes has begun to narrow her previous developmentally focused roster-building strategy.

• “I think this was the one camp I had to make some really hard decisions, and that’s the place I wanted to be in,” Hayes told reporters this morning. “It’s the build for [World Cup] qualification for next year.”

• With an average age of 24.6, the latest squad does reflect the USWNT’s youth movement, though Lavelle’s comeback boosts the average international experience to 27.3 appearances.

Up next: The USWNT takes on Portugal on October 23rd and 26th, before closing out the international window against New Zealand on October 29th.

USWNT legend Christen Press retires from pro soccer

Two-time World Cup champ Christen Press is hanging up her boots, the Angel City and USWNT star announced today, retiring at the end of this NWSL season to cap an almost two-decade-long celebrated pro and amateur career.

• The 36-year-old ranks ninth on the USWNT’s all-time scoring list with 64 goals over 155 appearances, earning World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019 plus Olympic bronze at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

• However, a 2022 ACL tear saw Press sidelined, with the Stanford alum undergoing four surgeries over two years before returning to ACFC in 2024.

Building a legacy: Press became the LA expansion side’s first official signing in 2021, going on to make 37 appearances for her hometown team after stints with the Chicago Red Stars, Utah Royals, and the WSL’s Manchester United, among other teams.

• Her impact also extended beyond the pitch, finding success alongside her wife and ex-USWNT teammate Tobin Heath in the lifestyle brand RE—INC and its “The RE—CAP Show” podcast.

• “I’m retiring from professional soccer and I’ve decided that this is my last season and my last few games,” Press told Good Morning America. “I thought I would wait until I didn’t want to play anymore, but I realized… that time is never going to come.” (Watch full clip)

Bittersweet farewell: “I feel a mix of everything,” she continued. “Yes, there’s relief, there’s joy, there’s excitement, there’s fear, there’s so much grief. I have so much grief, a part of me, a piece of me, I’m losing her.”

UConn tops AP Poll’s preseason NCAA rankings

Fresh off the program’s 12th national championship, UConn will tip off the 2025/26 season as the top-ranked team on this week’s AP Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Poll.

• It marks the Huskies’ first No. 1 preseason ranking since 2017, as returning starters like forward Sarah Strong and guard Azzi Fudd prepare to defend their NCAA title.

• All of last year’s Final Four teams enter the season on a high note, with 2025 runners-up South Carolina ranking second, UCLA third, and Texas fourth. (See full results)

Biggest movers: Not every ranked team’s lineup remained unchanged, as No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 18 USC saw expectations dip as they manage significant player turnover.

• USC will be without star guard JuJu Watkins for the entirety of the upcoming season, as the 20-year-old continues to rehab an ACL tear.

• Notre Dame lost standouts Sonia Citron and Maddy Westbelt to the WNBA, as the Irish plan to re-center their approach around guard Hannah Hidalgo after celebrated point guard Olivia Miles transferred to TCU.

Good pressure: “Hopefully it’s a little bit of a confidence builder,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of his team’s results. “I’m happy for them… You tend to finish the year where you’re predicted, so I like being in this position.”

Incoming WNBA team Portland Fire leaks head coach hire

2026 WNBA expansion side Portland sprung a leak this week, prematurely introducing Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Alex Sarama as the team’s inaugural head coach on LinkedIn yesterday, before pulling the post.

• The news followed the Fire’s official announcement that WNBA veteran Ashley Battle will join the team as VP of basketball operations.

• Front Office Sports later confirmed Portland is on track to announce Sarama’s hiring in the coming days, though a contract has yet to be finalized.

Big picture: Sarama falls in line with the league’s recent turn to the NBA pipeline, with Phoenix bringing on head coach Nate Tibbetts from the Orlando Magic, Las Vegas tapping Becky Hammon from the San Antonio Spurs, and Hammon herself hiring now-Golden State boss Natalie Nakase from the LA Clippers.

• Sarama also has experience with Portland GM Vanja Černivec, after both spent time working for the British Basketball League’s London Lions.

Bottom line: While the rollout might have come early, Portland now has their basketball staff in place as the WNBA enters an uncertain offseason dictated by tense CBA negotiations.

SC boss Dawn Staley says the NBA isn’t ready for women coaches

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley isn’t sure about the NBA, telling media this week that she doesn’t see the men’s pro league hiring a woman coach any time soon, after taking an interview with the New York Knicks earlier this year.

• “No, I don’t,” the 55-year-old responded, asked if she thought there’d be a woman NBA coach in her lifetime. “And I hope I’m wrong.”

• “If the Knicks have a five-game losing streak, it’s not going to be about the losing streak, it’s going to be about being a female coach,” she explained. “So you as an organization, a franchise, you have to be prepared for and strong enough to ignore those types of instances when you’re going to look to hire a female coach.” (Watch full clip)

Big picture: Staley asserted earlier this year that she would have considered the Knicks job had it been offered to her, after also interviewing with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021.

• “If there is somebody that is interested in knowing and interested in being the first female NBA coach, I’ve got all the information," she added.

Chelsea hunts UWCL bounceback against Paris FC

UEFA Women’s Champions League action returns today, kicking off another week of league-phase play as WSL titans Chelsea search for their first UWCL win of the season.

• The Blues settled for a 1-1 draw with FC Twente last week, despite outshooting the Dutch club 20-9 while holding 65% of possession.

• “The most difficult thing in football is to score goals. We need to stay confident and keep trying,” Chelsea head coach Sonia Bompastor said of this afternoon’s clash with French side Paris FC. “Sometimes, when you’re able to be clinical, you kill the opposition’s hope a bit sooner.”

Tune in: Chelsea hosts Paris FC in London today at 3 PM ET, live on Paramount+.

Quote of the day

Kelley O’Hara
giving notes on the Las Vegas Aces’ locker room celebration on Sports Are Fun.