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 6 5 2 (2018, 2019) 3 (2017, 2018, 2019) 2 (2022, 2023) 7
Portland Thorns FC 10 9 3 (2013, 2017, 2022) 2 (2016, 2021) 1 (2021) 6
OL Reign/Reign FC/Seattle Reign FC 10 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
Washington Spirit 10 4 1 (2021) – – 1
NJ/NY Gotham FC/Sky Blue FC 10 3 1 (2023) – – 1
San Diego Wave FC 2 2 – 1 (2023) – 1
Houston Dash 9 1 – – 1 (2020*) 1
Chicago Red Stars 10 7 – – – 0
Orlando Pride 7 1 – – – 0
Kansas City Current 3 1 – – – 0
Angel City FC 2 1 – – – 0
Racing Louisville FC 3 0 – – – 0
Utah Royals FC 2 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

Main article: National Women's Soccer League 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 [[]] [[]]

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 2022 season (regular season games only)

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 (1) 2 (2) Portland Thorns FC 9 (2013–) 204 99 53 52 332 228 +104 350 1.716 2 3 3
2 (2) 3 (3) OL Reign[b] 9 (2013–) 204 96 52 56 308 224 +84 340 1.667 3 1 1 1
3 (3) 5 (4) Chicago Red Stars 9 (2013–) 204 88 58 58 293 246 +47 322 1.578 2 1 3
4 (4) 10 (8) Washington Spirit 9 (2013–) 204 63 51 90 240 298 −58 240 1.176 1 1 2
5 (5) 13 (9) NJ/NY Gotham FC[c] 9 (2013–) 204 59 51 94 235 295 −90 228 1.118 1
6 (6) 1 (1) North Carolina Courage 5 (2017–) 118 66 22 30 219 118 +101 220 1.864 3
7 (7) 11 (11) Houston Dash 8 (2014–) 182 59 37 86 218 271 -53 214 1.176 1
8 (8) 6 (5) FC Kansas City 5 (2013–2017) 110 45 27 36 152 125 +27 168 1.527 2 1
9 (9) 12 (10) Orlando Pride 6 (2016–) 138 41 32 65 168 228 −60 155 1.123 1
10 (10) 8 (7) Western New York Flash 4 (2013–2016) 86 33 22 31 142 118 +24 119 1.384 1 1
11 (11) 16 (13) Boston Breakers 5 (2013–2017) 110 25 20 65 132 212 −80 95 0.864
12 (12) 7 (6) Utah Royals FC 2 (2018–2019) 48 19 12 17 47 48 −1 69 1.438
14 (13) 15 (12) Racing Louisville FC 2 (2021–) 50 10 15 21 44 75 −31 45 0.900
13 (14) 14 (14) Kansas City Current[d] 2 (2021–) 50 13 13 20 44 65 –21 52 1.040
15 (—) 4 (—) San Diego Wave FC 1 (2022–) 22 10 6 6 32 21 +11 36 1.636 1
16 (—) 9 (—) Angel City FC 1 (2022–) 22 8 5 9 23 27 –4 29 1.318

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 October 2, 2022[3]
Rank Player Minutes Played Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 16,360 189
2 United States McCall Zerboni 15,640 188
3 United States Merritt Mathias 14,011 183
4 Wales Jess Fishlock 13,981 163
5 United States Ali Krieger 13,686 159
6 United States Becky Sauerbrunn 13,502 155
7 United States Allie Long 13,465 156
8 Canada Christine Sinclair 13,380 157
9 United States Tori Huster 12,992 158
10 New Zealand Abby Erceg 12,939 147
11 United States Kristie Mewis 12,915 158
12 United States Sofia Huerta 12,826 152
13 United States Alyssa Naeher 12,825 143
14 United States Nicole Barnhart 12,495 141
15 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 12,452 155
16 United States Emily Menges 12,448 143
17 United States Jessica McDonald 12,305 178
18 United States Megan Montefusco 12,153 140
19 United States Ashlyn Harris 12,061 135
20 United States Danielle Colaprico 11,701 143

Most appearances, regular season only

2013–2022 seasons. 204 total matches.[4]

NWSL Most Appearances
Regular Season Only as of October 2, 2022
Rank Player Games
1 United States Lauren Barnes 189
2 United States McCall Zerboni 188
3 United States Merritt Mathias 183
4 United States Jessica McDonald 178
5 Wales Jess Fishlock 163
6 United States Ali Krieger 159
7 United States Kristie Mewis 158
United States Tori Huster
9 Canada Christine Sinclair 157
10 United States Allie Long 156
11 United States Vanessa DiBernardo 155
United States Christine Nairn
United States Becky Sauerbrunn
United States Jasmyne Spencer
United States Erika Tymrak
16 United States Sofia Huerta 152
17 United States Amber Brooks 150
18 New Zealand Abby Erceg 147
19 United States Kristen Edmonds 144
20 United States Danielle Colaprico 143

Goals

Top scorers

Goals, regular season only

NWSL All-Time Leading Goalscorers
Up to October 2, 2022[12]
Rank Player Goals
1 Australia Sam Kerr 77
2 Canada Christine Sinclair 60
3 United States Lynn Williams 60
4 United States Jessica McDonald 54
5 United States Alex Morgan 53
6 United States Christen Press 47
7 United States Megan Rapinoe 47
8 United States Amy Rodriguez 39
9 United States Sydney Leroux 39
10 Wales Jess Fishlock 38
11 England Rachel Daly 37
United States Ashley Hatch
Denmark Nadia Nadim
14 Brazil Debinha 35
United States Carli Lloyd
16 United States Sofia Huerta 34
United States Allie Long
18 United States Crystal Dunn 33
United States Kealia Watt

Leading goalscorers in playoffs

NWSL All-Time Playoff Leading Goalscorers
Last updated after 2022 season.
Bold indicates active 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
5 Brazil Debinha 3
United States Tobin Heath
United States Lindsey Horan
United States Megan Rapinoe
Canada Christine Sinclair
United States Lynn Williams

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 October 2, 2022[15]
Rank Player Assists
1 United States Jessica McDonald 32
2 United States Sofia Huerta 28
3 United States Lynn Williams 26
4 Wales Jessica Fishlock 25
Japan Nahomi Kawasumi
United States Christine Nairn
7 United States Tobin Heath 24
8 United States Vanessa Dibernardo 23
United States Alex Morgan
10 United States Crystal Dunn 22
Japan Yuki 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 October 2, 2022[15]
# Player Shutouts Apps
1 United States Nicole Barnhart 52 141
2 United States Adrianna Franch 41 115
3 United States Alyssa Naeher 40 143
4 United States Aubrey Kingsbury 27 99
5 United States Casey Murphy 23 60
6 United States Jane Campbell 22 103
United States Ashlyn Harris 135
Canada Kailen Sheridan 98
9 United States Katelyn Rowland 19 58
10 United States Bella Bixby 18 36

Saves

Most Saves (career)
Regular Season Only as of October 2, 2022[15]
# 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

See also

References

  1. ^ "Stats". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Seattle Reign win NWSL Shield for 2nd straight season". ESPN. August 27, 2015. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  3. ^ "NWSL Player Stats".
  4. ^ Cooper, Jen (2021), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, p. 13.
  5. ^ Sperry, Daniel (June 18, 2023). "Kansas City Current squander late lead, lose to Washington Spirit in NWSL home match". The Kansas City Star.
  6. ^ a b "Sam Kerr finishes NWSL season with bushel of scoring records". Soccer America. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Purdy, Jacqueline (5 July 2019). "Kristen Hamilton scores four, Courage win 5-2" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. ^ a b "NWSL Friday: Kristen Hamilton packs on four goals for Courage". The Equalizer. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  10. ^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  11. ^ Togerson, Derek (7 May 2022). "Alex Morgan Scores 4 Goals in Wave FC Win". www.nbcsandiego.com. KNSD. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  12. ^ Cooper, Jen (2019), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, Keeper Notes, p. 8.
  13. ^ Braeback, Jeremiah Mitchell (13 December 2016). "Tobin Heath Named US Soccer Female Player of the Year". Stumptown Footy. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  14. ^ Ltd, Simplestream. "Nahomi Kawasumi named Player of the Week". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2017-12-04.
  15. ^ a b c http://www.fbref.com[bare URL]

External links

National Women's Soccer League
Women's soccer in the United States
Women's association football
Soccer in the United States
Top level women's football leagues of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)
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