Bay Area hopes to score NWSL team for 2024

By Aliana Urdaneta-Rodas ’25

San Francisco is close to netting a team in the NWSL. The National Women’s Soccer League has bid to expand their team to the Bay Area, which is among two other finalists preparing for the league’s next round of expansion.

The three finalists are Boston, Utah, and the Bay Area. The NWSL currently has 12 teams, and with the additional three teams the league hopes to expand to 15 by 2024.

One of Riordan’s varsity soccer players, Josie EspinozaSchleiker ’25, said she’s “super excited.” She added, “I think it’s really cool seeing the expansion of women’s soccer and just seeing it grow over time.”

The proposal of adding a NWSL team to the Bay Area was imagined by four former professional soccer players, Danielle Slayton, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner, and Brandi Chastain. Three of them grew up in San Jose and all played for Santa Clara University.

Captain of the varsity soccer team India Bowles ’23 agreed that the Bay Area is an