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In this week\u2019s women\u2019s soccer news, Morgan Weaver made her return to the field; Jordyn Huitema suffered a season-ending injury; Laura Harvey made NWSL history; and more!<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a long time coming for Morgan Weaver, but she was able to make her return to the field for the Portland Thorns this weekend against Gotham. It had been 622 days since she made an appearance for the Thorns, but that changed when she came on as a substitute. It\u2019s been a long and difficult road for the forward who last played in November 2024. She suffered a knee injury during the 2025 preseason and then faced many setbacks and complications in her recovery that kept her out for a long time. It\u2019s huge news for Portland as they go into the final stretch of the 2026 season. Since joining the Thorns as the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, she has made 105 appearances and scored 25 goals.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this week there were some really significant injuries. The Chicago Stars announced that forward Jordyn Huitema will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL that she suffered in their match against Angel City. It\u2019s a huge blow for Chicago as they just acquired Huitema at the beginning of the season and she has scored four goals on the season. For Huitema, though, this injury unfortunately will make it very difficult for her to make the Women\u2019s World Cup squad for Canada next summer. It won\u2019t be impossible, but she\u2019ll be on a tight timeline trying to get back in time for the tournament.<\/p>\n
Emily Sonnett also suffered a suspected knee injury in Gotham\u2019s 2-2 draw with the Portland Thorns. Sonnett was stretchered off the field, and the only update given so far is that she would be evaluated when the club got back to New Jersey. Sonnett has been a huge part of Gotham\u2019s success, and similar to Huitema, if this is an ACL injury, the timeline for the World Cup will be very tight. We\u2019re hoping for the best for Sonnett, but the injury didn\u2019t look good.<\/p>\n
\nChicago Stars FC forward Jordyn Huitema has been placed on the NWSL season-ending-injury list after suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left leg. Huitema will undergo surgery and begin her recovery process.<\/p>\n
Huitema sustained the injury during the\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Aflf566Ydr<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Chicago Stars FC (@theChicagoStars) July 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
News of the Week<\/h2>\n
League history was made by a couple of NWSL head coaches this weekend. Laura Harvey became the first coach to secure 100 league wins with the same club. Harvey is in her second stint with Seattle; the first was between 2013-17. When she left the Reign the first time, she spent time coaching the United States U-20 and U-23 teams. As well as a brief time coaching the Utah Royals. In 2021, she came back to the Reign and has been with the club since. In a league where there\u2019s a lot of turnover, it\u2019s neat to see a coach get to such a milestone with one club.<\/p>\n
Adri\u00e1n Gonzalez also made history when the Washington Spirit got their 1-0 win over the Denver Summit. The Spirit head coach became the fastest coach to reach 25 wins. He took over as head coach of the Spirit last June.<\/p>\n
\n\nIn a league of her own \ud83d\udc51<\/p>\n
With today\u2019s win, Laura Harvey becomes the first head coach in league history to reach 100 wins with a single club. Congratulations, @LH1505<\/a>! \ud83d\udc4f pic.twitter.com\/4gHxmslDBz<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Seattle Reign FC (@reignfc) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Player of the Week<\/h2>\n
Katie Atkinson came up with a huge performance for the Chicago Stars, and while they did lose the match, her performance was outstanding, and she was able to keep Chicago in the game. It wasn\u2019t until the 88th minute that the Orlando Pride were able to get a goal past her. The goalkeeper made an incredible 10 saves and was able to save a penalty kick attempt by Marta. Chicago has struggled this season, but in this game they stayed in it and showed a lot of fight.<\/p>\n
Goal of the Week<\/h2>\n
How Renee Lyles was able to make this goal is hard to wrap your head around but it was a beautiful shot in Portland\u2019s 2-2 draw against Gotham. The goal started with a long ball from the backline to get the Thorns into the opponent\u2019s half of the field and then another long ball to send Lyles down the right side. She was able to \u00a0chip the ball from the far corner of the box over Ann-Katrin Berger\u2019s head and into the left side of the net. It was a wonder goal that the rookie will remember forever; it also happened to be her first professional goal.<\/p>\n
Team of the Week\u200b<\/h2>\n
The Utah Royals found the back of the net four times in their win over the North Carolina Courage. It was the highest-scoring match in their club history, and the four goals all came from different goalscorers. Kate Del Fave got the scoring started early on in the 6th minute, and then Tatumn Milazzo was able to add one towards the end of the second half to double their lead. Then in the 65th minute, Mina Tanaka scored and to cap it off Cloe Lacasse converted a penalty kick in stoppage time. It was a complete team win for this Utah team that has looked really good this season. Right now they sit in third place in the standings with 30 points. Utah will head back home to take on the league-leading Washington Spirit in a big clash with a chance to inch higher up the leaderboard.<\/p>\n
Upset of the Week<\/h2>\n
The Seattle Reign got another big win this weekend, this time against the San Diego Wave with a 2-0 scoreline. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey came up huge for the Reign with nine saves to secure the clean sheet. Seattle got two goals within three minutes thanks to Maddie Mercado and Jordyn Bugg. The win slips the Reign into 10th place with 20 points, but they have some work to do as the season comes to an end if they want to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Win of the Week<\/h2>\n
The Boston Legacy got a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Current for their third win in four games. The expansion club seems to have found their footing in recent games. A\u00efssata Traor\u00e9 scored the game-winner for the Legacy in this one; the goal came in the 18th minute. Casey Murphy and the backline were able to get a clean sheet against a pretty impressive Kansas City offense that has 23 goals on the season. For the Current, they\u2019ve lost two of their last three games. For Boston, getting a win against a team that has done very well in recent years is big for team morale, and it shows them that they are finding their identity.<\/p>\n
Social Media Post of the Week<\/h2>\n
If you\u2019re a fan of books and their show adaptations, you\u2019ll see an NWSL mention during \u2018The Five -Star Weekend\u2019 with an Angel City storyline in the show. The show stars Angel City investor Jennifer Garner, and it\u2019s really cool that she was able to combine both worlds and get the team included in the show. The show came out on July 9th, and it\u2019s streaming on Peacock.<\/p>\n
\n\nAngel City investor Jennifer Garner\u2019s new series \u2018The Five-Star Weekend\u2019 features a fictional Angel City plotline \ud83d\udcfa\ud83e\udebd<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcf8: jennifer.garner pic.twitter.com\/EM5h9Ho0yp<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 The Women\u2019s Game (@WomensGameMIB) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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