Meet the Spirit’s lucky plastic coyote. Plus: Juicy midweek NWSL match

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Welcome back to Full Time! Seventy percent of respondents to last week’s poll said USWNT-Japan is a true rivalry. We’re mentally bookmarking that. Coming up:

📈 Weekend of comebacks

🐺 Spirit’s good luck charm

🍿 Appointment viewing this week

Let’s get to it:

Rewind

Comebacks everywhere

If there is one theme that threaded through this past weekend in the NWSL, it was comebacks.

Start in Washington, where the Spirit didn’t just beat the Kansas City Current last Friday; they made it look easy. A 3-0 win, with Trinity Rodman back on the scoresheet. For a team that has spent stretches searching for rhythm, this felt like a reset button and a reminder of their ceiling with their front line, especially when the dynamic duo of Leicy Santos and Rodman drove at defenders instead of circling around them.

In New Jersey, Gotham FC delivered a similarly emphatic message: a 3-0 home win over Bay FC. Rose Lavelle and Esther scored back-to-back goals, highlighting the kind of performance that suggests last season’s championship DNA didn’t just vanish over the offseason.

Gotham looked organized and, most importantly, comfortable again.

**Neither of those was a comeback on the scoresheet, sure, but they were in the big picture.**Meanwhile:

Out west, the San Diego Wave edged the Denver Summit 3-2 in a tightly contested match that never quite opened up. Not every comeback is flashy (this one included an own goal by Denver) — some are about grinding out results and rediscovering how to win when margins are thin.

But the weekend belonged to Sophia Wilson. Her goal against Angel City wasn’t just a 95th-minute match winner. It was a moment. The first in 541 days. The first since stepping away to have her child. The first since returning to a league that rarely slows down for anyone. There’s no soft landing in this league, no easing back in, and yet, there she was, decisive when it mattered.

For the Portland Thorns, it was the boost they needed after a shaky postseason, saying goodbye to Sam Coffey and welcoming a new coach in Robert Vilahamn. And perhaps most importantly, for the league, Wilson’s goal was the proof that the pathway back from motherhood is possible, even if it’s rarely straightforward.

Four games, one theme: The league’s heavy-hitters are stirring again. After the international break, the so-called “big four” not only made their comebacks but also reasserted themselves. (We’ll get to the Champions League comeback in a moment.)

Call it a coincidence if you want. It did not look like one.

Howling for good luck

Reporters like to pretend we’ve seen it all. The mixed zone usually humbles that idea pretty quickly, and last Friday brought one of those moments.

When I (Asli) saw Spirit defender Rebeca Bernal walk out of the locker room clutching what looked like … a plastic animal, I paused. The new-mom brain, running on fumes, immediately went to: This is it, I’ve lost it. Was it a dog? A cat? Some sort of emotional-support prop I hadn’t been briefed on?

Nope. A coyote. “His name is Jose,” she told me, completely straight-faced. Of course it is.

Turns out, the team picked him up in San Jose ahead of its Bay FC matchup earlier this month, where plastic coyote decoys are scattered around training grounds to scare off the real ones. Locals swear by them. The players? They just thought it was hilarious and, importantly, kind of cute.

And here’s where it gets better: After weeks of struggling to score, Washington went out and beat Bay FC that week.

**The only logical conclusion: Jose is the lucky charm.**Since then, he’s been fully integrated into the squad.

Mascot, emotional-support decoy, occasional mixed-zone cameo. You’ll find him on TikTok, probably in half the locker room photos, and if this continues beyond Washington’s win over Kansas City, looming over future postgame interviews like he’s part of the media scrum.

I spend a lot of time trying to explain this league, investments, infrastructure, tactics — all the serious stuff. And then a plastic coyote named Jose walks into the mixed zone and reminds me that sometimes, the story is just … this:

Rodman’s milestone game

Related: Rodman had herself a Friday night. First, the 23-year-old became the youngest NWSL player in history to reach 100 regular-season appearances, celebrating with her family by her side. Then, about an hour later, she added a goal to the occasion. Not the prettiest one she will ever score, but easily one she won’t forget, as it was her first this season and after her return from the injury earlier this year. Only one person was missing: her boyfriend, pro tennis player Ben Shelton, who was in Spain (but he got a nod in the celly).

News to Know

Columbus to NWSLThe NWSL awarded Columbus, Ohio, the league’s 18th franchise last week, for a record $205 million expansion fee. The ownership group includes the Haslam family (which also owns the Columbus Crew, with whom the NWSL team will share facilities, and the Cleveland Browns) and Nationwide (also a league sponsor). Like Atlanta, Columbus is set to begin play in 2028, which will hopefully give them time to sort out the issues that have left some locals conflicted about the situation. Read more about that here.

A fashionable momentAngel City is doubling down on what it does best: turning identity into impact, with a touch of fashion. The club announced the next phase of its “Immigrant City Football Club” campaign last week, a not-so-subtle reminder of who Los Angeles actually belongs to. At the center of it is a limited-edition T-shirt and hat stamped with “Los Angeles is for Everyone,” now translated into 13 of the city’s most-represented languages.

Another fashion-meets-impact moment was announced Friday: TOGETHXR is teaming up with the NWSL to launch the first-ever league-wide “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” capsule collection on May 7, with items in every club’s colors.

More news

Adding intrigue to the WSL title race is top-of-the-table Manchester City looking to sign Beth Mead and Katie McCabe from Arsenal, the only team that can thwart their chance of taking the league.

Seattle Reign veteran midfielder Jess Fishlock was stretchered off the pitch yesterday with an apparent left leg injury, days after announcing her imminent retirement. Initial X-rays on the 39-year-old’s ankle were “negative,” per a team spokesperson, and she is currently undergoing further testing.

The USWNT will visit Brazil in June for the first time since 2014 for a pair of friendlies in São Paulo and Fortaleza. The Americans are 2-2-2 when playing against the South American side as the away team.

Chelsea, desperate for goal scorers, have made an offer to reigning Golden Boot winner Bunny Shaw of Manchester City. £1 million per year ($1.35M) is big money, but Shaw, 29, prefers to stay at City.

Gotham FC partnered with NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to offer $5 tickets to fans looking to attend the May 9 match against Boston Legacy at Sports Illustrated Stadium. Both want to make the game more accessible — two goals, one ball?

What to Watch

📺 San Diego Wave vs. Portland ThornsWednesday at 10 p.m. ET, CBSSN and Paramount+No. 1 vs. No. 2 in an NWSL after-dark midweek matchup? The story writes itself, but to further sweeten the plot: Both sides are coming off the stunning comeback wins on the road we mentioned earlier. Start popping the popcorn now.

📺 Champions League: Semifinals leg 2Saturday at 9 a.m. ET/Sunday at 10:30 a.m., Paramount+

Arsenal dug deep to grind out a victory over eight-time champions Lyon last week and will need to hold firm in the second leg in France to return to the Champions League final.

Meanwhile, Bayern Munich impressed with tight organization and tenacity against a well-favored Barcelona side with a 1-1 draw. The 2025 Champions League finalists will no doubt be boosted by their home crowd at Camp Nou in the second leg, and Bayern will be feeling the absence of Franziska Kett, who was shown a red card for hair-pulling and will miss the second leg.

First Looks

**Guro Reiten’s debut:**The former Chelsea and current Norway star Reiten is officially in the NWSL. Days after arriving in New Jersey, the 31-year-old featured in Gotham’s starting 11 for their much-needed win over Bay FC. Considered one of the best left-footed wingers in the world, she told The Athletic: “I normally go to different clubs and spend a lot of time there, so, hopefully, I’ve got a few more good years in me.”

**Cathinka Tandberg interview:**Another Norwegian player, this one with big plans for Tottenham. In an exclusive sit-down, the 21-year-old forward spoke about her ambitions for her Women’s Super League side to compete in the Champions League.

My game in my words, ft. Mariona Caldentey: Wonder what it’s like getting into the mind of one of football’s most acclaimed players? Look no further than Michael Cox’s sit-down with Arsenal’s Caldentey — a Champions League and World Cup winner. “It’s not enough just to have the ball,” she says. “You need to have a purpose.”

**📫 Love Full Time?**These stories can also be found on Yahoo’s women’s sports hub, in partnership with *The Athletic.*Also, check out our other newsletters.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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