Photo Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
As 2025 draws to a close, it’s time for The Equalizer to recap the most important events and moments that made the year memorable. Here are the first four, with the remainder of the list coming before the end of the year.
After multiple Achilles tears, Simone Charley scores first goal in three years
Simone Charley’s career arc is unusual even by the standards of the NWSL. After going undrafted in 2018, she hooked up with the Thorns as a practice player. That led to a roster spot opened up by myriad absences during the 2019 World Cup. By 2021 Charley had turned herself into a viable league player when she appeared in 19 matches and scored five goals during a Shield-winning season in Portland.
The winds of expansion sent her to Angel City, but then the injuries set in. Charley blew out not one but two Achilles, suffering the second injury in one of her first training sessions after recovering from the first. Now in Orlando, she took the field on August 3 against the Royals in her first action since April 2, 2023, the date of her first injury.
In the interim, Charley had won another Shield and became an NWSL Champion in 2024, but whatever contributions she made to that team did not include any game action.
The story, however, was far from complete. Charley, who has also taken a leadership role with the NWSL Players Association, became a regular part of Seb Hines’ rotation with the Pride and played a full half during a start on September 7.
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