USL Super League Year 2 Preview
Brooklyn FC
Brooklyn is doing a major overhaul of their team after leading the league in the first half of the season but missed the playoffs after a complete collapse in the spring half of the season. They hired Portuguese national Tomás Tengarrinha as their head coach after a chaotic situation last season. He most recently led SF Damaiense in Lisbon during the 2024–25 season following a top-three finish with SC Braga in the 2023–24 Liga BPI campaign. He previously guided Damaiense to promotion into Portugal’s top flight in 2022 after an undefeated season. He has also held senior roles at Torreense and Amora FC. He is a UEFA A-licensed coach.
Kevin Tenjo, Sporting Director of Brooklyn FC said about Tengarrinha: “Tomás is a modern, forward-thinking coach with a clear style of play and a strong track record of developing players and leading successful teams. He aligns perfectly with our vision of building a high-performing squad that plays entertaining, attack-minded football, engages deeply with the Brooklyn and NYC community, and reflects our shared passion for the game. We believe he’s the ideal leader to guide us into this next phase.” Tengarrinha said: “I’m honored to join Brooklyn FC and contribute to a project that’s committed to excellence on and off the pitch. This club has incredible potential, and I’m excited to lead a group that competes with purpose, elevates its players, and connects with one of the most vibrant communities in the world. I can’t wait to get started.”
In terms of new players, Brooklyn brought in veteran American goalkeeper Kelsey Daughtery (28). She played the last two seasons in Scotland’s Women’s Premier League with Glasgow Celtic, where she made 50 appearances in total. In the 2024-25 season, she had 11 clean sheets and helped the club qualify for the UEFA Women’s Champions League for 2025-26 in a very close race for two spots among the top three Glasgow sides (City, Celtic and Rangers) behind Hibernian of Edinburgh, who shocked everyone to win the title.
Her professional career spans six clubs across five countries. In addition to her time at Celtic, Daugherty played in Norway with Avaldsnes IL, in Sweden with Djurgårdens IF, and in Denmark with Fortuna Hjørring. She has also been with Racing Louisville FC and the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL. Daugherty played collegiate soccer at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 2015 to 2018, starting 69 matches. Daugherty said: “This move feels right. I loved my time overseas and grew a lot as a person and a player, but I am excited to be back in the USA and to be a part of building something special in Brooklyn.”
Midfielder Emma Loving (27) joined BFC from Racing Club de Strasbourg in France, where she made 20 appearances during the 2024/25 season. Before joining Strasbourg, she spent two seasons in Germany with SC Sand, scoring nine goals in 42 appearances. She began her professional career in Sweden with Mallbackens IF. At the collegiate level, Loving played four years at the University of Pennsylvania. She totaled 10 goals and five assists in 44 career matches and helped lead Penn to an Ivy League title in 2018.
Brooklyn FC Women also signed K-League (Korea Republic’s top league) veteran defender NaYeong Shin from Lexington SC, where she started 15 of her 19 games with 63 clearances and 27 interceptions during the league’s first season. Before coming to the U.S., Shin played four years in the K League and for South Korea at the youth national team level. Shin received her first call-up to Korea Republic’s senior’s WNT first team for the 2025 Pink Ladies’ Cup, at which Korea Republic won the UAE-hosted tournament with three wins and a superior goal differential (+10 vs. +7) over Russia, who also finished with nine points. The other teams invited to the tournament were AFC sides Uzbekistan (4 points), India (3 points), Thailand (1 point) and Jordan (0 points).
Brooklyn FC also signed American defender Jordan Thompson (26), who joined from Sydney FC in Australia’s A-League Women where she played a key role in the club’s 2023/24 league title-winning campaign, starting in 23 league matches. A California native and Gonzaga University (Spokane, Washington) standout, Thompson was the first player in GU women’s soccer history to be selected in the NWSL Draft, taken by the Washington Spirit in 2022. She finished her collegiate career with 81 starts, with a program-record 54 career wins, a record for GU. Off the pitch, Thompson is a certified Sports Nutrition Coach and the founder of @eazyeatznutrition, where she shares performance-based guidance and healthy recipes with fellow athletes.
Other new signings include Sofia Lewis and Alice Barbieri. Lewis (26) arrives after a strong 2024/25 season with CS Marítimo in Portugal’s Campeonato Nacional Feminino, where she made 22 appearances and scored seven goals. The forward previously played professionally in Iceland and spent her college career at Minot State University in North Dakota, where she scored 51 goals. Midfielder Alice Barbieri (23) joins from U.C. Sampdoria in Italy’s Serie A, where she played during the second half of the 2024-25 season, making eight appearances. She played collegiately at the University of Oregon and UCLA.
Goalkeeper Breanna ‘Bre’ Norris joins from Angel City FC, where she spent the first half of 2025. At the University of Portland, she set program records in college for saves (279) and shutouts (36). She earned WCC Goalkeeper of the Year honors in 2023 and 2024 and appeared on the Mac Hermann Trophy (Top Division I College Player of the Year) watch list her senior season.
Just before the season started, Brooklyn brought in two seasoned internationals from Europe, who happen to be sisters: Croatian international forwards Kiki (24) and Ana (25) Markovic. Ana has played 57 league games with Grasshoppers in Zurich, 10 with SC Braga in Portugal and has 20 caps for Croatia. Kiki has played in Switzerland with FC Rapperswil-Jona, FC Luzern, and Grasshoppers; she has three senior caps for Croatia. The sisters co-founded RELOADZ, a Swiss vegan protein water brand, which has a global following of 3 million people on Instagram. Their signings could be very impactful for Brooklyn, as Croatia is one of a number of Central Europe’s improving WNT programs.
Returning players for Brooklyn (shown on a graphic in front of the historic roller coaster at Coney Island) include defender Leah Scarpelli, defender Samantha Rosette, defender Kelsey Hill, midfielder Sam Kroeger, midfielder Hope Breslin and forward Jessica Garziano. Midfielder Mackenzie Pluck was also pictured but later it was announced that she is not returning to the club (see below). Photo courtesy of Brooklyn FC.
Among the departures from last year’s squad includes midfielder Mackenzie Pluck (25), who made 23 appearances last year; the former U.S. youth international was released from her contract in a mutual decision with the team and a month later signed with Tampa Bay Sun.
Brooklyn FC also announced in the off-season that Tori Hansen (24) and Salma Amani (35) (see our interview earlier this year with the Moroccan international and 2023 WWC player: The Week in Women's Football: Exclusive with Brooklyn FC defender Amani; Hayes questions; examining SheBelieves Cup - TribalFootball.com) have departed the team. Hansen was a U.S. youth international and played in 2023-24 with Melbourne Victory in Australia; she has signed with Czech Republic side Sparta Prague for the 2025-26 season. Amani has not yet signed with a new club as of press time. Mackenzie George (26) also transferred to Carolina Ascent FC for a transfer fee. She played in all 28 matches in 2024-25, with four goals and five assists.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: This is a tough job for any coach in trying to build out of the utter chaos at the end of last season, but Tomás Tengarrinha seems to have the background to do well. Brooklyn has a solid squad and done a solid job in recruiting. The big question for this franchise is to stabilize the front office and to bring fans to their absolutely gorgeous seaside stadium at Coney Island. It’s a long season, but if they can maintain a solid run of points gained in both seasons, they should be in the playoff frame, finishing fourth or fifth.
Carolina Ascent
Carolina went to Los Angeles during the pre-season to play Angel City FC of the NWSL, falling 4-2. U.S. international forward Alyssa Thompson notched all four goals for the hosts, while forwards Riley Parker and Audrey Harding scored for the Ascent. Parker gave the Ascent an early lead with her goal in the second minute. After Thompson’s four goals—including one from the penalty spot—Audrey Harding scored from an 89th minute corner kick.
The Ascent then played the NWSL Dash in Houston on July 20, again falling 2-0.
The Ascent made a major signing for year two in American forward Catherine Zimmerman (31). She grew up in New Jersey but has played for years in Australia; she was named Western United’s 2024/25 Player of the Season in the Ninja A-League. She played five seasons for Melbourne Victory and Western United after being spotted with Victoria State league power Calder United, where she scored 76 goals in 55 games across two seasons, winning the Golden Boot title both seasons and the championship in 2019. She played five matches in the NWSL with Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC) in 2016 and 2017.
The Ascent brought in defender Meaghan Nally for this season. She played at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and in 2024 with Danish club Odense Boldklub Q, where she made 23 appearances and scored one goal. She was part of the 2022 NWSL Championship and 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup winning sides with the Portland Thorns, alongside current Carolina Ascent captain Taylor Porter. Nally also led the GU Hoyas to three consecutive BIG EAST Championship and two regular season titles, while being named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year twice.
The Ascent brought in two W League Final MVPs for 2025-26 in Puerto Rican international goalkeeper Sydney Martinez (25)—who played last season with Brooklyn FC (with four shutouts in 11 games)—and forward Macey Bader (22). Martinez won the title in 2022 with South Georgia Tormenta FC—posting six shutouts and a 0.58 goals-against-average—while Bader won with the North Carolina Courage U-23 side in 2024, scoring nine goals. Bader played collegiately in the city at UNC-Charlotte, scoring 17 goals with 13 assists in 70 matches. She most recently helped NC Courage U-23 return to the W League Final this summer, recording four goals and an assist in 11 matches, but lost 4-0 to Utah United in Provo.
The Ascent also signed two of their young academy players to full time professional contracts. Forward Stella Spitzer (15) becomes the youngest player to sign a professional contract in Gainbridge (the new sponsor) Super League history. Last year Spitzer became the youngest player to appear in a professional match in the United States, coming on as a substitute on October 19, 2024 against Brooklyn FC at just 14 years, 198 days old. Chloe “B” Hylton (18) also signed this June after playing in 13 games last season (with one goal) and played for England at the U-19 level.
Head coach Philip Poole returns for his second year. The Newcastle England native has lived in Charlotte for over two decades and joined the club for its first season from the U.S. women’s national team; he was also an assistant for the U.S.’s U-20 WNT at the World Cup in 2014—where they lost to DPR Korea on penalties in the quarterfinals—and had other roles with the Federation for over a decade. He was also an assistant coach with the Puerto Rican men’ national team ahead of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: Last season’s regular season champion should be in the playoffs again this season. Philip Poole is a very good coach and acquiring Puerto Rican international goalkeeper Sydney Martinez from Brooklyn was a very shrewd transaction.
Dallas Trinity
Dallas Trinity kicked off its off-season signing announcements with a major acquisition, bringing in former Canadian youth international goalkeeper Rylee Foster (27). Foster is viewed as a replacement for Madison White (24), who returned to Racing Louisville after playing last season on loan; she posted nine shutouts in 26 matches to tie for the league lead with Hope Hisey of Spokane.
The veteran Foster played from 2016-2019 with the West Virginia Mountaineers, where she recorded a 0.72 goals-against average and 39 clean sheets in 84 appearances. She signed her first professional contract with Liverpool in 2020 and most recently played for Durham FC in England before joining Dallas. She rebuilt her career in the A-League Women with Wellington Phoenix in 2023/24 after recovering from a horrendous car accident while travelling with Liverpool in Finland for the UEFA WCL.
During the summer international window and league break, Dallas’ Deb Abiodun (21) won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament with Nigeria in Morocco.
The central midfielder – competing for Trinity on loan from the Washington Spirit – helped Nigeria win their 10th Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title last month in a tremendous 3-2 comeback victory against hosts Morocco in the Final. Overall, Abiodun played in five of six matches for the Super Falcons for a total of 229 minutes of action on the way to the title, including all 90 minutes in the final. For the Trinity, she played in 13 games last season. She played at the University of Pittsburgh under former Nigerian WWC 2023 head coach Randy Waldrum. She was part of Nigeria’s squads at the 2022 U-20 WWC, the 2023 WWC in Australia/New Zealand and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: This side plays out of the historic Cotton Bowl in downtown Dallas. They built an internationally experienced side last season and made the playoffs. They could even finish one spot better than last season’s third and should again challenge for the regular season title.
D.C. Power
The D.C. Power hired a very experienced and highly respected men’s and women’s head coach for their second season in Omid Namazi (60). Most recently he was the Director of Scouting and Head Coach for Hartford Athletic of the USL Championship league (2022-23). Before joining Hartford, Namazi worked as an assistant coach with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer (2019-2022). For women, he coached the San Diego Spirit in the WUSA in 2003 in the last year of the first U.S. professional women’s soccer league, taking them to the playoffs in his one year in the league (which folded after the season) and then with the Chicago Red Stars in the WPS in 2010.
At the national team level, Namazi was an assistant coach with the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2014 and also helped Iran qualify for the 2014 men’s World Cup Finals in Brazil as an assistant coach. He has coached club teams in the U.S., Denmark and Iran and also coached indoor men’s soccer sides in the U.S. Namazi was selected as the MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League) Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2006. The Utah native played for 19 years and won championships in minor leagues with the Washington Diplomats of the ASL in 1988 and the Maryland Bays in the APSL in 1990; he won back-to-back awards as the 2001 and 2002 MISL Defender of the Year for the Philadelphia Kixx. Namazi played soccer at West Virginia University from 1984-1987.
DC Power FC bolstered its offense with the addition of forward Margie Detrizio from the Washington Spirit. She should feel at home as both teams use 20,000 seat Audi Field as their home stadium. She debuted for the Spirit this year in the 2025 season opener as a substitute but only totaled eight minutes across two games, so she should see substantially more playing time with the Power. She spent five seasons at the University of Georgia and Washington State University. In 2024, Detrizio appeared in 21 games and led the Georgia Bulldogs with nine goals, 20 points and 65 shots.
At WSU, she finished with 26 goals and 16 assists in 71 games. She is expected to link up in attack with Ethiopian international Loza Abera (27), who had five goals in 23 games last season and American forward Gianna Gourley (24)—who scored seven goals in 14 games with D.C. Power in the spring season on loan from Ft. Lauderdale, where she was scoreless in nine games. Gourley was signed to a full contract after a permanent transfer this summer by the Power. Gourley played two seasons at the University of Iowa, scoring six goals in 35 games and then scored 46 goals in 62 games across three seasons at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: Last season was a huge struggle, finishing in seventh and 18 points out of the playoffs. They finished as the worst scoring team in the league in 2024-25 with 24 goals. Their forwards this season should be more productive and they have a stellar goalkeeper in Australian national team pool player Morgan Aquino (see our interview with her last season: The Week in Women's Football: A-League preview P1; exclusive chat with Morgan Aquino - TribalFootball.com). They still could finish out of the playoffs, but will be a much more competitive team and be in the playoff race at the end of the season.
Ft. Lauderdale United FC
The NWSL’s Orlando Pride (8-4-2, 26 points) signed Ft. Lauderdale United’s star goalkeeper Cosette Morché to a multi-year contract through the 2027 season, with a mutual option for 2028. Morché was key to United making the 2024-25 Championship Final after just narrowly squeaking into the playoffs last spring. She was selected to the Team of the Month in March after earning two clean sheets, saving eight shots while conceding just two goals and helping the team go unbeaten (two wins and two ties).
Prior to her time in Florida, Morché spent the 2021 season with Seattle Reign FC. She did not make an appearance for the West Coast side and was later sent to Grand Paris Seine Ouest 92 Issy, then in the French D1 Arkema, on a permanent transfer. She has also played in Spain (Valencia), Sweden (Eskilstuna United DFF), and also in France again for a short time with Montpellier in 2023-24 before returning to the States. She played two seasons at Texas A&M University, where she started all 45 games for Texas A&M, posting 35 wins and 20 shutouts. She played her first two seasons at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, playing in 30 games, with 12 victories and six shutouts.
United brought in a full international goalkeeper from Asia who also won a Division II college championship in the U.S.—Bella Hara of Guam.
Bella Hara won a NCAA Division II national championship with Cal Poly Pomona in 2024 and posted a program-record 14 shutouts. She grew up in San Diego and started her career with Azusa Pacific. She played this summer for Guam in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Qualifiers against United Arab Emirates, Maldives and Vietnam and made her senior debut in 2023.
Another full international joining the team this year is former Carolina Ascent midfielder Kathrynn González (25). She started her pro career in Denmark with Thisted in 2023/24. She then played with the Carolina Ascent in the W League in 2024, scoring eight goals in nine games. She then moved up to the Super League parent club, playing in 23 matches. She played collegiately at East Carolina and Marshall Universities. Born in the States, she qualified to also play with Dominican Republic, joining the national team in 2021.
She played in the inaugural W Gold Cup, scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory over Guyana during the 2024 Preliminaries and making the finals (which Tribal Football covered, see: The Week in Women's Football: Chatting with stars of Gold Cup Finals; Tyrone Mears joins USL trailblazers - Tribal Football). Gonzalez most recently featured in a pair of friendlies against Honduras, starting both while scoring a goal in the initial match on May 29, a 4-2 win in Comayagua, Honduras. DR dropped the second game on June 1 at the same venue (1-0).
Veteran midfielder Carlyn Baldwin (29) joined the team after a long career in Europe. She played at the University of Tennessee and then became their first-ever foreign signing, moving to Sporting CP in Portugal after playing a half season with Young Boys Bern Frauen in Switzerland in 2016. Baldwin spent eight seasons in Portugal, playing for Sporting CP (2017-2021), Torreense (2021-2022), Benfica (2022), Damaiense (2022-2023) and SC Braga (2023-24) before returning to Torreense in 2024-25 for her final season abroad.
While in Portugal, Baldwin appeared in 148 matches, scoring 14 goals, and earned a spot on the Onze Do Ano—the Liga Portuguesa Feminina’s Best XI – for the 2018/19 season. During her time abroad, she won two Portuguese Cups, two Portuguese Super Cups and a Portuguese League title. At the international level, Baldwin represented the United States with the U-20 National Team at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada. In 2024, Baldwin was one of 18 players called up to take part in the U.S. Women’s National Futsal training camp ahead of the 2025 CONCACAF Women’s Futsal Championship.
A very important signing by United in July was Australian international Sophie Harding (26). Born in England, she moved to Australia when she was six. In the Ninja A-League, she started her career with the Newcastle Jets in 2020 and then moved to the Western Sydney Wanderers for 2022/23. In 2023/24 she won the Julie Dolan Medal as the league’s best player, after scoring 12 goals (a club record and third best in the league that season) along with adding four assists. She was brought into a Matildas camp in 2024 and is still awaiting her first cap. She also qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland and England.
Also coming from Australia is Madison McComasky, who played collegiately at Wayland Baptist University (2018) before moving to Northeast Texas Community College (2019) and then Incarnate Word University in Texas for her final two seasons. She then went back home and played with Canberra United for the 2022/23 campaign; she then moved to Western Sydney Wanderers for the last two seasons, scoring two goals with a 71.2% passing accuracy rate.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: Ft. Lauderdale squeaked into the playoffs last season after tying Spokane 1-1 away and knocking the Zephyr into fifth place. They were written off by fans in a league poll and rode that frustration into the championship final. They have some good new signings, with Sophie Harding a potential Golden Boot winner. Discounting this team is not a good move and I think they will be in the playoff frame again—somewhere between third and fifth in another close run race.
Lexington SC
Kentucky native and 2024-25 USL Super League Player of the Year and Bosnia and Herzegovina international forward Emina Ekić moved to Lexington for the 2025-26 season, one of four 2024-25 Spokane Zephyr players to move across the country to join a revitalized Lexington SC (see: The Week in Women's Football: Examining USL Super League playoffs and crazy Hibs title triumph - TribalFootball.com), which brought in 14 new players, with six interleague transfers, after finishing in last place with only 18 points and a league worst -33 goal differential, and having considerable coaching turmoil at the club (see below).
Ekić starred at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, where she was the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year in 2015-16 season. She stayed locally to play at the University of Louisville, where she made history as the first player in program history to be named ACC Offensive Player of the Year. In 2021, she was selected fifth overall in the NWSL Draft by Racing Louisville FC and again made history as the first University of Louisville player to be drafted into the league. She played with Racing and then first went on loan to Melbourne City FC in Australia’s A-League Women.
She is fondly remembered by City fans after scoring four goals in six games during the 2022/23 season before being injured and forced to miss the rest of the season. She returned in 2023/24 on a two year contract and had eight goals in 21 games as City won the Premiership (regular season title) and lost the Grand Final to Sydney FC (1-0). She did not play the second year of her contact as she had a release clause to explore opportunities abroad and moved to Spokane. She is still viewed as one of City’s all-time iconic players.
In Spokane last season, Ekic was outstanding and scored the club’s first-ever goal in the 17th minute of its debut match, a 1-1 tie with Ft. Lauderdale in Spokane. Internationally, Ekić made her senior debut for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team in 2023, scoring her first international goal in October 2024 during a Euro qualifying playoff against Serbia (a 2-2 tie). Accompanying Ekic to Lexington from Spokane are: Taylor Aylmer, McKenzie Weinert, and defender Alyssa Bourgeois, who played at Boston University and Santa Clara University and in 24 Super Lague games in Spokane. Aylmer, who captained the Zephyr, contributed four goals and maintained 80.7% passing accuracy over 23 starts last season. Weinert, the April Super League Player of the Month, scored three goals in 14 games last season for Spokane.
On July 2, the Orlando Pride loaned goalkeeper Kat Asman (25) and Argentinian international forward Mariana Larroquette (32) to Lexington. Since joining the Pride during the 2023 season, Larroquette has appeared in 12 matches and scored one goal. Larroquette was previously on loan with Argentina-based side Newell's Old Boys Women during the first half of the season. Her loan is through the end of the 2025 NWSL season.
She has 22 goals in 83 caps with Argentina since being first capped in 2014 and has also played in in Chile, Mexico—where she scored 9 goals in 26 matches with Leon in 2022-23—Norway and Portugal. Kat Asman had not played in 2025—her loan runs through June 2026. She played at Penn State University and was drafted into the league by the Portland Thorns in the 2024 draft as the 39th overall selection in the third round.
Another key addition to the club this off-season was midfielder Addie McCain, who captained 2024-25 USL runners-up Fort Lauderdale United FC last season and started all 30 matches, scoring 10 goals and was also the lone representative for the team on the All-League First Team. She will be joined by her former FTL UTD midfielder and teammate Tati Fung, who played at the University of Texas and UC-Irvine in her native California. Fung primarily was a substitute last season for Fort Lauderdale but added four assists in 14 matches. She was part of multiple U.S. youth national teams.
Brooklyn FC center back Allison Pantuso (28) has moved to Lexington. She played in all 28 matches last season, leading the team in tackles won (75), duels won (185) and ranking third in clearances (78). She played at Oregon State University and then for clubs in Switzerland, France, Finland and Sweden before coming back to join the USL Super League.
Midfielder Justina Gaynor signed with the Greens after most recently playing for NWSL side Chicago Stars FC, where she appeared in two games. Her one year contract for 2025 with an option for another year was mutually cancelled on July 1, so she was free to sign with Lexington. She played at Michigan State University history, earning United Soccer Coaches All-America honors, three First Team All-Big Ten selections, and was named the 2023 Big Ten Midfielder of the Year. She made 83 appearances and 73 starts with the Spartans, recording 16 goals and 20 assists and leading the team to back-to-back Big Ten Championships.
Former Penn State University midfielder and team captain Shea Moyer returns from the 2024-25 team and was the only player to start in all 28 games and won a place on the All-League Second Team.
Lexington made a coaching change during the 2024-25 offseason, first suspending interim head coach Sam Stockley for three games for alleged emotional and verbal misconduct of players and creating a hostile work environment. Another team administrator was also placed on probation by the United Soccer League. A legal firm for the league conducted 22 interviews, after which Stockley was given a 6-month probation by the league and dismissed by the club. The club explained in a statement:
“An independent investigation was conducted through the USL Safe Space program into allegations involving the technical staff of Lexington Sporting Club’s women’s team. Based on the findings, appropriate action has been taken.
Lexington Sporting Club remains committed to maintaining a culture of safety, respect, and open communication throughout our club and community. Out of respect for all involved, and adhering to safeguarding best practices, the club will not be commenting further.”
The club then hired ex-Chicago Stars (NWSL) interim head coach Masaki Hemmi for the 2025-26 season.
In July 13, the two division one professional teams in the State of Kentucky played for the first-time for the Commonwealth Cup trophy—Lexington SC of the USL Super League and Racing Louisville of the NWSL, which ended in a 1-1 tie in Louisville. Racing’s Kayla Fischer scored in the 30th minute after taking advantage of an errant back pass. Lexington tied the match in the 67th minute on a deflected shot by a trialist for the team (typically in the U.S. professional leagues—both men’s and women’s—trialists’ names are not released to the media until they sign a contract).
After the 90 minutes, the clubs agreed to do a penalty kick shootout, which was won by Racing, as Louisville prepared for The Women’s Cup in Brazil from July 19-24. Racing won The Women’s Cup title match over Palmeiras in a shootout (3-2) after a 1-1 tie at Arena Barueri in São Paulo, Brazil. Racing advanced from their semifinal match after another penalty kick win (4-2), following a 1-1 tie with Sao Paulo SC. Liga MX Femenil 2024-25 Clausura champions Pachuca defeated Sao Paulo 1-0 for third place, after losing 3-0 to Palmeiras on the opening day.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: This reporter has been hugely impressed with Lexington’s signings during the off-season, led by Emina Ekic but also Kat Asman, Addie McCain and Allison Pantuso. I predict that they will make the playoffs and could even finish first at the end of the spring season, though I will say second place. From media calls while he was with the Chicago Stars this season, new head coach Masaki Hemmi is very personable, but still looking for a first professional win as a women’s team head coach. If they can start the season with a few wins out of the gate, they should be off and running and excite fans in the league second smallest market city (329,000)—ahead of Spokane (229,000).
Spokane Zephyr FC
The Zephyr just missed the playoffs last season after a brilliant second half of the season, following their finish at the bottom of the table in the fall season (see last season’s final review: The Week in Women's Football: Loza Abera exclusive; Bhutan; Super League excitement - TribalFootball.com). They lost a key quartet to Lexington SC for 2025-26 (see above) but have brought in a number of new players. Defender Madelyn Desiano (25) won an NCAA championship with UCLA in 2022. She was a U.S. youth international at the U-18 and U-19 levels. Desiano recounted that championship experience in her first book, “Bend Never Break: The inside story of UCLA Women's Soccer and their inspiring National Championship journey,” released in June on Amazon.
This author reviewed the book and it is geared towards a youth market, with a lot of focus on UCLA’s team bonding and off-field activities. She was selected by the Houston Dash in the 2023 NWSL draft as the last selection (#48) and made four appearances for the club. She scored her first professional goal in a Challenge Cup match against Kansas City Current. She then moved to Odense Boldklub Q of the top-tier women’s league in Denmark, where she made 21 appearances and 13 starts with the club.
Forward Lena Silano (25) played at Long Beach State University, appearing in 62 matches and scoring 27 goals—seventh best all time LBSU history—with 10 assists. She was the 34th pick in the 2023 NWSL draft, going to the Washington Spirit. Over two seasons and 27 appearances with the D.C. club, Silano scored two goals. In January 2025, Silano signed with UD Tenerife in Spain’s Liga F, playing in nine matches.
Other new signings include Aryssa Mahrt (23) on a six-month loan from Orlando Pride. She began her collegiate career with two seasons at the University of San Diego and finishing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she appeared in 62 matches and had 21 goals with 15 assists. Mahrt, who is from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, also has national team experience, having been a member of the U-16 and U-14 U.S. youth national teams in 2016 and 2017.
Interim head coach Josh McAllister said about bringing Mahrt on-board: “When the opportunity to bring Aryssa in on loan from Orlando came about, we made sure to do our homework. In meeting with her, we found a player who is eager to show what she can do on the pitch. Aryssa's character will not only be an asset when playing on the pitch, but within the locker room with her fellow teammates, too.”
Olivia Van der Jagt (25) is a native of Washington State and comes on a 6 month loan from the NWSL’s Seattle Reign. She was raised in Kent (suburban Seattle) and scored 12 goals and 9 assists at UW. She was the 33rd pick of the 2022 National Women’s Soccer League draft by the Reign. She signed a one-year contract which was later extended through the 2026 season. She has appeared in 43 matches for the Reign and scored one goal.
Midfielder Tori Waldeck Zierenberg joins from western power Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where she started 82 matches during her five years, scoring 38 goals and recording 20 assists. This past season, she was the WCC Player of the Year. Last fall, in Spokane at Gonzaga University’s Luger Field, she scored a career-high three goals in a WCC match against Gonzaga in an exciting 4-3 win on a chilly night in front of 419 fans—a game that this columnist attended and covered.
Cameron Tucker, who was an All-American selection at BYU in Provo, Utah in 2021 scored 43 goals with 31 assists in five seasons with the Cougars. She was the 2016 Utah high school player of the year After college she signed with NJ/NY Gotham FC of the NWSL for the 2022 season. After a season and 13 appearances with Gotham FC, she signed with the Houston Dash for the 2023 NWSL season, appearing in 12 matches. The Dash extended her contract for the 2024 season, then traded her to her home state of Utah, where she scored one goal in 9 appearances with the Utah Royals of the NWSL. She signed in January with Levante UD in Valencia, Spain in the Liga F.
Kelsey Oyler is a native of the Inland Empire (Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Western Montana) and was a three-time Idaho Player of the Year and three-time state champion at Meridian, Idaho (near Boise). She played three seasons at Gonzaga University in Spokane and was a starting defender when the team won the program’s first-ever West Coast Conference Championship in 2023; she was named a second team All-American that season. For her senior season, Kelsey transferred to the University of Arkansas and started 19 of 20 games; she had nine assists, including one in a 4-0 win for Arkansas over Gonzaga in Fayetteville. Arkansas was 16-3-2, rated sixth nationally and made the Sweet 16 in the NCAA, losing on penalties to Stanford (4-2) after a 1-1 tie.
Defender Maggie Johnston (23) played five years at the University of Iowa and last season scored a game-winning goal against Missouri State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, when the Hawkeyes made the Sweet 16. A two-year captain, Johnston also was named the team’s MVP for both 2024 and 2025 seasons. She is from Corona, California.
American defender Sarah Clark returns after playing in 17 matches for Spokane last season and will be the team captain in 2025-26. She joined Spokane after a year in Australia with Canberra United and played collegiately at Purdue and Virginia.
Zephyr interim head coach Josh McAllister is now in charge after Jo Johnson quit to return to her home in Tulsa, Oklahoma following the team’s first season. McAllister has been as assistant coach in MLS with Portland Timbers, Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United FC as well as with OL Reign in the NWSL.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: The Zephyr’s ownership and media team gave me incredible player and coaches access last year during a weekend visit to the city. Can they replicate their Spring Season performance in 2025-26 or will it be more like their forgettable Fall Season? Losing Ekic to Louisville was a huge setback but they return ex-Gonzaga University and Argentinian international midfielder/defender Sophia Braun. I still worry about the scoring potential for this team and they need a central striker. The roster is young but if the coaching staff (new this season) can galvanize the side, I think they can make another run to the playoffs.
If they can finish the first half of the season in fifth or higher, they should be on pace to make the playoffs. Otherwise, it could be another season without a post-season berth. They will continue to be a major factor in the sports fabric of the city and, with Gonzaga University being considered highly as a 2026 World Cup training venue (with games in Seattle), the Zephyr and League 1 men’s side Spokane Velocity, will help position the city now as a new soccer destination in the Pacific Northwest, along with Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C. in Canada.
Sporting Jacksonville
The expansion franchise and third Florida team in the Super League—Sporting Jacksonville of Sporting JAX—signed English native forward Jade Pennock (32), who is reuniting with her former college head coach in Stacey Balaam, who was named the team’s first head coach from Vanderbilt University, where she was an assistant coach. Balaam is also a native of England and coached Pennock at the University of North Georgia in 2015. Pennock spent time with the Leeds Youth Academy and played for Doncaster Belles, Sheffield United and Birmingham City in England. She most recently helped guide the Central Coast Mariners to their first-ever Australian A-League women’s title this year in stunning fashion while on loan from Birmingham, scoring seven goals in 27 league games for the New South Wales side.
Midfielder Helena Errington, a youth international for New Zealand, made her professional debut for the Wellington Phoenix FC last season, where she played nine games last season and registered one assist. She also played in the National Premier League Women (state league) in Australia and in Portugal with Sporting of Lisbon before signing with Wellington Phoenix. She played at both the 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia and the 2022 U-17 Women’s World Cup in India.
Sophie Jones (24), from Menlo Park, California, represented the United States on the U-17 and U-20 teams, as well as the U-23 youth national team. She started all 75 matches she played at Duke University and was drafted by the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL as the 43rd selection in the fourth round and signed a two year contract. She played in only one regular season game in two seasons in Chicago and her contract was not renewed at the end of the 2024 season. She enters the 2025-26 campaign as Jacksonville’s captain.
Tongan international defender Davi Vaka joined from Fort Lauderdale United, where she was a key piece in the USL championship finalists as a starting defender. The native of Sandy, Utah played at Brigham Young University and the University of Florida.
The club was due to play its first home match on August 2 against the reigning Scottish Women’s Premier League champions, Hibernian FC Women, at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium. On Sunday, August 10, the club was also scheduled to host Wrexham AFC Women. Both matches were cancelled—the Hibernian game because of bad weather in the area, and the Wrexham game because the side from Wales had a number of injuries and had a lack of players available for the match.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: Pennock and Vaka are high quality acquisitions but Jacksonville will likely struggle throughout their first season. Management needs to be patient and look for improvements throughout the season in their future planning if the team does struggle. They likely will finish in the bottom two of the table.
Tampa Bay Sun
In mid-July, the 2024-25 Super League champions Tampa Bay Sun acquired Australian defender Charlotte McLean on loan from the NWSL’s Carolina Courage for the remainder of the NWSL 2025 season (Fall USL season) for a fee. She is in the second season of a two year contract with the Courage, joining them in June 2024. She only appeared in one game for them, in a NWSL vs. Liga MX Femenil Cup game last season.
Charlotte McLean controls the ball during warmups ahead of a North Carolina Courage match. CREDIT: Lewis Gettier/Photo courtesy of North Carolina Courage
McLean is the second loan deal between the two Florida sides, with 2024 NWSL draftee Natalia “Talia” Staude spending the second half of her rookie season on loan with the eventual league champions, scoring once in 12 games. The former Virginia Cavalier defender and former U.S. U-17 and U-20 WNTs member returned to the Courage for the remainder of the NWSL 2025 season. The Courage drafted her #24 in the second round of the 2024 draft, though she was their first selection that year.
The Sun added Swiss international midfielder Sandrine Mauron (28) for 2025-26; she most recently was with Switzerland in the UEFA Women’s EURO 2025 which the nation hosted. She has 43 caps for her country (with two goals) since her debut in 2018. Mauron spent 2019-2022 with Eintracht Frankfurt in the German Frauen-Bundesliga, where she made 59 league appearances and scored two goals, which was her only previous time playing with a club outside her country. She then returned to her home country to join Servette Chênois Féminin, tallying 14 goals in 63 appearances, helping lead the club to a Swiss Championship in 2024 as well as back-to-back Swiss Cup titles in 2023 and 2024. She also won four Swiss league titles and Cups with FC Zurich from 2015-2019.
Tribal Football’s Prediction: The 2024-25 league champions should make the playoffs again and is this reporter’s pick to win the regular season title by topping the table. They have added some good international talent to a very strong first year side.
Summary of our Final 2025-26 USL Super League Regular Season Table Predictions
1 Tampa Bay Sun
2-tie Lexington SC
2-tie Carolina Ascent
4-tie Dallas Trinity
4-tie Fort Lauderdale United
4-tie Brooklyn FC
7 Spokane Zephyr
8 D.C. Power
9 Sporting Jacksonville
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey