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Welcome back to your weekly column from Sports Illustrated that breaks down the women's soccer weekend through a U.S. women's national team lens.
We're roughly a month out from when Emma Hayes will announce her roster for the upcoming friendlies against Spain in October. The competition for places is intensifying as several U.S. stars are hitting their stride heading into the final stretch of the season.
Racing Louisville's Emma Sears is among them. She has now netted five goals across her last four appearances after going nine matches without finding the net between May and August. However, the 24-year-old winger failed to add to her tally this weekend, as Racing were held scoreless and saw their four-game winning run come to an end.
Let's break down who saw their stock rise and fall this past weekend in the National Women's Soccer League.
Stock Up
Mal Swanson
Having returned from the birth of her first child and sitting out all of 2025, Mal Swanson has been easing her way back into the 2026 NWSL season. It hasn't helped matters that the bottom-dwelling Chicago Stars have endured a difficult campaign and only parted ways with their head coach a couple of weeks ago.
It was encouraging, then, to see Swanson back to her sharpest, contributing a goal and an assist in the Stars' 3–2 victory over Racing Louisville last weekend. The result ended a seven-game winless run for Chicago, and the goal was Swanson's first since May, bringing her season tally to two.
The assist was quintessential Swanson — driving forward with the ball before laying it off to Jameese Joseph inside the box, who converted her first goal of the season. But the 28-year-old's own goal was even more impressive: a smooth spin-touch with the right foot followed by a delicate chipped finish with the left.
62' | MAL SWANSON GOLAZO 💥 pic.twitter.com/oddrMTd336
Ashley Sanchez
An already remarkable season keeps getting better. Ashley Sanchez has moved to the top of the NWSL Golden Boot standings after netting a brace in North Carolina Courage's 2–1 victory over the Boston Legacy on Saturday, lifting the 27-year-old to 13 goals in 2026.
Sanchez's opener was a breathtaking curling effort from outside the box that bent perfectly inside the post. Her second, converted from the penalty spot in the 17th minute of second-half stoppage time, sealed a dramatic late win for the Courage and went down as the latest goal ever recorded in NWSL regular-season history. Nerves of steel.
What more does Sanchez need to do to force her way back into Emma Hayes's thinking? It's becoming increasingly difficult to argue she hasn't earned another shot with the USWNT.
The LATEST goal in league history... 90+17 😯 pic.twitter.com/5PVEmiM4VZ
Trinity Byars
In a standout weekend for USWNT forwards, Trinity Byars made a compelling case for her first senior national team call-up. The 23-year-old San Diego Wave striker had a hand in all four of her side's goals in a 4–2 triumph over the Utah Royals, scoring twice and setting up the other two.
Byars truly thrives in open space, particularly when she can bear down on a goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation and slide the ball past her. Both goals came from Byars bursting into the box and finishing calmly. Her first assist was equally impressive in its technical execution — she took the ball around the goalkeeper before cutting it back for Melanie Barcenas to tap into an empty net.
It's unclear exactly who Byars might displace on the current USWNT roster, but she's doing everything in her power to make Hayes's selection decisions as tricky as possible.
Trinity Byars took it to the next level 📈 pic.twitter.com/GJSTOMAZJO
Stock Down
Mandy McGlynn
Yet again, Utah Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn finds herself under scrutiny. Conceding four goals is never a good look for a keeper, and this 4–2 loss to San Diego exposed a recurring flaw in McGlynn's game.
Utah's defense certainly didn't help, leaving large gaps in behind and being caught out in transition, but the defining image of the match will be McGlynn repeatedly rushing off her line only to be beaten by Byars time and again.
a moment for this Kristen McNabb through ball omg 👏 pic.twitter.com/H4Drtulg0p
There are serious questions surrounding McGlynn's positioning and decision-making following this display.
Kennedy Wesley
Defenders can sometimes escape criticism when their team wins, but Kennedy Wesley — who could be pushing for a starting role with the USWNT — was below her best in San Diego's 4–2 win over Utah. The Wave went behind 1–0, then led 2–1, before being pegged back to 1–1 and then 2–2. Without Byars bailing them out, this could easily have been a match where the Wave's backline cost them dearly.
For Utah's opening goal, Wesley was caught in a poor position after committing to tracking Mina Tanaka on a lofted ball, only to misjudge the second phase of play and allow Tanaka to run free and get her shot away. The Royals' second was more of a collective defensive breakdown, but Wesley failed to get tight enough as the ball circulated around the box, and could only watch helplessly from a few yards out as Tanaka doubled her tally.
MINA TANAKA, WHAT WAS THAT?? 😱 pic.twitter.com/cXCtFWsUNr
Sally Menti
It was difficult to find many players on the USWNT bubble this week who had significantly damaged their chances of making the squad. One player who didn't particularly stand out — though she avoided any glaring errors — was Seattle Reign midfielder Sally Menti. The 24-year-old made her USWNT debut back in January but has yet to receive another call-up since.
Menti played the full 90 minutes in the Reign's 1–1 away draw against KC Current, picking up a yellow card along the way for two fouls. The game largely passed her by, as Seattle scored early and then shifted into a defensive mindset, first trying to protect a 1–0 lead before settling for 1–1. Ultimately, the Reign were fortunate to leave with a point, as KC rattled the woodwork on multiple occasions and squandered clear chances at close range.
Menti's main struggles came in her ability to impose herself higher up the pitch and maintain possession in advanced areas. As an attacking midfielder, her role was reduced largely to lateral movement and covering passing channels. She did win 6 of her 10 defensive duels, which accounted for the bulk of her contributions. In possession, she managed just 11 completed passes — a quiet outing as a defensive Seattle side held on for a draw.