NWSL records and statistics

Notable records and statistics in the NWSL

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
2022 Portland Thorns FC 2–0
Details
Kansas City Current OL Reign 40–39
Standings
Portland Thorns FC
2023 NJ/NY Gotham FC 2–1
Details
OL Reign San Diego Wave FC 37–35
Standings
Portland Thorns FC

Total trophies by team

Italics indicates a defunct team.

Team Seasons* Playoff appearances Championships Shields Challenge Cups Total
North Carolina Courage 7 5 2 (2018, 2019) 3 (2017, 2018, 2019) 2 (2022, 2023) 7
Portland Thorns FC 11 9 3 (2013, 2017, 2022) 2 (2016, 2021) 1 (2021) 6
OL Reign/Reign FC/Seattle Reign FC 11 7 3 (2014, 2015, 2022) 3
FC Kansas City 5 3 2 (2014, 2015) 2
Western New York Flash 4 2 1 (2016) 1 (2013) 2
San Diego Wave FC 3 2 1 (2023) 1 (2024) 2
Washington Spirit 11 4 1 (2021) 1
NJ/NY Gotham FC/Sky Blue FC 11 3 1 (2023) 1
Houston Dash 10 1 1 (2020*) 1
Chicago Red Stars 11 7 0
Angel City FC 3 1 0
Kansas City Current 4 1 0
Orlando Pride 8 1 0
Bay FC 1 0 0
Utah Royals FC 3 0 0
Racing Louisville FC 4 0 0
Boston Breakers 5 0 0

*While there was no 2020 regular season (i.e., it is not included in the second column), 2020 did include the inaugural Challenge Cup, which was won by the Houston Dash. It also included 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.

Team records

Wins

Losses

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
2022 1,042,063 7,917 Angel City FC 19,105 Orlando Pride 4,385 21,730
2023 1,366,581 San Diego Wave 20,718 North Carolina Courage 5,384

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

Regular season records

Through 2023 season (regular season games only)[2][3]

Pts rank
(prev.
season)
PPG rank
(prev.
season)
Club Seasons[a] GP W D L GF GA GD Pts PPG 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
Finishing positions
1 (2) 4 (2) Portland Thorns FC 10 (2013–) 226 109 58 59 374 260 +114 385 1.548 2 4 3
2 (1) 3 (1) OL Reign[b] 10 (2013–) 226 105 57 64 337 248 89 372 1.646 3 1 1 1
3 (6) 7 (6) Chicago Red Stars 10 (2013–) 226 95 61 70 321 296 25 324 1.433 2 1 3
4 (11) 10 (11) Washington Spirit 10 (2013–) 226 70 60 96 266 327 -61 270 1.194 1 1 2
5 (12) 13 (12) NJ/NY Gotham FC[c] 10 (2013–) 226 67 58 101 260 319 -89 259 1.146 1
6 (7) 1 (7) North Carolina Courage 6 (2017–) 140 75 28 37 248 140 108 253 1.80714 3 1
7 (4) 11 (4) Houston Dash 9 (2014–) 204 65 45 94 234 289 -55 240 1.1754 1
8 (10) 12 (10) Orlando Pride 7 (2016–) 160 51 33 76 195 256 -61 186 1.1625 1
9 (-) 6 (-) FC Kansas City 5 (2013–2017) 110 45 27 36 152 125 27 168 1.527 2 1
10 (-) 8 (-) Western New York Flash 4 (2013–2016) 86 33 22 31 142 118 24 119 1.384 1 1
11 (-) 16 (-) Boston Breakers 5 (2013–2017) 110 25 20 65 132 212 -80 95 0.864
12 (5) 14 (5) Kansas City Current[d] 3 (2021–) 72 21 15 32 74 101 -27 78 1.0833
15 (3) 2 (3) San Diego Wave FC 2 (2022–) 44 21 10 13 63 43 20 73 1.659 1 1
14 (9) 15 (9) Racing Louisville FC 3 (2021–) 72 16 24 28 69 99 -30 72 1
12 (-) 6 (-) Utah Royals FC 2 (2018–2019) 48 19 12 17 47 48 -1 69 1.438
16 (8) 9 (8) Angel City FC 2 (2022–) 44 16 12 16 54 57 -3 60 1.364

Sort order is points, finishing positions, wins

  1. ^ No regular season in 2020.
  2. ^ Known as Seattle Reign FC from 2013–2018 and as Reign FC in 2019.
  3. ^ Known as Sky Blue FC from 2013–2020.
  4. ^ Known as Kansas City NWSL in 2021.

Playoff records

Through 2022 playoffs

Rank Club Championships Runners-up Seasons
qualified
GP W L D[a] Penalty
Wins[a]
GF GA GD PPG
1 Portland Thorns FC 3 1 8/9 12 7 5 0 0 1.750 19 17 +2
2 North Carolina Courage 2 1 4/5 7 5 2 0 0 2.143 14 3 +11
3 FC Kansas City 2 0 3/5 5 4 1 0 0 2.400 10 4 +6
4 Washington Spirit 1 1 4/9 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 7/9 10 3 7 0 0 0.900 7 16 −9
7 OL Reign 0 2 6/9 8 2 6 0 0 0.750 9 14 −5
8 Kansas City Current 0 1 1/2 3 2 1 0 0 2.000 4 3 +1
9 San Diego Wave FC 0 0 1/1 2 1 1 0 0 1.500 3 3 0
10 NJ/NY Gotham FC 0 0 2/9 2 0 2 0 0 0.000 0 3 −3
11 Orlando Pride 0 0 1/6 1 0 1 0 0 0.000 1 4 −3
12 Houston Dash 0 0 1/8 1 0 1 0 0 0.000 1 2 -1
13 Angel City FC 0 0 0/1 Have not qualified
14 Racing Louisville FC 0 0 0/2
15 Utah Royals FC 0 0 0/2
16 Boston Breakers 0 0 0/5

Sort order is championships, runners-up, PPG, fraction of seasons qualified

  1. ^ a b Draws after 120 minutes are decided by penalties.

Player records

Most minutes played

NWSL All-Time Minutes Played
Regular Season Only as of December 31, 2023[4]
Rank Player Minutes Played Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 18,298 211
2 United States McCall Zerboni 16,141 204
3 Wales Jess Fishlock 15,305 180
4 United States Ali Krieger 15,026 176
5 New Zealand Abby Erceg 14,921 169
6 United States Allie Long 14,753 172
7 United States Alyssa Naeher 14,580 163
8 Canada Christine Sinclair 14,426 176
9 United States Sofia Huerta 14,286 161
10 United States Becky Sauerbrunn 14,071 164
11 United States Merritt Mathias 14,020 183
12 United States Kristie Mewis 13,987 171
13 United States Emily Menges 13,850 160
14 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 13,426 166
15 United States Danielle Colaprico 13,398 165
16 United States Megan Montefusco 13,257 155
17 United States Meghan Klingenberg 13,049 156
18 United States Tori Huster 13,013 159
19 United States Nicole Barnhart 12,674 144
20 United States Jessica McDonald 12,593 182

Most appearances, regular season only

2013–2023 seasons. 226 total matches for each team.[5]

NWSL Most Appearances
Regular Season Only as of December 31, 2023
Rank Player Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 211
2 United States McCall Zerboni 204
3 United States Merritt Mathias 183
4 United States Jessica McDonald 182
5 Wales Jess Fishlock 180
6 Canada Christine Sinclair 176
United States Ali Krieger 176
8 United States Allie Long 172
United States Jasmyne Spencer 172
10 United States Kristie Mewis 171
11 United States Erika Tymrak 168
12 United StatesVanessa DiBernardo 166
New Zealand Abby Erceg 166
14 United States Danielle Colaprico 165
15 United States Becky Sauerbrunn 164
16 United States Amber Brooks 163
United States Alyssa Naeher 163
18 United States Sofia Huerta 161
19 United States Emily Menges 160
20 United States Tori Huster 159

Goals

  • First NWSL goal: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 3rd minute (13 April 2013)
  • Fastest goal: Michelle Cooper for Kansas City Current against Washington Spirit, 22 seconds (June 18, 2023)[6]
  • Most goals in a regular season (24 games): 18, Sam Kerr (2019)
  • Most goals in a regular season by a rookie: 11, Diana Ordonez (2022, 22-game season)
  • Most goals in a game: 4, Sam Kerr (19 August 2017);[7][8] Kristen Hamilton (5 July 2019);[9][10] Alex Morgan (7 May 2022)[11][12]
  • Most goals in a half: 4, Sam Kerr (19 August 2017)[8]
  • Most hat-tricks in a season: 2, Sam Kerr (2017);[7][8] Kristen Hamilton (2019)[10]
  • Most consecutive seasons to score at least 10 goals: 3
    • Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars)
  • Most consecutive seasons to score at least 15 goals: 3
    • Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars)
  • Most different clubs to score for: 6
    • Jessica McDonald for Seattle Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, Western New York Flash, North Carolina Courage, and Racing Louisville FC
  • Youngest player to score: Alex Pfeiffer, 16 years, three months and 9 days (16 March 2024, for Kansas City Current against Portland Thorns)[13][14]

Top scorers

Goals, regular season only

NWSL All-Time Leading Goalscorers
Up to January 1, 2024[15]
Rank Player Goals
1 United States Lynn Williams 79
2 Australia Sam Kerr 77
3 Canada Christine Sinclair 62
4 United States Alex Morgan 60
5 United States Jessica McDonald 54
6 United States Megan Rapinoe 51
7 United States Christen Press 47
8 United States Ashley Hatch 46
9 Brazil Debinha 44
10 United States Carli Lloyd 43
11 Wales Jess Fishlock 42
12 United States Sydney Leroux 41
13 United States Amy Rodriguez 39
14 United States Crystal Dunn 38
Denmark Nadia Nadim
16 England Rachel Daly 37
17 United States Allie Long 36
18 United States Sofia Huerta 35
19 United States Kealia Watt 33
20 Scotland Kim Little 32
United States Sophia Smith
England Jodie Taylor

Leading goalscorers in playoffs

NWSL All-Time Playoff Leading Goalscorers
Last updated after 2023 season.
Bold indicates active NWSL player
Rank Player Goals
1 United States Amy Rodriguez 6
2 United States Crystal Dunn 5
3 United States Jessica McDonald 4
United States Samantha Mewis
United States Lynn Williams
5 Brazil Debinha 3
United States Tobin Heath
United States Lindsey Horan
United States Megan Rapinoe
Canada Christine Sinclair

NWSL top goalscorers by season (regular season only)

Year Player Goals Games
2013 United States Lauren Holiday 12 18
2014 Scotland Kim Little 16 23
2015 United States Crystal Dunn 15 20
2016 United States Lynn Williams 11 19
2017 Australia Sam Kerr 17 22
2018 Australia Sam Kerr 16 19
2019 Australia Sam Kerr 18 21
2021 United States Ashley Hatch 10 20
2022 United States Alex Morgan 15 17
2023 United States Sophia Smith 11 18

Assists

Most assists

Most assists (career)
Regular Season Only as of January 1, 2024[18]
Rank Player Assists
1 United States Sofia Huerta 31
United States Jessica McDonald
3 United States Lynn Williams 28
4 United States Alex Morgan 27
5 Japan Nahomi Kawasumi 26
United States Megan Rapinoe
7 Wales Jess Fishlock 25
8 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 24
United States Crystal Dunn
United States Tobin Heath
Australia Sam Kerr
Japan Yūki Nagasato

Top assists by season

Year Player Assists Apps
2013 United States Lauren Holiday 9 18
2014 Wales Jessica Fishlock 8 22
2015 Scotland Kim Little 7 20
2016 United States Tobin Heath 10 15
2017 Japan Nahomi Kawasumi 9 24
2018 United States Jessica McDonald 8 23
2019 Japan Yūki Nagasato 8 24
2021* United States Trinity Rodman 6 22
United States Sofia Huerta 23
2022* United States Carson Pickett 6 20
United States Mallory Swanson 16
2023 United States Sam Coffey 8 22

*Joint record

Goalkeepers

Clean sheets

Most Shutouts (career)
Regular Season Only as of December 31, 2023[18]
# Player Shutouts Apps
1 United States Nicole Barnhart 52 144
2 United States Alyssa Naeher 43 163
3 United States Adrianna Franch 42 127
4 United States Casey Murphy 32 80
5 Canada Kailen Sheridan 31 117
6 United States Jane Campbell 30 103
United States Aubrey Kingsbury 119
8 United States Bella Bixby 24 57
9 United States Ashlyn Harris 22 135
10 United States Katelyn Rowland 20 60

Saves

Most Saves (career)
Regular Season Only as of October 2, 2022[18]
# Player Saves
1 United States Ashlyn Harris 518
2 United States Alyssa Naeher 494
3 United States Nicole Barnhart 468
4 Canada Kailen Sheridan 401
5 United States Adrianna Franch 395
6 United States Aubrey Kingsbury 362
7 United States Michelle Betos 340
8 United States Jane Campbell 336
9 Canada Erin McLeod 288
10 United States Haley Kopmeyer 239

Match records

As of October 2, 2022[update]

Largest victories
Winning
margin
Date Home team Result Away team
6 Jul 13, 2014 Portland Thorns FC 7–1 FC Kansas City
Jun 24, 2016 Western New York Flash 7–1 Boston Breakers
Sep 11, 2019 North Carolina Courage 6–0 Portland Thorns FC
Jun 19, 2022 Portland Thorns FC 6–0 Orlando Pride
5 Jun 7, 2014 Portland Thorns FC 0–5 Western New York Flash
Jun 21, 2014 Washington Spirit 1–6 Portland Thorns FC
Jul 6, 2014 Sky Blue FC 0–5 FC Kansas City
Jul 27, 2014 Seattle Reign FC 5–0 Portland Thorns FC
Aug 12, 2017 Orlando Pride 5–0 Sky Blue FC
Aug 25, 2018 Houston Dash 6–1 Sky Blue FC
Sep 4, 2018 Chicago Red Stars 5–0 Sky Blue FC
Sep 8, 2018 North Carolina Courage 5–0 Houston Dash
Apr 17, 2019 North Carolina Courage 5–0 Orlando Pride
Jul 24, 2019 Portland Thorns FC 5–0 Houston Dash
Sep 14, 2019 North Carolina Courage 6–1 Orlando Pride
May 16, 2021 Portland Thorns FC 5–0 Chicago Red Stars
May 28, 2021 North Carolina Courage 5–0 Racing Louisville FC


Highest scoring
Goals
scored
Date Home team Result Away team
9 Jul 20, 2014 Portland Thorns FC 6–3 Boston Breakers
Jul 22, 2017 Seattle Reign FC 5–4 Sky Blue FC
Aug 19, 2017 Sky Blue FC 5–4 Seattle Reign FC
Oct 7, 2023 Kansas City Current 6–3 Chicago Red Stars
Mar 16, 2024 Kansas City Current 5–4 Portland Thorns FC
8 Jul 13, 2014 Portland Thorns FC 7–1 FC Kansas City
Jun 24, 2016 Western New York Flash 7–1 Boston Breakers
May 13, 2017 Seattle Reign FC 6–2 Washington Spirit
Apr 20, 2019 Chicago Red Stars 4–4 Portland Thorns FC
7 Jun 6, 2013 Portland Thorns FC 4–3 FC Kansas City
Jul 27, 2013 Washington Spirit 2–5 Boston Breakers
Jun 21, 2014 Washington Spirit 1–6 Portland Thorns FC
Aug 3, 2014 Boston Breakers 3–4 Western New York Flash
Aug 6, 2015 Portland Thorns FC 5–2 Boston Breakers
May 21, 2016 Western New York Flash 5–2 Sky Blue FC
Jul 23, 2016 Seattle Reign FC 5–2 Orlando Pride
May 6, 2017 Washington Spirit 4–3 Sky Blue FC
Sep 30, 2017 Boston Breakers 3–4 Sky Blue FC
May 23, 2018 Orlando Pride 3–4 North Carolina Courage
May 26, 2018 Chicago Red Stars 2–5 Orlando Pride
Aug 25, 2018 Houston Dash 6–1 Sky Blue FC
Jul 5, 2019 North Carolina Courage 5–2 Houston Dash
Jul 6, 2019 Orlando Pride 4–3 Washington Spirit
Jul 14, 2019 Portland Thorns FC 4–3 Orlando Pride
Sep 14, 2019 North Carolina Courage 6–1 Orlando Pride
Jun 19, 2022 North Carolina Courage 3-4 Houston Dash
Jul 10, 2022 Washington Spirit 4–3 San Diego Wave FC
Apr 22, 2023 OL Reign 5–2 Chicago Red Stars

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stats". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. ^ "2023 NWSL Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  3. ^ "NWSL table 2023, form and next opponent". FotMob. Retrieved 2024-04-16.
  4. ^ "NWSL Player Stats".
  5. ^ Cooper, Jen (2024), "Field Player Registry", Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, pp. 294-362
  6. ^ Sperry, Daniel (June 18, 2023). "Kansas City Current squander late lead, lose to Washington Spirit in NWSL home match". The Kansas City Star.
  7. ^ a b "Sam Kerr finishes NWSL season with bushel of scoring records". Soccer America. October 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  8. ^ a b c Siracusa, Claire (20 August 2017). "Sam Kerr scores four goals in Sky Blue FC comeback win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. ^ Purdy, Jacqueline (5 July 2019). "Kristen Hamilton scores four, Courage win 5-2" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  10. ^ a b "NWSL Friday: Kristen Hamilton packs on four goals for Courage". The Equalizer. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  11. ^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  12. ^ Togerson, Derek (7 May 2022). "Alex Morgan Scores 4 Goals in Wave FC Win". www.nbcsandiego.com. KNSD. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  13. ^ Kassouf, Jeff (March 16, 2024). "Kansas City Current open 'game-changing' stadium with 5-4 win". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  14. ^ Herrera, Sandra (March 16, 2024). "Alex Pfeiffer becomes youngest NWSL goalscorer at 16 years of age in Kansas City Current's wild win". CBSSports.com. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  15. ^ Cooper, Jen (2023), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, Keeper Notes, p. 8.
  16. ^ Braeback, Jeremiah Mitchell (13 December 2016). "Tobin Heath Named US Soccer Female Player of the Year". Stumptown Footy. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  17. ^ Ltd, Simplestream. "Nahomi Kawasumi named Player of the Week". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  18. ^ a b c http://www.fbref.com [bare URL]

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