NWSL records and statistics explained

The following is a compilation of notable records and statistics for teams and players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The NWSL's inaugural season was kicked off on April 13, 2013 with 8 participating clubs, four of the eight inaugural clubs still exist with their original names.^{[1] [2]} For Historical purposes, the league's stats and records include active and defunct clubs.

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

Through November 11, 2023 (Regular season and Playoff matches)

Season	Playoff final			Regular season
width=15%	Champions	width=10%	Score	width=15%	Runners-up	width=15%	Shield winners	width=10%	Points	width=15%	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

Through March 15, 2024 (NWSL Challenge Cup 2024)

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

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 (NJ/NY Gotham FC) (2018)
• Most consecutive wins in a season (26 games): 8, Orlando Pride (April 12th, 2024 - May 24, 2024)
• 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 total wins in regular season (226 games): 109, Portland Thorns FC (April, 13, 2013 - October 15, 2023)^[3]

Losses

• Fewest losses in a season (24 games): 1, North Carolina Courage (2018)
• Longest unbeaten run: 20 games, Washington Spirit (between September 26, 2021 and May 7, 2022)
• Most losses in total (204 games): 94, NJ/NY Gotham FC
• Fewest home losses in a season (12 games): 0, Seattle Reign FC (2014)
• Most consecutive losses in a season: 11, NJ/NY Gotham FC (2022)
• Most consecutive home games undefeated: 22, Seattle Reign FC (between April 13, 2014 and August 29, 2015)

Attendance by season

See main article: National Women's Soccer League attendance.

Season	Overall			Highest		Lowest		Playoff mean
	Total	Mean	Median	Club	Mean	Club	Mean
	375,743	4,270	3,007		13,320		1,664	6,820
	446,311	4,133	3,014		13,362		1,639	3,763
	454,100	5,046	3,367		15,639		2,268	6,766
	555,775	5,558	3,997		16,945		2,162	10,863
	609,960	5,083	3,576		17,653		1,788	12,111
	650,562	6,024	4,025		16,959		2,531	13,323^1
	792,409	7,337	5,565		20,098		3,338	8,956
2021^2	567,072	5,155			14,391		3,222	8,774
	1,042,063	7,917			19,105		4,385	21,730
	1,366,581				20,718		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

• 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/NJ/NY Gotham 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 2023 season (regular season games only)^{[4] [5]}

(prev. season)	(prev. season)	Club	Seasons										1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Finishing positions
1 (2)	4 (2)		10 (2013–)	226	109	58	59	374	260	+114	385	1.704	2	4	3
2 (1)	3 (1)		10 (2013–)	226	105	57	64	337	248	89	372	1.646	3	1	1	1
3 (6)	7 (6)		10 (2013–)	226	95	61	70	321	296	25	324	1.434		2	1	3
4 (11)	10 (11)		10 (2013–)	226	70	60	96	266	327	-61|270|1.195| ||1||1||2|-| 5 (12) || 13 (12)| NJ/NY Gotham FC || 10 (2013–)| 226 ||67|58|101|260|319|-89	259	1.146				1
6 (7)	1 (7)		6 (2017–)	140	75	28	37	248	140	108	253	1.807	3		1
7 (4)	11 (4)		9 (2014–)	204	65	45	94	234	289	-55|240|1.176| || || ||1|-| 8 (10) || 12 (10)| Orlando Pride|| 7 (2016–)| 160 ||51|33|76|195|256|-61|186|1.163| || ||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	3 (2021–)	68	21	15	32	74	101	-27|78|1.083| || || |||-| 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–)| 68 ||16|24|28|69|99|-30|72|1.000| || || |||-| 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 Playoff records Through 2022 playoffs Rank Club Championships Runners-up Seasons qualified Penalty Wins 1 3 1 8/9 12 7 5 0 0 1.750 19 17 +2 2 2 1 4/5 7 5 2 0 0 2.143 14 3 +11 3 2 0 3/5 5 4 1 0 0 2.400 10 4 +6 4 1 1 4/9 7 4 2 1 0 1.857 10 10 0 5 1 1 2/4 4 2 1 1 1 1.750 8 7 +1 6 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 0 1 1/2 3 2 1 0 0 2.000 4 3 +1 9 0 0 1/1 2 1 1 0 0 1.500 3 3 0 10 0 0 2/9 2 0 2 0 0 0.000 0 3 −3 11 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 0 0 0/1 Have not qualified 14 0 0 0/2 15 0 0 0/2 16 0 0 0/5 Sort order is championships, runners-up, PPG, fraction of seasons qualified Player records Boldface indicates players currently active in the league. Most minutes played Most minutes played in NWSL (Regular season only; as of December 31, 2023)^[6] !Rank!Player!Minutes Played!Games 1 Lauren Barnes 18,298 211 2 McCall Zerboni 16,141 204 3 Jess Fishlock 15,305 180 4 Ali Krieger 15,026 176 5 Abby Erceg 14,921 169 6 Allie Long 14,753 172 7 Alyssa Naeher 14,580 163 8 Christine Sinclair 14,426 176 9 Sofia Huerta 14,286 161 10 Becky Sauerbrunn 14,071 164 11 Merritt Mathias 14,020 183 12 Kristie Mewis 13,987 171 13 Emily Menges 13,850 160 14 Vanessa DiBernardo 13,426 166 15 Danielle Colaprico 13,398 165 16 Megan Montefusco 13,257 155 17 Meghan Klingenberg 13,049 156 18 Tori Huster 13,013 159 19 Nicole Barnhart 12,674 144 20 Jessica McDonald 12,593 182 Most appearances, regular season only 2013–2023 seasons, a total of 226 matches for each team that has been active since the start of the NWSL.^[7] --NOTE goals and appearances are for regular season ONLY--> + Most NWSL appearances (Regular season only; as of December 31, 2023) Rank Player Games 1 Lauren Barnes 211 2 McCall Zerboni 204 3 Merritt Mathias 183 4 Jessica McDonald 182 5 Jess Fishlock 180 6 Christine Sinclair 176 Ali Krieger 176 8 Allie Long 172 Jasmyne Spencer 172 10 Kristie Mewis 171 11 Erika Tymrak 168 12 Vanessa DiBernardo 166 Abby Erceg 166 14 Danielle Colaprico 165 15 Becky Sauerbrunn 164 16 Amber Brooks 163 Alyssa Naeher 163 18 Sofia Huerta 161 19 Emily Menges 160 20 Tori Huster 159 Goals First NWSL goal: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 3rd minute (April 13, 2013) Fastest goal: Michelle Cooper for Kansas City Current against Washington Spirit, 22 seconds (June 18, 2023)^[8] 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 (August 19, 2017);^[9] ^[10] Kristen Hamilton (July 5, 2019);^[11] ^[12] Alex Morgan (May 7, 2022)^[13] ^[14] Most goals in a half: 4, Sam Kerr (August 19, 2017) Most hat-tricks in a season: 2, Sam Kerr (2017); Kristen Hamilton (2019) Most consecutive seasons to score at least 10 goals: 3 Sam Kerr, 2017–2019 (with Sky Blue FC, Chicago Red Stars) Sophia Smith, 2022-2024 (Portland Thorns FC) 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 (March 16, 2024, for Kansas City Current against Portland Thorns FC)^[15] ^[16] First goal by a goalkeeper: Michelle Betos (June 19, 2015 for Portland Thorns FC against FC Kansas City)^[17] Top scorers Goals, regular season only NWSL all-time leading goalscorers Up to January 1, 2024^[18] !Rank!Player!Goals 1 Sam Kerr 77 2 Lynn Williams 64 3 Christine Sinclair 62 4 Alex Morgan 60 5 Jessica McDonald 54 6 Megan Rapinoe 51 7 Christen Press 47 8 Ashley Hatch 46 9 Debinha 44 10 Carli Lloyd 43 11 Jess Fishlock 42 12 Sydney Leroux 41 13 Amy Rodriguez 39 14 Crystal Dunn 38 Nadia Nadim 16 Rachel Daly 37 17 Allie Long 36 18 Sofia Huerta 35 19 Kealia Watt 33 20 Kim Little 32 Sophia Smith Jodie Taylor Leading goalscorers in playoffs NWSL all-time playoff leading goalscorers Last updated after 2023 season.!Rank!Player!Goals 1 Amy Rodriguez 6 2 Crystal Dunn 5 3 Jessica McDonald 4 Samantha Mewis Lynn Williams 5 Debinha 3 Tobin Heath Lindsey Horan Megan Rapinoe Christine Sinclair NWSL top goalscorers by season (regular season only) Year Player Goals Games 2013 Lauren Holiday 12 18 2014 16 23 2015 Crystal Dunn 15 20 2016 Lynn Williams 11 19 2017 Sam Kerr 17 22 2018 Sam Kerr 16 19 2019 Sam Kerr 18 21 2021 Ashley Hatch 10 20 2022 Alex Morgan 15 17 2023 Sophia Smith 11 18 Assists Most assists in a season: 10, Tobin Heath, Portland Thorns FC (2016)^[19] Most assists in a single match: 4, Nahomi Kawasumi (for Seattle Reign FC vs. Washington Spirit, May 16, 2017)^[20] Most assists Most assists (career) Regular Season Only as of January 1, 2024^[21] !Rank!Player !Assists 1 Sofia Huerta 31 Jessica McDonald 3 Lynn Williams 28 4 Alex Morgan 27 5 Nahomi Kawasumi 26 Megan Rapinoe 7 Jess Fishlock 25 8 Vanessa DiBernardo 24 Crystal Dunn Tobin Heath Sam Kerr Yūki Nagasato 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 23 2022 Carson Pickett 6 20 Mallory Swanson 16 2023 Sam Coffey 8 22 Joint record Goalkeepers Clean sheets Player! Shutouts!Apps! Shutout % 1 Nicole Barnhart 52 144 36.1% 2 Alyssa Naeher 43 163 26.4% 3 Adrianna Franch 42 127 33.1% 4 Casey Murphy 32 80 40.0% 5 Kailen Sheridan 31 117 26.5% 6 Jane Campbell 30 103 29.1% Aubrey Kingsbury 119 25.2% 8 Bella Bixby 24 57 42.1% 9 Ashlyn Harris 22 135 16.3% 10 Katelyn Rowland 20 60 33.3% Saves Most Saves (career) Regular Season Only as of October 2, 2022!#!Player! Saves 1 Ashlyn Harris 518 2 Alyssa Naeher 494 3 Nicole Barnhart 468 4 Kailen Sheridan 401 5 Adrianna Franch 395 6 Aubrey Kingsbury 362 7 Michelle Betos 340 8 Jane Campbell 336 9 Erin McLeod 288 10 Haley Kopmeyer 239 Match records Largest victories! Winning margin! Date! Home team !! Result !! Away team 6 7–1 FC Kansas City 7–1 Boston Breakers 6–0 Portland Thorns FC 6–0 Orlando Pride 5 0–5 Western New York Flash 1–6 Portland Thorns FC 0–5 FC Kansas City 5–0 Portland Thorns FC 5–0 Sky Blue FC 6–1 Sky Blue FC 5–0 Sky Blue FC 5–0 Houston Dash 5–0 Orlando Pride 5–0 Houston Dash 6–1 Orlando Pride 5–0 Chicago Red Stars 5–0 Racing Louisville FC Highest scoring! Goals scored! Date! Home team !! Result !! Away team 9 6–3 Boston Breakers 5–4 Sky Blue FC 5–4 Seattle Reign FC 6–3 Chicago Red Stars 5–4 Portland Thorns FC 8 7–1 FC Kansas City 7–1 Boston Breakers 6–2 Washington Spirit 4–4 Portland Thorns FC 7 4–3 FC Kansas City 2–5 Boston Breakers 1–6 Portland Thorns FC 3–4 Western New York Flash 5–2 Boston Breakers 5–2 Sky Blue FC 5–2 Orlando Pride 4–3 Sky Blue FC 3–4 Sky Blue FC 3–4 North Carolina Courage 2–5 Orlando Pride 6–1 Sky Blue FC 5–2 Houston Dash 4–3 Washington Spirit 4–3 Orlando Pride 6–1 Orlando Pride 3-4 Houston Dash 4–3 San Diego Wave FC 5–2 Chicago Red Stars See also NWSL Shield NWSL awards List of NWSL drafts List of NWSL hat-tricks Women's soccer in the United States External links National Women's Soccer League

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stats. National Women's Soccer League. 14 June 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150107064658/http://www.nwslsoccer.com/Stats/index_E.html. 7 January 2015.
2. Web site: NWSL . 2024-03-20 . Events and Milestones National Women's Soccer League Official Site . 2024-08-20 . NWSL . en.
3. Web site: NWSL . 2024-03-20 . Club Information National Women's Soccer League Official Site . 2024-08-20 . NWSL . en.
4. Web site: 2023 NWSL Stats . 2024-04-16 . FBref.com . en.
5. Web site: NWSL table 2023, form and next opponent . 2024-04-16 . FotMob . en.
6. Web site: NWSL Player Stats.
7. Cooper, Jen (2024), "Field Player Registry", Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, pp. 294-362
8. News: Kansas City Current squander late lead, lose to Washington Spirit in NWSL home match . June 18, 2023 . . Daniel . Sperry.
9. Web site: Sam Kerr finishes NWSL season with bushel of scoring records. Soccer America. October 2017 . en. 19 November 2017.
10. News: Sam Kerr scores four goals in Sky Blue FC comeback win . 20 August 2017 . 27 August 2022 . . Claire . Siracusa.
11. Jacqueline . Purdy . Kristen Hamilton scores four, Courage win 5-2 . 5 July 2019 . 27 August 2022 . . en-US.
12. News: NWSL Friday: Kristen Hamilton packs on four goals for Courage . 5 July 2019 . 27 August 2022 . The Equalizer.
13. Web site: National Women's Soccer League Official Site NWSL . 28 May 2022 . www.nwslsoccer.com.
14. News: Alex Morgan Scores 4 Goals in Wave FC Win . 7 May 2022 . 27 August 2022 . . www.nbcsandiego.com . Derek . Togerson.
15. Web site: Kansas City Current open 'game-changing' stadium with 5-4 win. ESPN.com. Kassouf. Jeff. March 16, 2024. March 16, 2024. en.
16. Web site: Alex Pfeiffer becomes youngest NWSL goalscorer at 16 years of age in Kansas City Current's wild win. CBSSports.com. Herrera. Sandra. March 16, 2024. March 16, 2024. en.
17. Web site: Lauletta . Dan . 2015-06-20 . Thorns draw late on goal by keeper Betos . 2024-07-15 . Equalizer Soccer . en-US.
18. Cooper, Jen (2023), Keeper Notes NWSL Almanac, Keeper Notes, p. 8.
19. News: Tobin Heath Named US Soccer Female Player of the Year . 13 December 2016 . 5 April 2023 . Stumptown Footy . Jeremiah Mitchell . Braeback.
20. Web site: Nahomi Kawasumi named Player of the Week. Ltd. Simplestream. www.nwslsoccer.com. en. 2017-12-04.
21. http://www.fbref.com