USWNT Stock Up, Stock Down: Kennedy Wesley Should Be in Emma Hayes’s Plans

Welcome back to your new weekly feature from Sports Illustrated that analyzes the women’s soccer weekend from a U.S. women’s national team perspective. If you missed last week’s edition, check it out here.

This was the final weekend of matches before the FIFA international window that will see the USWNT take on Japan three times in a week. Manager Emma Hayes has already named her 26-player roster for the window, so, in some ways, the April audition was over. But every game, every weekend, is a chance to impress. And so, this latest slate of matches was no different.

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Whether these Americans are vying for more minutes in the upcoming Japan matches or are determined to make the next roster in June, these are the players who saw their stock rise and fall this past weekend.

USWNT Stock Up

Kennedy Wesley

The San Diego Wave have stormed to the top of the NWSL standings after a shutout 1–0 win on the road against the Boston Legacy. At the heart of that defensive effort was Kennedy Wesley. The Wave defender is the epitome of composure.

Calm on the ball, Wesley completed 60 of 65 passes (92%). Outside of those five misplaced passes, she was not dispossessed on the ball across the 90 minutes. The 25-year-old also went 6-for-6 on ground duels and 2-for-3 on aerial duels. This was a near-perfect game with and without the ball, as Boston was held to zero shots on target and 0.45 expected goals.

Wesley has seemingly jumped above Tara Rudd in the centerback pecking order for the USWNT, and based on the start to 2026 in the NWSL, it makes sense. With Tierna Davidson also making her recovery from an ACL injury, the U.S. backline is highly competitive.

Jaedyn Shaw

What hamstring injury? After sitting out three matches, Jaedyn Shaw started for Gotham in their 2–1 defeat to the Kansas City Current and scored her first goal of the season from outside the box in the 27th minute. The strike made it 1–0 and briefly silenced the home fans, before KC came storming back.

Shaw was removed at halftime, as she was on a minutes restriction. But the opportunistic low, curling finish was a reminder of the quality she has on the edge of the box—something which both Gotham and the USWNT are looking for. Time will tell how many minutes she gets against Japan this month.

JAEDYN SHAW LOVES SCORING IN KANSAS CITY 🤩 pic.twitter.com/SyFT6egmgw
— W Golazo (@WGolazo) April 4, 2026

Reilyn Turner

Portland Thorns forward Reilyn Turner may not have made it onto the USWNT roster for the trio of friendlies against Japan, but she is banging down the door for a call-up. After being lauded for her aerial threat in last week’s “Stock Up, Stock Down,“ Turner went and showcased her ability to dunk in the NWSL once more in the Thorns’ 2–2 draw with the NC Courage.

At 5’ 8”, Turner really has a winning combination of hops and anticipation. Watch how the 23-year-old bends her runs from wide areas and monitors when and where a teammate is going to try and find her from deep in order to make things happen in the box. That’s now two headed goals in two weeks, both assisted by fellow UCLA alum Jayden Perry.

liv and reilyn have been popping off this season 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/JCj73YnJ1G
— Portland Thorns FC (@ThornsFC) April 5, 2026

USWNT Stock Down

Jane Campbell

Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell has fought tooth and nail to get back into the USWNT picture, with her last appearance for her country coming a year ago. The 31-year-old has had a great start to 2026, but will be disappointed with how things played out in the Dash’s 4–3 win over the weekend.

Campbell made just one save in the topsy-turvy match. Worst of all, she gave away the penalty kick and was shown a yellow card in the 81st minute, which allowed Taylor Flint to equalize and make it 3–3 from the spot before Houston stormed back once more.

A hand injury to Mandy McGlynn has opened up space on the roster for Campbell, but, at least for now, she feels cemented as the third choice available behind Phallon Tullis-Joyce and Claudia Dickey.

cool calm & collected part ✌️#HOUvLOU | @FireballWhisky pic.twitter.com/0Cd2c9SGri
— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) April 4, 2026

Rose Lavelle

Who would have guessed that, five games into the 2026 season, Rose Lavelle would have zero goal contributions? Gotham is struggling to create chances and score goals, and the 30-year-old USWNT star isn’t her usual self.

Lavelle averaged about a goal or an assist every other game during her first two seasons with Gotham (17 in 36 NWSL games). Not only has she failed to find the back of the net or create chances for others, but she is also taking fewer shots in 2026. In her first two Gotham seasons, Lavelle averaged 2.91 shots per game and 1.35 shots on target per game. Those numbers have dipped to 1.78 and 0.45, respectively, to start 2026.

The Gotham midfielder went the full 90 minutes in Kansas City over the weekend, as she has done in four out of five matches this season. Lavelle is one to put the team on her back, and perhaps the upcoming window with the USWNT will be the remedy to reignite her shooting.

Emily Sams

It was an unhappy return to Orlando for Emily Sams, who made the switch from the Pride to Angel City during the offseason. Los Angeles was seconds away from stealing a point before Haley McCutcheon got her second of the night to make it 2–1 to the Pride in the 98th minute.

Neither of McCutcheon’s goals reflected well on Sams. On Orlando’s first goal, the ACFC centerback got caught between closing the space on the wing and dropping deeper to where McCutcheon is crashing the box. On the second goal, there is chaos in the box on a set piece and Sams can’t fight the fire.

An absolutely wild sequence that ends in a Haley McCutcheon goal 😳

The Pride take a late lead over undefeated Angel City ‼️

🎥 @NWSL pic.twitter.com/oVk0TrywNq
— W Golazo (@WGolazo) April 4, 2026

In the 10th minute of the match, Sams also got exposed on a positional mix-up she didn’t pick up the runner on a ball over the top to Barbra Banda. That time, ACFC goalkeeper Angelina Anderson and centerback Sarah Gorden, came to the rescue.

ACFC’s defensive breakdowns by were not entirely Sams’s fault. Anderson showed poor handling for the second, and with captain Gorden returning to the starting XI for the first time since the opening game, there’s perhaps an issue of familiarity here. But Sams needs to be a leader and organize this backline. So some of that responsibility falls on her, even as a new signing.

Sams was left off the USWNT roster for April, and with so many talented centerbacks crowding out the position, the battle to get back on is only going to intensify.