2025 NWSL season: Athletes who are leading the charge, with impact on and off of the field

Ally Watt already has one goal in the 2025 NWSL season, coming in a 6-0 onslaught the Orlando Pride brought on Chicago in the season opener. She started, building off of a season in which she came on strong down the stretch and finished with three goals and one assist.

With each season in the NWSL, Watt is improving her play, and she provided three postseason assists en route to the Pride winning the NWSL championship in 2024. With her speed and defensive work rate, Watt provides value on the wing and as a backup to Barbra Banda at striker.

If Orlando wants to look to repeat this season what they did last year, Watt will need to continue her steady improvements and truly establish herself as one of the team’s best players.

“To score more goals, just have the confidence in the box,” Watt told INDIVISA of what she’s done in the offseason to increase her output. “And just be hungry. I think that’s what we’ve as the Pride have been, is putting in our minds we’re always going to stay hungry. So I need to have that mindset to be a hunter in the box.”

Commanding one of the highest-paid transfer fees ever, Racheal Kundananji is one of Bay FC’s top players alongside Asisat Oshoala, with the duo leading the front line. With her four assists and five goals, Kundananji led Bay last year.

But five goals on 81 shots is a low percentage, and Kundananji wants to be more efficient with her finishing this year.

"I feel like I missed a lot of chances. This year, I won't promise anything, but just watch out,” the forward told ESPN.

After making the playoffs in their first NWSL season, Bay FC will look to continue to contend in the postseason. Kundananji will be a key player. She finished 2024 in fine form, scoring twice and adding two assists in her team’s final three regular season games en route to the playoffs. Look for that only to build in her second NWSL season.

With Mallory Swanson unavailable to start the season, Ally Schlegel will be a key player for Chicago this season. Last year she had six non-penalty goals, tying Swanson for the most on the Stars, and her 13 chances were good for second-most.

Her 0.49 goals per 90, meanwhile, was good for third on the team. She excels in clearing the ball and had 3.67 aerials won per 90 last season, making her particularly useful in the midfield, and her being a threat in the attack helps open up options for Chicago’s front line.

In her third NWSL season, Schlegel will take on an even bigger role. She totaled just 19 shots last season, including eight shots on target. Scoring seven goals on those shots made her one of the team’s most efficient players. She also completed 261 of 387 passes, right up there with Swanson for percentage.

Michelle Alozie is a player who can do it all, on and off the field. She made headlines in recent years for spending her time researching pediatric cancer when not on a soccer pitch. But when she is playing, she’s one of Houston’s more dynamic stars.

Alozie excels at carrying the ball forward, having completed 67.9 percent of her passes last year, and her defensive abilities as a forward and defender make her one of the team’s better players when it comes to interceptions and recovering the ball.

Her versatility will allow her to open up gameplay more for Houston in 2025, which will be a year of growth after the team finished last in 2024.

Tyler Lussi has emerged in the last two seasons as a solid goalscorer for the North Carolina Courage. In 2023, she had six goals in 20 appearances. Last season it was, four goals while adding two assists. The former NWSL champion knows what it takes to win.

As North Carolina looks to claim its first title in six years, they’ll rely on her experience. She has some help, with Jaedyn Shaw and Ashley Sanchez both playing to Lussi’s strengths.

An expert at reading the game and helping her teams advance up the field, Lussi can give time to both Shaw and Sanchez to find space to score. Her assists this season should only go upward, but look for her to score just as much as she contributes with her dribbling and passing.

After missing the back half of last season with a torn ACL, Alex Pfeiffer is making her way back for Kansas City and looking to build on what was a solid rookie season.

She scored in her NWSL debut against Portland, becoming the youngest goalscorer in NWSL history. Pfeiffer is a bright young talent who signed with the club at 15 years old. She currently is on the injury list, although that designation could change as she continues to recover.

Angel City’s young phenom had a rough start to the 2024 season, failing to score before the Olympic break. But in the team’s first game back after, she netted a brace against San Diego. Thompson finished the season with five goals and recorded seven assists, which was second in the league behind standout rookie Croix Bethune.

Her 12 total goals and assists put her seventh in the league. Even when not at her best, Thompson was still among the top players in the league. Her confidence on the ball has grown, with Thompson attempting nearly twice as many take-ons in 2024 (86 vs. 46 in her rookie season).

She finished the 2024 season strong, earning her way back onto the U.S. women’s national team. In Angel City’s season opener against San Diego, she scored the team’s lone goal, getting 2025 off to a rolling start.

One of the best rookies in the league last season and the Royals’ Offensive Player of the Year, 2024 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Ally Sentnor was a bright spot for a Utah Royals team that struggled to find its footing.

But with an entire offseason under a new head coach, and more experience under her belt having spent time with the USWNT, Sentnor will have an even bigger role on this team this season. With the arrival of Cloé Lacasse and Mina Tanaka, Utah improved their game.

Sentnor finished with three goals and four assists in her rookie season, and her confidence on the ball has only grown during her time with Emma Hayes and the USWNT. The Royals will be looking for more consistency from Sentnor in 2025 as the team looks to make a run at the playoffs.

Another player in the NWSL’s youth movement, Melanie Barcenas was just 16 years old when she scored her first pro goal. A midfielder with slick ball skills, Barcenas has gone viral more than once for her moves.

But for Barcenas, this year will be about stepping up on a Wave team that has gone through a roster upheaval in the past year, losing Alex Morgan, Jaedyn Shaw and Naomi Girma while bringing in new coach Jonas Eidevall.

Many are looking at Barcenas to be one of the future players in the USWNT midfield. This year will be a big one in her development as she can look to carve out more of a role – and potentially a starting spot – with San Diego. Barcenas told the San Diego Union-Tribune that she feels she’s grown into a more confident player from her rookie season.

“Growing the confidence - as I get older, naturally, you just get more confidence," she said. "Implementing that into my play, which is being more dynamic, getting into tackles more, winning more duels offensively and defensively.

“Having a bigger voice. Even though I am on the younger side, I am on the side of the team that’s been here the longest. So, stepping up off the field as well. Helping my team any way I can, whether that’s at midfield or wing.”

Signed by Seattle last August at 17 years old, Jordyn Bugg stepped onto the field and was immediately a contributor at the team’s starting center back spot. She also has international experience, helping the U.S. U20 World Cup team to bronze last fall.

Despite her age, Bugg proved capable of rising to the challenge, halting the attacking play of players such as Barbra Banda, who was second in the league in scoring last year. She’s also a great passer, with an 84 percent accuracy. She could improve on her long balls, however, having just nine accurate long balls last season. But when she does connect on those cross-field chances with the front line, it’s a thing of beauty.

Coach Laura Harvey is looking to further establish Bugg’s leadership qualities in addition to what she brings physically.

"She's developing really well," Harvey said during the Coachella Valley Invitational. "I think the next layer for her is recognizing that she's who she is now within the team, taking responsibility of that, communicating to people around her.

"She's still young, but she's got a lot of exposure now to who we are and what we want to try and do. So we want to try and build on her leadership qualities and push her a little bit more on that stuff, because on the field she's great."

The 2024 NWSL Rookie of the Year had a record-breaking season, matching Tobin Heath’s assist record with 10 on the year. And despite going down with a season-ending injury in September and missing the final nine matches of the season, she finished the year atop the league in assists.

Her debut earned her a spot on the USWNT Olympic roster, whereupon she made an appearance in the group stage and won gold with the squad.

In total, Bethune had 15 goal contributions in 17 matches for Washington last season, adding five goals to her tally. For a Spirit team that is looking to not only return to the NWSL championship, but win it, having Bethune back is a key component.

Her abilities as a midfielder are unmatched, particularly when it comes to her long ball accuracy (56 percent) and cross accuracy (38.1 percent).

Emma Sears is another former rookie standout who is looking to continue her success into the 2025 season with Racing Louisville. Her five goals tied for the most on her team last season alongside Savannah DeMelo and Uchenna Kanu, and her six total goal contributions put her first for Racing.

Sears excels in transition sequences due to her speed and dribbling ability, helping her generate chances for her team. It’s part of what earned her her first USWNT call-ups toward the end of last year. And already she’s gotten on the scoresheet, notching Racing’s first goal of the season in their 1-1 draw with North Carolina.

After finishing last season just outside of the playoffs, Racing will be looking to make its first playoff appearance since joining the league in 2021 - and look for Sears to be a big part of that push.

Nealy Martin is lauded by Gotham fans, having served as an emergency goalkeeper in the 2023 NWSL championship - the club’s first. She built on her first year with the club in 2024, leading the team with 44 interceptions, which was 21 more than the next-highest player for Gotham and set a career high. Starting in 22 of 25 games, she is increasingly more important for Gotham.

After a career-best season that featured a passing accuracy of 82.8 percent and 35 tackles, Martin will be needed even more following the departure of several key players in the offseason.

Gotham finished last season in third place in the NWSL standings and will be looking to once again get back in contention for a championship. Martin’s ceiling is high, and she’ll be one of the key players for a new-look Gotham team this season.

One of Portland’s best and brightest players, Sophia Wilson will be watching from the sidelines this season as Portland looks to make its way back into contention. Wilson announced her pregnancy ahead of the start of the regular season. Under the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, players are entitled to six months of fully paid maternity leave.

"We are overjoyed to share that @sophsssmith and her husband Michael are expecting their first child!," Portland wrote in a post on X. "The Thorns are proud to support her through this incredible new chapter."

Wilson has been invaluable to Portland. She put up 12 goals last year - more than double that of any other player on the Thorns - and six assists last year, as well as 94 shots, 45 of which were on target. Her long ball accuracy is also among the best of the best, with Wilson creating 32 chances for her team to score.