Plus the USWNT ends 2026 on a hot streak
Welcome to the second of three season wrap-up newsletters. I’d planned to send this earlier, but hey, life got in the way. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving week!
Today we’re taking a look at the post-season roster and updating our free agent tracker. If you get curious between newsletters or deeper into the offseason, we’ll keep that post up-to-date.
One of the hardest hits to take is the departure of Brianna Pinto, a hometown player who served in multiple roles for the Courage. Most recently, Pinto was a reliable forward sub that could come in hot – so much so that she’s tied for second-most goals for the team in the 2025 season (3). Off the pitch, she was widely credited with being a key advocate during the latest collective bargaining agreement negotiations. She was an excellent member of the club, and her loss will be felt in both the locker room and the stands.
Curiously, there hasn’t yet been an official announcement of a new head coach, despite a rumor two weeks ago that the team was close to signing BK Häken women’s team head coach Mak Lind (the article is in Swedish, but if you open in Chrome browser you can translate). The article states negotiations were underway, but nothing was final. I don’t know much about the news source, so your guess is as good as mine on how credible the article is, but since this was already making the rounds in multiple social media channels, I figured it was worth sharing.
As for the team roster, let’s break down where we stand as of publication time.
Known and rumored departures:
- Katie Cappelletti (keeper) – joined the Courage mid-season as third-string keeper replacing Hensley Hancuff when she retired; contract not renewed per Courage Instagram post
- Sydney Collins (defender) – signed to Bay through 2027
- Kaleigh Kurtz (defender) – the veteran center back and Iron Woman signed with expansion side Denver Summit FC
- Heather MacNab (forward) – signed for partial season in 2025; contract not renewed per Courage Instagram post
- Charlotte McLean (defender) – currently on loan to Tampa Bay Sun FC; contract not renewed per Courage Instagram post
- Casey Murphy (keeper, former USWNT) – ESPN reported Murphy is heading to Boston Legacy; here’s the Courage farewell post
- Victoria Pickett (midfielder) – on loan to AFC Toronto; contract not renewed per Courage Instagram post
- Brianna Pinto (midfielder) – departing per Courage Instagram post
Contract renewals:
- Feli Rauch (defender) – extended for 2 years through 2027
- Dani Weatherholt – extended for 1 year through 2026
Still unannounced:
The following players’ contracts are up at the end of 2025, but haven’t yet been given a farewell note by the Courage. It’s reasonable to assume the club is in negotiations to retain them.
- Tyler Lussi (forward)
- Meredith Speck (midfielder)
- Olivia Wingate (forward)
End-of-season roster:
Here’s the recap from the Courage as it stands right now:
Goalkeepers (1): Marisa Jordan
Defenders (7): Maycee Bell, Brooklyn Courtnall (on loan to Bay FC), Natalie Jacobs, Feli Rauch, Sydney Schmidt, Natalia Staude, Ryan Williams
Midfielders (7): Riley Jackson, Shinomi Koyama, Manaka Matsukubo, Denise O’Sullivan, Oli Peña, Ashley Sanchez, Dani Weatherholt
Forwards (4): Hannah Betfort, Aline Gomes, Payton Linnehan, Cortnee Vine
Around the league and beyond
- Hayley Carter has moved to the Washington Spirit as Chief of Soccer Operations, departing Orlando Pride.
- Expansion side Boston Legacy made an excellent signing with Sophia Lowenburg.
- The USWNT ended their series of fall friendlies winning four straight matches, including two in the past week v. Italy. The last included a banger of a goal from former Courage player Jaedyn Shaw.
- Emily Keogh at ESPN wrote a great piece detailing the rapid development of players on the U23 national team, suggesting they will be an outstanding roster backstop for the World Cup and Olympics. The squad includes NC Courage player Riley Jackson. Development of the younger squads has been a major issue in the past, so it’s great to see things shifting. Emma Hayes is credited for reinvigorating focus on the U23 squad.
That’s it for this week!
We’ll be back next week with a final post-season analysis and roster updates.
As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.
Find us on BlueSky: @lionspitch