2013 National Women's Soccer League season

The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), this was the seventh overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league was (and is) operated by the United States Soccer Federation and received major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing was provided by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Mexican Football Federation. All three national federations paid the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations.

National Women's Soccer League

Season	2013
Champions	Portland Thorns FC
NWSL Shield	Western New York Flash
Matches played	88
Goals scored	238 (2.7 per match)
Top goalscorer	Lauren Holiday (12 goals)
Biggest home win	NJ 5–1 BOS (June 1) WNY 4–0 DC (June 28)
Biggest away win	SEA 0–3 SBFC (May 19)
Highest scoring	7 goals: DC 2–5 BOS (July 27) POR 4-3 KC (June 6)
Longest winning run	5 games Sky Blue FC (May 11 – June 1)
Longest unbeaten run	10 games FC Kansas City (June 23 – August 4)
Longest losing run	9 games Seattle Reign FC (April 16 – June 21)
Highest attendance	17,619 POR v FCKC (August 4)
Lowest attendance	688 NJ v CHI (May 8)[1]
Total attendance	375,763
Average attendance	4,270
2014 →

The league started on April 13 with FC Kansas City hosting Portland Thorns FC. The last regular season matches were played on August 18, with the Western New York Flash topping the standings to win the NWSL Shield. This was followed by postseason playoffs, which culminated in a final on August 31.^[2] In the final, Portland Thorns FC defeated the Western New York Flash 2–0 to win the inaugural NWSL Championship.^[3][4]

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Main article: List of National Women's Soccer League stadiums

Team Stadium Capacity Boston Breakers Dilboy Stadium 3,500 Chicago Red Stars Village Sports Complex 3,600[5] FC Kansas City Shawnee Mission District Stadium 6,150 Portland Thorns FC Jeld-Wen Field 20,438 Seattle Reign FC Memorial Stadium 6,000 Sky Blue FC Yurcak Field 5,000 Washington Spirit Maryland SoccerPlex 5,126 Western New York Flash Sahlen's Stadium 13,768

Breakers Red Stars Kansas City Thorns Reign Sky Blue Spirit Flash Locations of teams for the 2013 National Women's Soccer League season.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams used Nike as kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Boston Breakers	Lisa Cole (until August 2)[6]	Cat Whitehill	Ocean Spray
	Cat Whitehill (after August 2)[7]
Chicago Red Stars	Rory Dames[6]	Lori Chalupny	JimmyBars
FC Kansas City	Vlatko Andonovski[6]	Becky Sauerbrunn	Title Boxing Club
Portland Thorns	Cindy Parlow Cone[6]	Christine Sinclair	Providence Health & Services
Seattle Reign FC	Laura Harvey[6]	Keelin Winters	Moda Health
Sky Blue FC	Jim Gabarra[6]	Christie Rampone	2NDFLOOR Youth Helpline
Washington Spirit	Mike Jorden (until June 30)[6]	Lori Lindsey	ProChain Solutions, Inc.
	Mark Parsons (after June 30)[8]
Western New York Flash	Aaran Lines[6]	McCall Zerboni	Sahlen's

Player Acquisition

Players were acquired through the 2013 Allocation of national team players announced on January 11, the 2013 NWSL College Draft on January 18, and the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft on February 7, along with free agency, trading and loans.

The Portland Thorns received an allocation with a notably strong offensive record including Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair, the 2012 U.S. and Canadian Players of the Year and leading scorers for their national teams respectively, as well as a U.S. allocation (Morgan, Tobin Heath, and Rachel Buehler) that accounted for 1/3 of their national team's assists in 2012.^[9][10][11]

Competition format

The regular season began on April 13 and ended on August 18. Each team played a total of 22 games: 11 at home and 11 away. Each team played

• three other teams (based on an east/west geographical split) four times each: twice at home and twice away
• two other teams twice each: once at home and once away
• and the remaining two teams three times each: one twice at home and once away, the other vice versa

The four teams at the end of the season with the most points qualified for the playoffs. Two semifinal games were played on August 24, with the winners advancing to the league final to be played on August 31.^[12]

Results table

^[13]

Abbreviation and Color Key: Boston Breakers – BOS • Chicago Red Stars – CHI • FC Kansas City – KC • Portland Thorns FC – POR Seattle Reign FC – SEA • Sky Blue FC – NJ • Washington Spirit – WAS • Western New York Flash – WNY Win  • Loss  • Tie  • Home Game
Club	Match
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Boston Breakers	WAS	WNY	CHI	WAS	KC	WAS	NJ	WNY	CHI	NJ	SEA	NJ	SEA	POR	NJ	POR	KC	WAS	WNY	POR	KC	WNY
	1–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	2–0	3–0	5–1	2–2	1–0	2–3	1–2	3–2	1–1	0–2	0–0	1–2	3–0	2–5	2–2	2–1	1–0	2-1
Chicago Red Stars	SEA	POR	BOS	NJ	POR	WNY	POR	BOS	KC	KC	WNY	SEA	WNY	WAS	KC	WAS	SEA	POR	SEA	WAS	NJ	KC
	1–1	0–2	4-1	1–1	0–2	2-1	0–2	1–0	0–2	1–3	2–2	3–1	1–0	0–2	3–3	1–0	4–1	3–3	3–1	1-0	3–3	1–2
FC Kansas City	POR	SEA	SEA	WNY	BOS	NJ	POR	SEA	CHI	CHI	WAS	NJ	POR	WAS	WNY	CHI	SEA	BOS	NJ	POR	BOS	CHI
	1–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	4–3	0–1	0–2	1–3	2–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	0–0	3–3	2–0	3–0	0–1	2–3	1-0	1–2
Portland Thorns FC	KC	SEA	CHI	WAS	CHI	NJ	WAS	SEA	CHI	KC	SEA	NJ	KC	BOS	WNY	BOS	CHI	NJ	KC	BOS	WNY	SEA
	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	2–0	0–1	0–2	4–3	2–0	0–0	2–0	0–2	1–1	1–2	3–3	3–1	2–3	2-1	0–0	1–2
Seattle Reign FC	CHI	POR	KC	KC	NJ	WAS	NJ	POR	KC	POR	WNY	BOS	CHI	BOS	WNY	WAS	KC	CHI	CHI	WNY	WAS	POR
	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–4	0–3	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	3–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–0	4–1	3–1	1-0	1-0	1–2
Sky Blue FC	WNY	WAS	WNY	CHI	SEA	POR	SEA	KC	BOS	WNY	BOS	POR	KC	BOS	WAS	BOS	WNY	KC	POR	WAS	CHI	WAS
	1–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–1	0–3	0–1	5–1	0–3	2–3	0–0	2–2	3–2	1–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	3–3	1–1
Washington Spirit	BOS	WNY	NJ	POR	BOS	SEA	POR	BOS	WNY	KC	WNY	KC	NJ	CHI	SEA	CHI	BOS	WNY	NJ	CHI	SEA	NJ
	1–1	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–4	2–0	3–0	0–2	2–0	4–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	1–0	2–5	3–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1
Western New York Flash	NJ	WAS	BOS	NJ	KC	CHI	BOS	NJ	WAS	CHI	SEA	WAS	CHI	KC	SEA	POR	NJ	WAS	BOS	SEA	POR	BOS
	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–2	0–3	0–2	2–2	1–1	4–0	1–0	0–0	3–2	1–1	3–0	3–0	2–2	1–0	0–0	2–1

Scores listed as home-away

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Western New York Flash	22	10	8	4	36	20	+16	38	NWSL Shield
2	FC Kansas City	22	11	5	6	34	22	+12	38	NWSL Playoffs
3	Portland Thorns FC (C)	22	11	5	6	32	25	+7	38
4	Sky Blue FC	22	10	6	6	31	26	+5	36
5	Boston Breakers	22	8	6	8	35	34	+1	30
6	Chicago Red Stars	22	8	6	8	32	36	−4	30
7	Seattle Reign FC	22	5	3	14	22	36	−14	18
8	Washington Spirit	22	3	5	14	16	39	−23	14

Source: soccerway.com
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

NWSL Championship

The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the championship playoffs. In the semifinals, the regular season winner hosted the fourth-placed team and the regular season runner-up hosted the third-placed team. The highest-seeded semifinal winner then hosted the championship final. All match-ups were one-game series (as opposed to home-and-away series).

	Semi-Finals					Championship
	1	Western New York Flash	2
	4	Sky Blue FC	0
						1	Western New York Flash	0
						3	Portland Thorns FC	2
	2	FC Kansas City	2
	3	Portland Thorns FC (AET)	3

Semi-finals

August 24, 2013

1:00 pm CDT

FC Kansas City	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Portland Thorns FC
Tymrak 12' Henderson 25' Scott  73' Buczkowski  86'	Report Report	Heath 33' Dougherty  50' Long  61' 103' Weimer 65'

Shawnee Mission District Stadium, Overland Park, Kansas

Attendance: 4,016

Referee: Christina Unkel

August 24, 2013

8:00 pm EDT

Western New York Flash	2–0	Sky Blue FC
Lloyd 33 ', 90+'  42' Huffman  90+'	Report Report	Makoski  51' Adams  90'

Sahlen's Stadium, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 7,316

Referee: Katja Koroleva

Championship

August 31, 2013

8:00 pm EDT

Western New York Flash	0–2	Portland Thorns FC
Johnson  33' Martin  74'	Report Report	Heath 40' Williamson  49'  57' Long  89' Ellertson  90' Sinclair 90+'

Sahlen's Stadium, Rochester, New York

Attendance: 9,129

Referee: Kari Seitz

Attendance

See also: National Women's Soccer League attendance

Average home attendances

Team	Average Attendance
Boston Breakers	2,427[14]
Chicago Red Stars	1,713[14]
FC Kansas City	4,626[15]
Portland Thorns FC	13,320[15]
Seattle Reign FC	2,306[14]
Sky Blue FC	1,677[14]
Washington Spirit	3,626[16]
Western New York Flash	4,485[15]

Highest Attendance: 17,619^[17] (August 4, Kansas City at Portland)

Lowest Attendance: 688^[1] (May 8, Chicago at Sky Blue)

Total Attendance: 375,846^[14] (88 games total)

League Average: 4,271^[14]

Playoff attendance

Semifinal 1, Portland at FC Kansas City: 4,016^[18]

Semifinal 2, Sky Blue at Western New York: 7,316^[19]

Championship, Portland at Western New York: 9,129^[20]

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Nation Club Goals 1 Lauren Holiday USA FC Kansas City 12 2 Sydney Leroux USA Boston Breakers 11 Abby Wambach USA Western New York Flash 11 4 Carli Lloyd USA Western New York Flash 8 Diana Matheson CAN Washington Spirit 8 Alex Morgan USA Portland Thorns FC 8 Mónica Ocampo MEX Sky Blue FC 8 Christine Sinclair CAN Portland Thorns FC 8 9 Sophie Schmidt CAN Sky Blue FC 7 10 Erika Tymrak USA FC Kansas City 6 Source:[21]

Top assists Rank Player Nation Club Assists 1 Lauren Holiday USA FC Kansas City 9 2 Abby Wambach USA Western New York Flash 8 3 Lianne Sanderson ENG Boston Breakers 7 4 Katy Freels USA Sky Blue FC 6 Heather O'Reilly USA Boston Breakers 6 6 Leigh Ann Robinson USA FC Kansas City 5 Christine Nairn USA Seattle Reign FC 5 Alex Morgan USA Portland Thorns 5 Samantha Kerr AUS Western New York Flash 5 10 Lori Chalupny USA Chicago Red Stars 4 Julianne Sitch USA Chicago Red Stars 4 Erika Tymrak USA FC Kansas City 4 Source:[21]

Goalkeeping

(Minimum of 540 Minutes Played)

Rank	Goalkeeper	Club	GP	MINS	SOG	SVS	GA	GAA	W-L-T	SHO
1	Adrianna Franch	Western New York Flash	22	1978	119	98	20	0.909	10–4–8	7
2	Brittany Cameron	Sky Blue FC	18	1619	83	65	17	0.945	9–4–5	8
3	Nicole Barnhart	FC Kansas City	20	1800	86	67	19	0.950	10–5–5	10
4	Karina LeBlanc	Portland Thorns FC	21	1890	114	92	23	1.095	11–5–5	7
5	Alyssa Naeher	Boston Breakers	9	765	47	36	11	1.222	4–2–2	2
6	Taylor Vancil	Chicago Red Stars	6	540	31	23	8	1.334	3–2–1	1
7	Hope Solo	Seattle Reign FC	14	1260	101	81	19	1.357	5–6–2	0
8	Erin McLeod	Chicago Red Stars	16	1430	92	64	28	1.750	5–6–5	4
9	Ashley Phillips	Boston Breakers	11	945	51	32	20	1.818	2–5–4	1
10	Ashlyn Harris	Washington Spirit	18	1620	118	85	33	1.882	2–11–4	1
11	Michelle Betos	Seattle Reign FC	7	630	49	34	14	2.000	0–6–1	0

Source:^[21]

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Month	Player of the Month		Club	Month's Statline
April		Christine Sinclair[22]	Portland Thorns FC	2 G, 1 A in 3 games; Thorns 2–0–1 in April
May		Brittany Cameron[23]	Sky Blue FC	0.5 GAA, 4SHO in 6 games; SBFC 4–1–1 in May
June		Lauren Cheney[24]	FC Kansas City	6 G, 1 A in 5 games; FCKC 4–2–1 in June
July		Erika Tymrak[25]	FC Kansas City	3 G, 1 A in 6 games; FCKC 3–0–3 in July
August		Mónica Ocampo[26]	Sky Blue FC	3 G, in 3 games

Weekly awards

Week	Player of the Week		Club	Week's Statline
Week 1		Brittany Cameron[27]	Sky Blue FC	5 SVS, SHO
Week 2		Jessica Fishlock[28]	Seattle Reign FC	1 G (74')
Week 3		Heather O'Reilly[29]	Boston Breakers	2 G (16', 83'), GWG
Week 4		Sydney Leroux[30]	Boston Breakers	3 G (26', 74', 84'), GWG
Week 5		Abby Wambach[31]	Western New York Flash	2 G (34', 39'), GWG
Week 6		Christie Rampone[32]	Sky Blue FC	180min, 0 GA
Week 7		Lianne Sanderson[33]	Boston Breakers	3 A
Week 8		Lisa De Vanna[34]	Sky Blue FC	2 G (14', 56'), 1 A
Week 9		Abby Wambach[35]	Western New York Flash	1 G (82'), 1 A
Week 10		Lori Chalupny[36]	Chicago Red Stars	1 A
Week 11		Karina LeBlanc[37]	Portland Thorns FC	7 SVS
Week 12		Carli Lloyd[38]	Western New York Flash	3 G (3', 22', 56')
Week 13		Sydney Leroux[39]	Boston Breakers	3 G, 2 Games
Week 14		Karina LeBlanc[40]	Portland Thorns FC	5 SVS
Week 15		Erika Tymrak[41]	FC Kansas City	1 G (86'), 1 A
Week 16		Megan Rapinoe[42]	Seattle Reign FC	2 G (6', 68'), 1 A
Week 17		Lauren Holiday[43]	FC Kansas City	2 G (23', 55')
Week 18		Diana Matheson[44]	Washington Spirit	1 G, 1 A in 2 Games
Week 19		Jen Hoy[45]	Chicago Red Stars	2 G (45', 92')

Annual awards

Award	Winner			Runner-up		Third place
Golden Boot [46]	Lauren Holiday	FC Kansas City	12 Goals	Abby Wambach	Western New York Flash	Sydney Leroux	Boston Breakers
Rookie of the Year [47]	Erika Tymrak		6 Goals, 4 Assists	Adrianna Franch	Western New York Flash	Sydney Leroux	Boston Breakers
Goalkeeper of the Year [48]	Nicole Barnhart		10 Shutouts	Adrianna Franch	Western New York Flash	Karina LeBlanc	Portland Thorns
Defender of the Year [49]	Becky Sauerbrunn		1710min, 1.00 GAA	Christie Rampone	Sky Blue FC	Leigh Ann Robinson	FC Kansas City
Coach of the Year [50]	Vlatko Andonovski		11–6–5, 2nd reg. season	Jim Gabarra	Sky Blue FC	Aaran Lines	Western New York Flash
Most Valuable Player [51]	Lauren Holiday		1st in G and A, 4th in S and SOG	Abby Wambach	Western New York Flash	Lori Chalupny	Chicago Red Stars

NWSL Best XI [52]
Position	First team			Second team
Goalkeeper	Nicole Barnhart	FC Kansas City	10 shutouts	Adrianna Franch	Western New York Flash	98 Saves
Defense	Christie Rampone	Sky Blue FC	1.20 GAA	Rachel Buehler	Portland Thorns FC	1.15 GAA
Defense	Leigh Ann Robinson	FC Kansas City	5 assists	Caitlin Foord	Sky Blue FC	NWSL youngest player
Defense	Becky Sauerbrunn	FC Kansas City	1.0 GAA	Ali Krieger	Washington Spirit	1 goal
Defense	Brittany Taylor	Western New York Flash	3 goals, 4 assists	Lauren Sesselmann	FC Kansas City	0.84 GAA
Midfield	Lori Chalupny	Chicago Red Stars	5 goals, 4 assists	Megan Rapinoe	Seattle Reign FC	5 goals, 1 assist
Midfield	Jess Fishlock	Seattle Reign FC	4 goals	Desiree Scott	FC Kansas City	1.00 GAA
Midfield	Lauren Holiday	FC Kansas City	12 goals, 9 assists	Erika Tymrak	FC Kansas City	6 goals, 4 assists
MF // FW	Diana Matheson	Washington Spirit	8 goals, 3 assists	Alex Morgan	Portland Thorns FC	8 goals, 5 assists
Forward	Sydney Leroux	Boston Breakers	11 goals, 2 assists	Lianne Sanderson	Boston Breakers	5 goals, 7 assists
Forward	Abby Wambach	Western New York Flash	11 goals, 8 assists	Christine Sinclair	Portland Thorns FC	8 goals, 2 assists

NWSL Championship Game MVP [4]
Player	Club	Record
Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Scored game-winning goal in first league Championship Game

Statistics

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 3rd minute (April 13)^[53]
• Earliest goal in a match: 2 minutes
  • CoCo Goodson for Sky Blue FC against Washington Spirit (April 27)^[54]
• Latest goal in a match: 90+6 minutes
  • Lori Chalupny for Chicago Red Stars against FC Kansas City (July 14)^[55]
• Widest winning margin: 4 goals
  • Sky Blue 5–1 Boston Breakers (June 1)
  • Western New York Flash 4–0 Washington Spirit (May 4)
• Most goals scored in a match: 7
  • Washington Spirit 2–5 Boston Breakers (July 27)
  • Portland Thorns 4-3 FC Kansas City (June 6)
• First Own Goal: McCall Zerboni of Western New York Flash for Sky Blue FC (April 14)^[56]
• Average goals per match: 2.705

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Sydney Leroux	Boston Breakers	Chicago Red Stars	4–1[57]	May 4, 2013
Carli Lloyd	Western New York Flash	Washington Spirit	4–0[58]	June 28, 2013

Discipline

• First yellow card: Kristie Mewis for FC Kansas City against Portland Thorns FC, 43rd minute (April 13)^[59]
• Most yellow cards in a match: 6
  • Portland Thorns FC 2–1 Seattle Reign FC – 3 for Portland (Allie Long, Angie Kerr, & Nikki Washington) and 3 for Seattle (Elli Reed, Christine Nairn, & Jessica Fishlock) (April 21)

Streaks

• Longest winning streak: 5 games
  • Sky Blue FC, games 5–9
• Longest unbeaten streak: 10 games
  • FC Kansas City, games 11–20
• Longest winless streak: 13 games
  • Washington Spirit, games 7–19
• Longest losing streak: 9 games
  • Seattle Reign FC, games 2–10
• Longest shutout: 435 minutes by Brittany Cameron for Sky Blue FC
• Longest drought: 541 minutes for Washington Spirit

Other firsts

• First player to score twice in a match: Heather O'Reilly for Boston Breakers against Western New York Flash (April 27)
• First come-from-behind victory: Boston Breakers 2–1 Western New York Flash (April 27)

Home team record

(Regular season only)

• 8 wins, 8 losses, 6 ties – 1.364 PPG
• 28 goals for, 26 goals against – +2 GD

See also

• Women's association football portal
• Sports portal
• Association football portal

• List of top-division football clubs in CONCACAF countries
• List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada