The clubs and structure for the 2025 WPSL season have been announced.
With the departure of Sioux Falls City and Dakota Fusion (at least for now), the WPSL has taken the opportunity to reorganize (what was) the Northern Conference.
The Northern Conference has steadily grown while remaining an outlier until the point where last season, 10 teams competed for 1 playoff spot. Instead, 2025 will see the debut of the North Lakes Conference. To make the new conference, the Lake Michigan division shifts over from the Midwest Conference, and the remaining teams from the Northern Conference make up the Land of Lakes division.
Come playoff time, the winners of the two divisions will play a Conference Championship for a single spot in the Central Playoffs.
The returning teams in the Land of Lakes division
Salvo SC, who play at University of Northwestern in Roseville, MN, finished second in the North last season and are perennial challengers for a playoff berth.
Prior to Sioux Falls City's emergence, Richfield-based Minnesota Thunder provided a duopoly with Salvo but have consistently declined a playoff spot as a matter of club policy.
Joy Athletic Club are the NPSL arm of the St. Paul-based "free play" non-profit, who have thus far not challenged for a playoff spot.
White Bear Lake's Manitou FC finished the season with one win.
MapleBrook Fury are now MN Bliss , as part of a partnership with the UPSL's Tonka Fusion Elite. Formerly challengers, they endured a 2-2-5 season.
The eastern border of the Twin Cities metro (and the Wisconsin border) brings Stillwater, MN based St Croix Legacy.
Outside of the Metro, there remains Mankato United (who were challengers in the era of Jenny Vetter, but no longer) and Minnesota Dutch Lions (who were previously Rochester United FC)
