NWSL records and statistics
The following is a compilation of notable records and statistics for teams and players in the National Women's Soccer League, which started in 2013.[1]
Statistics for the NWSL Challenge Cup, a competition originally created in place of the 2020 season that was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are treated separately from regular season statistics.
Champions and shield winners[]
By season[]
Season | Playoff final | Regular season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Champions | Score | Runners-up | Shield winners | Points | Runners-up | |
2013 | Portland Thorns FC | 2–0 Details |
Western New York Flash | Western New York Flash | 38–38 Standings |
FC Kansas City |
2014 | FC Kansas City | 2–1 Details |
Seattle Reign FC | Seattle Reign FC | 54–41 Standings |
FC Kansas City |
2015 | FC Kansas City | 1–0 Details |
Seattle Reign FC | Seattle Reign FC | 43–33 Standings |
Chicago Red Stars |
2016 | Western New York Flash | 2–2 AET, 3–2 PKs Details |
Washington Spirit | Portland Thorns FC | 41–39 Standings |
Washington Spirit |
2017 | Portland Thorns FC | 1–0 Details |
North Carolina Courage | North Carolina Courage | 49–47 Standings |
Portland Thorns FC |
2018 | North Carolina Courage | 3–0 Details |
Portland Thorns FC | North Carolina Courage | 57–42 Standings |
Portland Thorns FC |
2019 | North Carolina Courage | 4–0 Details |
Chicago Red Stars | North Carolina Courage | 49–44 Standings |
Chicago Red Stars |
2021 | Washington Spirit | 2–1 AET Details |
Chicago Red Stars | Portland Thorns FC | 44–42 Standings |
OL Reign |
Total trophies by team[]
Team | Seasons* | Playoff appearances | Championships | Shields | Challenge Cups | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Carolina Courage | 4 | 4 | 2 (2018, 2019) | 3 (2017, 2018, 2019) | – | 5 |
Portland Thorns FC | 8 | 7 | 2 (2013, 2017) | 2 (2016, 2021) | 1 (2021) | 5 |
FC Kansas City 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 (2014, 2015) | – | – | 2 |
Western New York Flash 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 (2016) | 1 (2013) | – | 2 |
Washington Spirit | 8 | 4 | 1 (2021) | – | – | 1 |
OL Reign/Reign FC/Seattle Reign FC | 8 | 5 | – | 2 (2014, 2015) | – | 2 |
Houston Dash | 7 | 0 | – | – | 1 (2020*) | 1 |
Chicago Red Stars | 8 | 6 | – | – | – | 0 |
Orlando Pride | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 0 |
NJ/NY Gotham FC/Sky Blue FC | 8 | 2 | – | – | – | 0 |
Kansas City Current | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Racing Louisville | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Utah Royals FC 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
Boston Breakers 1 | 5 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 |
*While there was no 2020 regular season, i.e. not adding to the numbers in the second column, 2020 did include the inaugural Challenge Cup which was won by the Houston Dash; as well as the 2020 Fall Series, in which the "Community Shield" (separate from the NWSL Shield and thus not included here) was won by the Portland Thorns.
1 – Defunct, no longer in NWSL
Team records[]
Wins[]
- Most wins in a season (24 games): 17, North Carolina Courage (2018)
- Fewest wins in a season (20 games): 3, Boston Breakers (2016)
- Fewest wins in a season (24 games): 1, Sky Blue FC (2018)
- Most consecutive wins in a season: 7, joint record:
- FC Kansas City (2014)
- Seattle Reign FC (2014)
- Portland Thorns FC (2017)
- Most consecutive games without a win: 23, Sky Blue FC (2018)
- Most consecutive away games without a win: 19, Boston Breakers (between August 6, 2014 and July 10, 2016)
- Most consecutive home wins in a season: 7, joint record:
- Portland Thorns FC (between June 28, 2017 and September 30, 2017)
- North Carolina Courage (between July 5, 2019 and October 12, 2019)
- Most consecutive home wins: 8, Portland Thorns FC (between June 28, 2017 and April 15, 2018)
- Most wins in total (172 games): 89, Portland Thorns FC
Losses[]
- Fewest losses in a season (24 games): 1, North Carolina Courage (2018)
- Longest unbeaten run: 16 games, Seattle Reign FC (between April 13, 2014 and July 6, 2014)
- Most losses in total (182 games): 81, Washington Spirit
- Fewest home losses in a season (12 games): 0, Seattle Reign FC (2014)
- Most consecutive losses in a season: 10, Washington Spirit (2018)
- Most consecutive home games undefeated: 22, Seattle Reign FC (between April 13, 2014 and August 29, 2015)
Attendance[]
Season | Overall | Highest | Lowest | Playoff mean | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Mean | Median | Club | Mean | Club | Mean | ||
2013 | 375,743 | 4,270 | 3,007 | Portland Thorns FC | 13,320 | Sky Blue FC | 1,664 | 6,820 |
2014 | 446,311 | 4,133 | 3,014 | Portland Thorns FC | 13,362 | Sky Blue FC | 1,639 | 3,763 |
2015 | 454,100 | 5,046 | 3,367 | Portland Thorns FC | 15,639 | Sky Blue FC | 2,268 | 6,766 |
2016 | 555,775 | 5,558 | 3,997 | Portland Thorns FC | 16,945 | Sky Blue FC | 2,162 | 10,863 |
2017 | 609,960 | 5,083 | 3,576 | Portland Thorns FC | 17,653 | FC Kansas City | 1,788 | 12,111 |
2018 | 650,562 | 6,024 | 4,025 | Portland Thorns FC | 16,959 | Sky Blue FC | 2,531 | 13,3231 |
2019 | 792,409 | 7,337 | 5,565 | Portland Thorns FC | 20,098 | Sky Blue FC | 3,338 | 8,956 |
20212 | 567,072 | 5,155 | Portland Thorns FC | 14,391 | Chicago Red Stars | 3,222 | 8,774 |
1 A semifinal that would have been played in North Carolina was moved to Portland due to Hurricane Florence.
2 Due to restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teams had reduced capacities for part or all of the season, including some games with zero fans.
Goals[]
- Most goals scored in a season: 54, North Carolina Courage (2019)
- Fewest goals scored in a season: 12, Washington Spirit (2018)
- Most goals conceded in a season: 53, Orlando Pride (2019)
- Fewest goals conceded in a season (joint record): 17, North Carolina Courage (2018), Portland Thorns (2021)
- Best goal difference in a season: 36, North Carolina Courage (2018)
- Most goals scored in total: 283, Portland Thorns FC
- Most goals conceded in total: 279, Sky Blue FC
- Most consecutive games scoring: 28 games, FC Kansas City (2013–2014) includes 3 playoff games
- Most consecutive games scoring 2+ goals: 7 games, Western New York Flash (2013)
- Longest shutout streak (joint record): 5 games, Seattle Reign FC (2016), North Carolina Courage (2021)
Regular season records[]
Through 2021 season (Regular season games only)
Pts Rank (Prev. Season) |
PPG Rank (Prev. Season) |
Club | Seasons[a] | GP | W | L | D | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Pts Per Game |
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finishing Positions | ||||||||||||||||
1 (1) | 2 (2) | Portland Thorns FC | 8 (2013–) | 182 | 89 | 49 | 44 | 283 | 204 | +79 | 311 | 1.709 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
2 (2) | 3 (3) | OL Reign[b] | 8 (2013–) | 182 | 85 | 52 | 45 | 276 | 205 | +71 | 300 | 1.648 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
3 (3) | 4 (4) | Chicago Red Stars | 8 (2013–) | 182 | 79 | 51 | 52 | 259 | 218 | +41 | 289 | 1.588 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
4 (4) | 8 (8) | Washington Spirit | 8 (2013–) | 182 | 60 | 81 | 41 | 214 | 265 | −51 | 221 | 1.214 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
5 (5) | 9 (10) | NJ/NY Gotham FC[c] | 8 (2013–) | 182 | 55 | 77 | 50 | 219 | 279 | −60 | 215 | 1.181 | 1 | |||
6 (7) | 1 (1) | North Carolina Courage | 4 (2017–) | 96 | 57 | 22 | 17 | 173 | 85 | +88 | 188 | 1.958 | 3 | |||
7 (8) | 11 (11) | Houston Dash | 7 (2014–) | 160 | 49 | 80 | 31 | 183 | 244 | −61 | 178 | 1.113 | ||||
8 (6) | 5 (5) | FC Kansas City | 5 (2013–2017) | 110 | 45 | 36 | 27 | 152 | 125 | +27 | 168 | 1.527 | 2 | 1 | ||
9 (10) | 10 (8) | Orlando Pride | 5 (2016–) | 116 | 36 | 55 | 25 | 146 | 183 | −37 | 133 | 1.147 | 1 | |||
10 (9) | 7 (7) | Western New York Flash | 4 (2013–2016) | 86 | 33 | 31 | 22 | 142 | 118 | +24 | 119 | 1.384 | 1 | 1 | ||
11 (11) | 13 (12) | Boston Breakers | 5 (2013–2017) | 110 | 25 | 65 | 20 | 132 | 212 | −80 | 95 | 0.864 | ||||
12 (12) | 6 (6) | Utah Royals FC | 2 (2018–2019) | 48 | 19 | 17 | 12 | 47 | 48 | −1 | 69 | 1.438 | ||||
13 (-) | 12 (-) | Racing Louisville | 1 (2021– ) | 24 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 21 | 40 | −19 | 22 | 0.917 | ||||
14 (-) | 14 (-) | Kansas City Current[d] | 1 (2021– ) | 24 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 36 | -21 | 16 | 0.667 |
Sort order is Pts, finishing positions, wins
Playoff records[]
Through 2021 playoffs
Rank | Club | Championships | Runner Up | Seasons Qualified |
GP | W | L | D1 | Penalty Wins1 |
PPG | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | North Carolina Courage | 2 | 1 | 4/4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.143 | 14 | 3 | 11 |
2 | Portland Thorns FC | 2 | 1 | 7/8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1.500 | 15 | 16 | −1 |
3 | FC Kansas City | 2 | 0 | 3/5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.400 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
4 | Washington Spirit | 1 | 1 | 4/8 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.857 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
5 | Western New York Flash | 1 | 1 | 2/4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.750 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
6 | Chicago Red Stars | 0 | 2 | 6/8 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 6 | 14 | −8 |
7 | OL Reign | 0 | 2 | 5/8 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.857 | 9 | 12 | −3 |
8 | Orlando Pride | 0 | 0 | 1/5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 1 | 4 | −3 |
8 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 0 | 0 | 2/8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0 | 3 | −3 |
1Ties after 120min decided by penalties
Sort order is Championships, Runners-Up, PPG
Player records[]
Most minutes played[]
Rank | Player | Minutes Played | Games |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Lauren Barnes | 14,727 | 170 |
2 | McCall Zerboni | 13,874 | 167 |
3 | Allie Long | 13,495 | 156 |
4 | Tori Huster | 12,992 | 158 |
5 | Merritt Mathias | 12,929 | 164 |
6 | Nicole Barnhart | 12,494 | 141 |
7 | Jess Fishlock | 12,431 | 144 |
8 | Christine Sinclair | 12,395 | 143 |
9 | Becky Sauerbrunn | 12,181 | 138 |
10 | Ali Krieger | 12,148 | 141 |
11 | Emily Menges | 12,028 | 128 |
12 | Christine Nairn | 11,553 | 155 |
13 | Kristie Mewis | 11,441 | 140 |
14 | Estelle Johnson | 11,369 | 127 |
15 | Ashlyn Harris | 11,342 | 127 |
16 | Abby Erceg | 11,229 | 128 |
17 | Sofia Huerta | 11,157 | 133 |
18 | Alyssa Naeher | 11,115 | 124 |
19 | Kealia Watt | 11,101 | 138 |
20 | Sarah Woldmoe | 10,828 | 127 |
Most appearances, regular season only[]
2013–2021 seasons. 182 total matches.[3]
Rank | Player | Games |
---|---|---|
1 | Lauren Barnes | 170 |
2 | McCall Zerboni | 167 |
3 | Merritt Mathias | 164 |
4 | Tori Huster | 158 |
5 | Jessica McDonald | 156 |
Allie Long | ||
7 | Christine Nairn | 155 |
8 | Jess Fishlock | 144 |
9 | Christine Sinclair | 143 |
10 | Nicole Barnhart | 141 |
Ali Krieger | ||
12 | Kristie Mewis | 140 |
Jasmyne Spencer | ||
Erika Tymrak | ||
15 | Emily Menges | 138 |
Becky Sauerbrunn | ||
Kealia Watt | ||
18 | Alyssa Mautz | 135 |
19 | Amber Brooks | 134 |
20 | Vanessa DiBernardo | 133 |
Sofia Huerta | ||
Angela Salem |
Goals[]
- First NWSL goal: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 3rd minute (13 April 2013)
- Fastest goal: Raquel Rodriguez for Sky Blue FC against Portland Thorns FC, 24 seconds
- Most goals in a season (24 games): 18, Samantha Kerr
- Most goals in a game: 4, Samantha Kerr,[4] Kristen Hamilton[5]
- Most hat-tricks in a season: 2, Samantha Kerr [4]
- Most consecutive seasons to score at least 8 goals: 3 (joint record)
- Christen Press, 2015–2017 (all for Chicago Red Stars)
- Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars)
- Lynn Williams, 2016–2018 (with Western New York Flash, North Carolina Courage)
- Most different clubs to score for: 5 (joint record)
- Jessica McDonald for Seattle Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, Western New York Flash, and North Carolina Courage
- Kristie Mewis for Kansas City, Boston Breakers, Washington Spirit, Chicago Red Stars, and Houston Dash
Top scorers[]
Goals and appearances, regular season only[]
Rank | Player | Goals | Games |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Samantha Kerr | 77 | 119 |
2 | Lynn Williams | 57 | 117 |
3 | Christine Sinclair | 54 | 143 |
4 | Jessica McDonald | 51 | 156 |
5 | Christen Press | 45 | 85 |
6 | Carli Lloyd | 43 | 107 |
7 | Megan Rapinoe | 40 | 86 |
8 | Amy Rodriguez | 39 | 101 |
9 | Alex Morgan | 38 | 102 |
10 | Sydney Leroux | 37 | 113 |
11 | Jess Fishlock | 34 | 144 |
12 | Allie Long | 34 | 156 |
13 | Rachel Daly | 33 | 95 |
14 | Crystal Dunn | 33 | 104 |
15 | Sofia Huerta | 33 | 133 |
16 | Kealia Watt | 33 | 138 |
17 | Kim Little | 32 | 63 |
18 | Nadia Nadim | 31 | 68 |
19 | Jodie Taylor | 31 | 81 |
20 | Ashley Hatch | 28 | 88 |
Leading goalscorers in playoffs[]
Rank | Player | Goals |
---|---|---|
1 | Amy Rodriguez | 6 |
2 | Crystal Dunn | 4 |
Jessica McDonald | ||
Samantha Mewis | ||
5 | Debinha | 3 |
Tobin Heath | ||
Lindsey Horan | ||
Megan Rapinoe | ||
Christine Sinclair | ||
Lynn Williams |
NWSL top goalscorers by season (regular season only)[]
Year | Player | goals | games |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Lauren Holiday | 12 | 18 |
2014 | Kim Little | 16 | 23 |
2015 | Crystal Dunn | 15 | 20 |
2016 | Lynn Williams | 11 | 19 |
2017 | Samantha Kerr | 17 | 22 |
2018 | Samantha Kerr | 16 | 19 |
2019 | Samantha Kerr | 18 | 21 |
2021 | Ashley Hatch | 10 | 20 |
Assists[]
- Most assists in a season: 10, Tobin Heath (2016)
- Most assists in a single match: 4, Nahomi Kawasumi (for Seattle Reign FC v. Washington Spirit, 16 May 2017)[7]
Most assists[]
Rank | Player | Assists | Games |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Tobin Heath | 25 | 74 |
Jessica McDonald | 127 | ||
Christine Nairn | 143 | ||
4 | Lynn Williams | 24 | 86 |
5 | Nahomi Kawasumi | 19 | 68 |
Samantha Kerr | 98 | ||
Sofia Huerta | 109 | ||
8 | Vanessa DiBernardo | 18 | 94 |
Kelley O'Hara | 83 | ||
Alex Morgan | |||
11 | Lauren Holiday | 17 | 80 |
Jess Fishlock | 116 | ||
13 | Crystal Dunn | 16 | 76 |
Kim Little | 63 | ||
Heather O'Reilly | 75 |
Top assists by season[]
Year | Player | Assists | Apps |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Lauren Holiday | 9 | 18 |
2014 | Jessica Fishlock | 8 | 22 |
2015 | Kim Little | 7 | 20 |
2016 | Tobin Heath | 10 | 15 |
2017 | Nahomi Kawasumi | 9 | 24 |
2018 | Jessica McDonald | 8 | 23 |
2019 | Yūki Nagasato | 8 | 24 |
2021* | Trinity Rodman | 6 | 22 |
Sofia Huerta | 6 | 23 |
*Joint record
Goalkeepers[]
# | Player | Shutouts | Apps |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Nicole Barnhart | 51 | 131 |
2 | Alyssa Naeher | 36 | 118 |
3 | Adrianna Franch | 29 | 80 |
4 | Ashlyn Harris | 17 | 108 |
Katelyn Rowland | 49 | ||
6 | Lydia Williams | 16 | 57 |
7 | Aubrey Kingsbury | 15 | 58 |
Stephanie Labbé | 41 | ||
9 | Brittany Cameron | 14 | 45 |
Karina LeBlanc | 50 |
Match records[]
Last updated December 4, 2019
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See also[]
- NWSL Shield
- NWSL awards
- List of NWSL drafts
- Women's soccer in the United States
References[]
- ^ "Stats". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
- ^ "NWSL Player Stats".
- ^ Cooper, Jen (2021), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, p. 13.
- ^ a b "Sam Kerr finishes NWSL season with bushel of scoring records". www.socceramerica.com. Retrieved 2017-11-19.
- ^ intive. "Kristen Hamilton scores four, Courage win 5-2". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
- ^ Cooper, Jen (2019), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, Keeper Notes, p. 8.
- ^ Ltd, Simplestream. "Nahomi Kawasumi named Player of the Week". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
- ^ Cooper, pp. 6–7
External links[]
- National Women's Soccer League
- All-time football league tables
- Women's association football records and statistics
- National Women's Soccer League lists
- Lists of women's association football players