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USWNT Stock Up, Stock Down: How Long Until Emma Hayes Calls Up Trinity Byars?

There were ups and downs for up-and-coming American strikers, while Ashley Sanchez's historic year continued.
Theo Lloyd-Hughes|
Trinity Byars has scored four goals in her las two games.
Trinity Byars has scored four goals in her las two games. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Welcome back to your weekly feature from Sports Illustrated that analyzes the women’s soccer weekend from a U.S. women’s national team perspective.

We’re getting closer and closer to the next international window, and European soccer is back. Women’s soccer is underway in Germany and Spain, with the English Women’s Super League, home to USWNT stars like Sam Coffey, Alyssa Thompson and Phallon Tullis-Joyce, getting underway Sept. 4.

With the NWSL rolling into the final couple of months of the season now, this is one of the most competitive times of the year for global club soccer. The battle to be on Emma Hayes’s next roster for the October friendlies is going to be fierce.

Let’s take a look at who saw their stocks rise and fall this past weekend.

Stock Up

Trinity Byars

San Diego Wave forward has made it two braces in two weeks in her team’s 3–2 comeback win over Racing Louisville this past weekend. The 23-year-old is now up to 10 goals this season, her full season in the NWSL after tearing her ACL before graduating from the University of Texas in 2024.

Byars has started knocking on the door the last couple of months and last week in Stock Up, Stock Down, we talked about how good she is in one-on-one breakaways. Well, she added more feathers to her cap with a silky, laser-like shot from outside the box against Louisville—her first goal from outside the box in her NWSL career.

Although the NWSL has many talented American forwards, true center forwards that could feature for the USWNT don’t seem as common. Byars feels like a natural rotation option to get minutes when assumed starter Sophia Wilson comes off the pitch. It just feels like a matter of time before she gets the call. Is she ready? Why not call her up and find out?

Ashley Sanchez

The year of Ashley Sanchez continues. The 27-year-old netted twice for the North Carolina Courage in their 2–0 midweek win over Angel City, and then went on to get an assist in the Courage’s 3–2 defeat to the KC Current at the weekend.

Sanchez is up to 15 goals and four assists in 2026. Her goal total ties a record for the most ever by an American player in a single NWSL season, alongside Alex Morgan (2022) and Crystal Dunn (2015). She also set a new team record for most goals in a single season for the Courage.

Part of why Sanchez has been so unstoppable this season is that she’s been deployed on the left wing, but can come central and take shots on her right foot in the box. This positional quirk could give her an interesting gateway into the USWNT. She’s not a traditional winger, but with a stretch fullback behind her, there’s an upside to having an inverted winger like Sanchez around.

Naomi Girma

With European soccer creeping back into the picture, it is a good time to give some flowers to Chelsea center back Naomi Girma. The 26-year-old vice-captain of the USWNT scored in Chelsea’s 5–2 first-leg win over Real Sociedad in the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers. Girma also wore the captain’s armband for the Blues.

Chelsea were surprised early when Sociedad took an unexpected 1–0 lead. But Girma showed some ingenuity to tuck home a corner kick at the near post in the 29th minute, leveling things at 1–1 and igniting an important comeback win.

Girma has had injury issues since signing for Chelsea in January 2025. Since signing, she’s played in fewer than half of Chelsea’s matches in the English Women’s Super League. Now she is gearing up for a full season where she will be playing herself into a big role for the USWNT in a World Cup year. This was a nice start to the year for Girma.

Stock Down

Rose Lavelle

There’s very little concrete information on Rose Lavelle’s head injury that she suffered the weekend before last in Gotham’s 0–0 with Angel City. She missed this past weekend’s 1–1 draw with the Portland Thorns as she was in the concussion protocol.

Gotham interim manager Shaun Harris said after the Thorns draw: “I haven’t had any updates [on Rose]. She wasn’t available for this game. I’ll catch up with them [the medical team] and see where we’re at for the next game.” Hopefully the USWNT talisman is back soon.

NJ/NY Gotham FC midfielder Rose Lavelle (16) centers the ball against Bay FC
Rose Lavelle’s USWNT status is unclear as she recovers from a head injury. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Karlie Lema

It may not feel like Karlie Lema is in the USWNT conversation just yet. The 23-year-old has been on and off with the youth national team age groups and has been involved with the U-23 group in the last year. And yet, she’s a prospect and was only two goals behind Byars five weeks ago.

Lema missed a big chance in the first half of Bay’s 1–0 defeat to the Washington Spirit. On the one hand, she showed great timing and anticipation to see the pass and cut in front of Spirit center back Esme Morgan. On the other hand, she couldn’t find the right connection from close range and the ball flicked up onto the bar.

That was Lema’s only chance of the match, and she was hooked after 60 minutes as Bay went in search of an equalizer with a different dimension. A promising player, and one to watch, but being surpassed by others at the moment.

Jane Campbell, Avery Patterson

Communication might just be the trickiest part of soccer. An example of how big the repercussions of a miscommunication can be is plain to see in the Seattle Reign’s 1–0 win over the Houston Dash. Goalkeeper Jane Campbell came off her line to try and get a hand on Maddie Mercado’s cross but inadvertently stopped her teammate Avery Patterson from being able to make a vital touch that would have stopped Maddie Dahlien from scoring the winning goal.

In the end, Campbell makes Patterson misstep, and that’s that. A 1–0 win for Seattle. Fine margins. Both Dash players have to chalk up a bit of blame, and the error will be a painful one. What will hurt Patterson more is not being able to do enough for Houston’s attack. The Dash generated just four shots in this defeat; Patterson created zero chances and had just one touch in the Seattle box.

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Theo Lloyd-Hughes
THEO LLOYD-HUGHES

Theo Lloyd-Hughes is a writer for Sports Illustrated Soccer based in the Southern United States. Originally from England, he can often be found in a press box across the NWSL or at international matches featuring the USWNT and other Concacaf nations.

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