Santa Clara University Alumnae Shine During National Women’s Soccer League Championship Week
Brandi Chastain ’91 looks at the crowd while on stage at the 2025 NWSL Championship Fan Fest on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
Santa Clara University women’s soccer alumnae and Bay FC co-founders Brandi Chastain ’91, Danielle Slaton ’02, Aly Wagner ’02 and Leslie Osborne ’05 were key features at the National Women’s Soccer League Championship hosted in San Jose on Nov. 22.
The league and local women’s soccer community put on events throughout the days leading up to the game in which Gotham FC beat the Washington Spirit 1-0 at PayPal Park.
The week started off with the 2025 NWSL Awards Ceremony where Chastain presented the Most Valuable Player award to Temwa Chawinga.
At media day, Leslie Osborne interviewed various people for Front Office Sports including Washington Spirit forward Trinity Rodman, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman and Gotham FC owner Carolyn Tisch Blodgett.
Leslie Osborne interviews Trinity Rodman of the Washington Spirit during the 2025 NWSL Championship Media Day at the San Jose Civic on Nov. 20, 2025. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
At the 2025 NWSL Championship Fan Fest at The Lot at Creekside in San Jose, Brandi Chastain ’91 and Leslie Osborne ’05 were guests at a live taping of The SoccerGirl Podcast. They appeared alongside fellow former United States Women’s National Team players Abby Wambach and Julie Foudy.
Brandi Chastain competes against Julie Foudy while Leslie Osborne looks on while playing a game that pitted Bay Area residents Osborne and Chastain against Southern Californians Wambach and Foudy. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
Leslie Osborne, back to back with Abby Wambach, jumps while playing a game at the 2025 NWSL Championship Fan Fest at The Lot at Creekside in San Jose, Calif. on Nov. 20, 2025. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
All four founders matched in trench coats to the Sports Are Fun! live podcast taping.
Slaton and Chastain were also guests at the Welcome To The Party show.
Other women’s soccer alumnae participated in the festivities surrounding the game.
Jordan Angeli ’08 served as an analyst for the CBS Sports broadcast of the 2025 NWSL Championship Skills Challenge at Spartan Soccer Complex at San Jose State University, on Friday, Nov. 21.
Jordan Angeli poses for a photograph before the 2025 NWSL Skills Challenge. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
Left: Angel City FC player Riley Tiernan and Racing Louisville player Taylor Flint react to Tiernan’s attempt to kick a ball into a net during a challenge. Right: The skills challenge teams react to Team Black’s win. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara
Former Santa Clara University women’s soccer player Jennifer Lalor ’96 won her second NWSL championship as an assistant coach for Gotham FC.
The game itself was a vindication of the founders’ belief in the professional women’s soccer fandom in the Bay Area. The two teams played in front of a sold-out crowd of 18,000 at PayPal Park.
The 2025 NWSL Championship at PayPal Park in San Jose was sold out. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)
Chants of “Bay FC” along with the team’s merch were seen across events all around San Jose.
Onlookers laugh during a live taping of the RE–CAP Show at the Ally House at Guildhouse in San Jose on Nov. 22, 2025. One attendee is wearing a Bay FC jersey signed by Brandi Chastain. (Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)