2016 National Women's Soccer League season

The 2016 National Women's Soccer League season was the fourth 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), it was the tenth overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league was operated by the United States Soccer Federation and received significant financial backing from that body. Further financial backing was provided by the Canadian Soccer Association. Both 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	2016
Champions	Western New York Flash
NWSL Shield	Portland Thorns FC
Matches played	100
Goals scored	263 (2.63 per match)
Top goalscorer	Kealia Ohai Lynn Williams (11 goals)
Biggest home win	6 goals: WNY 7–1 BOS (Jun 24)
Biggest away win	4 goals: BOS 0–4 WNY (Sep 24)
Highest scoring	8 goals: WNY 7–1 BOS (Jun 24)
Longest winning run	4 games: Portland Thorns FC (June 17 – July 2) (Sept 4 – Sept 25)
Longest unbeaten run	12 games: Portland Thorns FC (Apr 17 – July 2)
Longest winless run	8 games: Orlando Pride (July 16 – Sept 24)
Longest losing run	6 games: Houston Dash (May 14 – Jul 10)
Highest attendance	23,403 ORL 3–1 HOU (Apr 23)
Lowest attendance	1,252 NJ 1–2 WNY (May 7)
Total attendance	555,775
Average attendance	5,558
← 2015 2017 → All statistics correct as of September 25, 2016[1].

To accommodate the 2016 Olympics, the league suspended play for most of the month of August. In addition, the league did not schedule games during FIFA windows, leaving the 20-game, 19-week regular season ending in late September for the second year in a row.^[2]

In the regular season, the Portland Thorns topped the standings and thus won the NWSL Shield. In the playoffs, the Washington Spirit and Western New York Flash won their opening matches to set up a meeting in the final. They tied 2-2 after extra time, with the Flash winning 3-2 on penalties to take the NWSL Championship.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

See also: List of National Women's Soccer League stadiums

Two teams, the Dash and Reign, do not make their stadiums' entire capacity available for home games, instead restricting ticket sales at a lower level. The full capacities of their venues are included in parentheses and italics.

Team Stadium Capacity Boston Breakers Soldiers Field Soccer Stadium 4,500 Chicago Red Stars Toyota Park 20,000 Houston Dash BBVA Compass Stadium 7,000 (22,039) FC Kansas City Swope Soccer Village (primary)[3] Children's Mercy Park (secondary) 4,000 18,467 Orlando Pride Camping World Stadium 60,219 Portland Thorns Providence Park 21,144 Seattle Reign FC Memorial Stadium 7,000 (12,000) Sky Blue FC Yurcak Field 5,000 Washington Spirit Maryland SoccerPlex 5,126 Western New York Flash Rochester Rhinos Stadium 13,768

Breakers Red Stars Dash Kansas City Pride Thorns Reign Sky Blue Spirit Flash Locations of teams for the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All of the teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Shirt sponsor
Boston Breakers	Matt Beard	Whitney Engen Kassey Kallman	Steward Health Care
Chicago Red Stars	Rory Dames	Christen Press	Illinois Bone and Joint Institute
Houston Dash	Randy Waldrum	Kealia Ohai	BBVA Compass
FC Kansas City	Vlatko Andonovski	Becky Sauerbrunn	Domino's
Orlando Pride	Tom Sermanni	Alex Morgan	Orlando Health
Portland Thorns	Mark Parsons	Christine Sinclair Tobin Heath	Providence Health & Services
Seattle Reign FC	Laura Harvey	Keelin Winters	Microsoft
Sky Blue FC	Christy Holly	Christie Rampone	Meridian Health
Washington Spirit	Jim Gabarra	Ali Krieger	ProChain Solutions, Inc.
Western New York Flash	Paul Riley	Abby Erceg	Sahlen's

Competition format

• Each team will play a total of 20 games, 10 home and 10 away.
• Each team will play all opponents twice, once home and once away, plus one local rival two extra times, also once home and away.
• The four teams at the end of the season with the most points will qualify for the playoffs.

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key: Boston Breakers – BOS • Chicago Red Stars – CHI • Houston Dash – HOU • FC Kansas City – KC • Orlando Pride – ORL 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
Boston Breakers	WAS	SEA	POR	CHI	NJ	KC	WNY	WAS	CHI	WNY	SEA	ORL	NJ	ORL	KC	HOU	POR	WNY	HOU	WNY
	1–0	0–3	0–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	3–0	7–1	2–0	2–1	2–3	1–0	0–2	1–3	5–1	2–2	4–1	0–4
Chicago Red Stars	HOU	WNY	ORL	BOS	KC	SEA	NJ	POR	BOS	POR	WNY	WAS	ORL	HOU	KC	NJ	SEA	KC	KC	WAS
	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–3	2–2	2–3	0–0	3–1
Houston Dash	CHI	ORL	NJ	KC	WAS	ORL	SEA	KC	ORL	NJ	POR	CHI	WNY	WAS	WNY	BOS	ORL	POR	BOS	SEA
	3–1	3–1	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–0	3–0	1–1	3–3	1–2	2–2	1–3	4–2	3–0	4–1	2–3
FC Kansas City	WNY	POR	SEA	HOU	CHI	BOS	ORL	NJ	HOU	SEA	WAS	POR	WAS	WNY	CHI	BOS	NJ	CHI	CHI	ORL
	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–0	1–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–3	0–0	1–2
Orlando Pride	POR	HOU	CHI	SEA	WNY	HOU	KC	WNY	WAS	HOU	POR	BOS	CHI	SEA	BOS	WAS	HOU	NJ	NJ	KC
	2–1	3–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–1	5–2	1–0	1–2	4–2	1–1	1–2	1–2
Portland Thorns FC	ORL	KC	BOS	WAS	SEA	WAS	SEA	CHI	WNY	CHI	ORL	NJ	KC	HOU	SEA	SEA	BOS	HOU	WNY	NJ
	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	4–1	0–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	1–2	2–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	3–1	5–1	3–0	3–2	1–3
Seattle Reign FC	NJ	BOS	KC	ORL	POR	CHI	POR	HOU	NJ	KC	BOS	WNY	WNY	ORL	POR	POR	CHI	WAS	WAS	HOU
	1–2	0–3	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	5–2	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–1	2–0	2–3
Sky Blue FC	SEA	WAS	HOU	WNY	BOS	WNY	CHI	KC	SEA	WAS	POR	HOU	BOS	WAS	WAS	CHI	KC	ORL	ORL	POR
	1–2	1–2	0–0	1–2	1–0	5–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–1	1–0	2–3	1–0	3–1	1–3	2–1	1–1	1–2	1–3
Washington Spirit	BOS	NJ	WNY	POR	HOU	POR	BOS	ORL	NJ	KC	CHI	KC	NJ	NJ	HOU	ORL	WNY	SEA	SEA	CHI
	1–0	1–2	0–3	0–0	1–0	4–1	1–1	2–0	1–2	2–0	2–0	2–3	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	3–1
Western New York Flash	KC	CHI	WAS	NJ	ORL	NJ	BOS	ORL	POR	BOS	CHI	SEA	SEA	KC	HOU	HOU	WAS	BOS	POR	BOS
	0–1	1–0	0–3	1–2	1–0	5–2	4–0	1–0	0–2	7–1	2–0	3–2	1–1	0–1	3–3	2–2	1–1	2–2	3–2	0–4

Updated to games played on September 25, 2016.^[1]

Scores listed as home-away

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portland Thorns FC	20	12	5	3	35	19	+16	41	NWSL Shield
2	Washington Spirit	20	12	3	5	30	21	+9	39	NWSL Playoffs
3	Chicago Red Stars	20	9	6	5	24	20	+4	33
4	Western New York Flash (C)	20	9	5	6	40	26	+14	32
5	Seattle Reign FC	20	8	6	6	29	21	+8	30
6	FC Kansas City	20	7	5	8	18	20	−2	26
7	Sky Blue FC	20	7	5	8	24	30	−6	26
8	Houston Dash	20	6	4	10	29	29	0	22
9	Orlando Pride	20	6	1	13	20	30	−10	19
10	Boston Breakers	20	3	2	15	14	47	−33	11

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Tiebreakers

The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker rules,^[4] going down the list until all teams are ranked.

1. Head-to-head win–loss record between the teams (or points-per-game if more than two teams).
2. Greater goal difference across the entire season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
3. Greatest total number of goals scored (against all teams).
4. Apply #1–3 to games played on the road.
5. Apply #1–3 to games played at home.
6. If teams are still equal, ranking will be determined by a coin toss.

NOTE: If two clubs remain tied after another club with the same number of points advances during any step, the tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.

Weekly live standings

Considering each week to end on a Sunday. The number of games played by the teams are uneven due to a weather postponement in week 7 (rescheduled as the only game between week 15 and 16) and differing schedules between week 10 and 16.

Week →	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	7R	16	17	18	19
Team ↓
Portland Thorns FC	3	2	2	3	3	3	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	1
Washington Spirit	5	1	1	1	1	1	3	4	3	4	3	3	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	2
Chicago Red Stars	10	8	4	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	4	4	4	5	4	4	3	3	3	3
Western New York Flash	4	7	8	7	8	5	5	2	4	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4
Seattle Reign FC	6	3	3	6	7	6	7	6	6	7	5	7	7	6	6	6	5	5	5	5
FC Kansas City	8	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	6
Sky Blue FC	2	6	6	8	5	8	6	7	7	6	7	6	5	4	5	5	6	6	6	7
Houston Dash	1	5	5	4	6	7	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	7	8	8
Orlando Pride	7	4	7	5	4	4	4	5	5	5	6	5	6	7	7	7	7	9	9	9
Boston Breakers	9	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

Attendance

See also: National Women's Soccer League attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.

Team	GP	Attendance	High	Low	Average
Portland Thorns FC	10	169,449	21,144	13,752	16,945
Orlando Pride	10	87,851	23,403	5,842	8,785
Houston Dash	10	56,963	7,440	4,570	5,696
Seattle Reign FC	10	46,018	5,888	3,987	4,602
Western New York Flash	10	38,683	6,449	2,235	3,868
Washington Spirit	10	37,817	5,750	3,036	3,782
Boston Breakers	10	35,704	4,379	1,435	3,570
FC Kansas City	10	31,624	8,022	2,217	3,162
Chicago Red Stars	10	30,045	4,024	2,068	3,005
Sky Blue FC	10	21,621	3,780	1,252	2,162
Total	100	555,775	23,403	1,252	5,558

Updated to games played on September 25, 2016.^[1]

Highest attendances

Regular season

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Stadium
1	Orlando Pride	3–1	Houston Dash	23,403	April 23, 2016 (2016-04-23)	Camping World Stadium
2	Portland Thorns FC	3–2	Western New York Flash	21,144	September 11, 2016	Providence Park
3	Portland Thorns FC	1–0	Seattle Reign	19,231	July 30, 2016	Providence Park
4	Portland Thorns FC	0–0	Seattle Reign	18,114	May 29, 2016 (2016-05-29)	Providence Park
5	Portland Thorns FC	5–1	Boston Breakers	17,152	September 4, 2016 (2016-09-04)	Providence Park
6	Portland Thorns FC	1–2	FC Kansas City	16,942	July 9, 2016 (2016-07-09)	Providence Park
7	Portland Thorns FC	2–0	Chicago Red Stars	16,931	June 22, 2016 (2016-06-22)	Providence Park
8	Portland Thorns FC	2–1	Orlando Pride	16,073	April 17, 2016 (2016-04-17)	Providence Park
9	Portland Thorns FC	4–1	Washington Spirit	15,823	May 21, 2016 (2016-05-21)	Providence Park
10	Portland Thorns FC	2–0	Sky Blue	14,287	July 2, 2016 (2016-07-02)	Providence Park

Updated to games played on September 25, 2016.^[1]

Statistical leaders

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Kealia Ohai Houston Dash 11 Lynn Williams Western New York Flash 3 Jessica McDonald Western New York Flash 10 4 Nadia Nadim Portland Thorns FC 9 5 Shea Groom FC Kansas City 8 Christen Press Chicago Red Stars 7 Sofia Huerta Chicago Red Stars 7 Manon Melis Seattle Reign FC 9 Kristen Edmonds Orlando Pride 6 Kim Little Seattle Reign FC Allie Long Portland Thorns FC Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC Updated: September 25[1]

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Tobin Heath Portland Thorns FC 10 2 Jessica McDonald Western New York Flash 7 Vanessa DiBernardo Chicago Red Stars 4 Crystal Dunn Washington Spirit 5 Lynn Williams Western New York Flash 6 Rachel Daly Houston Dash 4 Makenzy Doniak Western New York Flash Jessica Fishlock Seattle Reign FC Leah Galton Sky Blue FC Taylor Lytle Sky Blue FC Tiffany McCarty FC Kansas City Kealia Ohai Houston Dash Updated: September 25[1]

Clean sheets Rank Player Club Clean sheets 1 Nicole Barnhart FC Kansas City 6 Alyssa Naeher Chicago Red Stars 3 Stephanie Labbé Washington Spirit 5 Hope Solo Seattle Reign FC 5 Michelle Betos Portland Thorns FC 4 Ashlyn Harris Orlando Pride 7 Adrianna Franch Portland Thorns FC 3 Caroline Stanley Sky Blue FC Haley Kopmeyer Seattle Reign FC Updated: September 25[1]

NWSL Playoffs

Further information: NWSL Playoffs

The top four teams from the regular season will compete for the NWSL Championship.

	Semi-finals					Championship
	1	Portland Thorns FC	3
	4	Western New York Flash (a.e.t.)	4
						4	Western New York Flash (pen.)	2 (3)
						2	Washington Spirit	2 (2)
	2	Washington Spirit (a.e.t.)	2
	3	Chicago Red Stars	1

Semi-finals

September 30, 2016

8:00pm (EDT)

Washington Spirit	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Chicago Red Stars
Krieger 36' Nairn  57' Ordega 111'	Report	Press 81' Johnson  120+2'

Maryland SoccerPlex
Boyds, Maryland

Attendance: 4,249

Referee: Danielle Chesky

October 2, 2016

2:00pm (PDT)

Portland Thorns FC	3–4 (a.e.t.)	Western New York Flash
Sinclair 39' Brynjarsdóttir  75' Sonnett 78' Horan 105+1' Heath  114'	Report	Mewis 16' Kennedy  28' Doniak 38' Dahlkemper  76' Williams 98', 104' Eddy  109' D'Angelo  120+1'

Providence Park
Portland, Oregon

Attendance: 20,086

Referee: Marco Vega

Championship

October 9, 2016

4:00pm (CDT)

Washington Spirit	2–2 (a.e.t.)	Western New York Flash
Dunn 9', 91' Wys  120+2'	Report	Mewis 14' Zerboni  84' Williams 120+4'
Penalties
Krieger Nairn Stengel Huster Matheson	2–3	Dahlkemper Hinkle McDonald Williams Mewis

BBVA Compass Stadium
Houston, Texas

Attendance: 8,255

Referee: Matthew Franz

Individual awards

Monthly awards

See also: NWSL Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month		Club	Month's Statline
April		Tobin Heath[5][6]	Portland Thorns FC	3 assists in 2 games; Thorns 1-0-1 in April
May		Alyssa Naeher[7]	Chicago Red Stars	3 shutouts, 1 goal allowed in 4 games; Red Stars 3-0-2 in May
June		Christine Sinclair[8]	Portland Thorns FC	3 goals and 1 assist; Thorns 3-0-1 in June
July		Estefania Banini[9]	Washington Spirit	4 goals; Spirit 4-1-0 in July
August/Olympics		Christine Sinclair[10]	Portland Thorns FC	Both as "Olympian of the Month" and "Player of the Olympics"
September		Allie Long[11]	Portland Thorns FC	5 goals in 4 games; Thorns 4-0-0 in September

Weekly awards

See also: NWSL Player of the Week

See also: NWSL Goal of the Week

See also: NWSL Save of the Week

Week	NWSL Player of the Week		NWSL Goal of the Week		NWSL Save of the Week
	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
1	Rachel Daly[a 1]	Houston Dash	Steph Catley[a 2]	Orlando Pride	Michelle Betos[a 3]	Portland Thorns FC
2	Kim Little[a 4]	Seattle Reign FC	Ali Krieger[a 5]	Washington Spirit	Ashlyn Harris[a 6]	Orlando Pride
3	Kim Little[a 7]	Seattle Reign FC	Christen Press[a 8][a 9]	Chicago Red Stars	Ashlyn Harris[a 10]	Orlando Pride
4	Chioma Ubogagu[a 11]	Houston Dash	Christen Press[a 12][a 13]	Chicago Red Stars	Ashlyn Harris[a 14]	Orlando Pride
5	Alyssa Naeher[a 15]	Chicago Red Stars	Alex Morgan[a 16][a 17]	Orlando Pride	Lydia Williams[a 18]	Houston Dash
6	Tobin Heath[a 19]	Portland Thorns FC	Tobin Heath[a 20][a 21]	Portland Thorns FC	Ashlyn Harris[a 22]	Orlando Pride
7	Lynn Williams[a 23]	Western New York Flash	Erika Tymrak[a 24]	FC Kansas City	Katherine Reynolds[a 25]	Portland Thorns FC
8	Britt Eckerstrom[a 26][a 27]	Western New York Flash	Christen Press[a 28][a 29]	Chicago Red Stars	Ashlyn Harris[a 30]	Orlando Pride
9	Sofia Huerta[a 31][a 32]	Chicago Red Stars	Becky Sauerbrunn[a 33]	FC Kansas City	Ashlyn Harris[a 34]	Orlando Pride
10	Jessica McDonald[a 35]	Western New York Flash	Jasmyne Spencer[a 36]	Orlando Pride	Ashlyn Harris[a 37]	Orlando Pride
11	Nahomi Kawasumi[a 38]	Seattle Reign	Dagný Brynjarsdóttir[a 39]	Portland Thorns FC	Nicole Barnhart[a 40]	FC Kansas City
12	Kristen Edmonds[a 41]	Orlando Pride	Kristen Edmonds[a 42]	Orlando Pride	Michelle Betos[a 43]	Portland Thorns FC
13	Estefania Banini[a 44]	Washington Spirit	Estefania Banini[a 45]	Washington Spirit	Michelle Betos[a 46]	Portland Thorns FC
14	Nicole Barnhart[a 47]	FC Kansas City	Rachel Daly[a 48]	Houston Dash	Kendall Fletcher[a 49]	Seattle Reign FC
15	Kealia Ohai[a 50]	Houston Dash	Rachel Daly[a 51]	Houston Dash	Michelle Betos[a 52]	Portland Thorns FC
16	Manon Melis[a 53]	Seattle Reign FC	Christine Nairn[a 54]	Washington Spirit	Alyssa Naeher[a 55]	Chicago Red Stars
17	Kealia Ohai[a 56]	Houston Dash	Alex Morgan[a 57]	Orlando Pride	Alyssa Naeher[a 58]	Chicago Red Stars
18	Samantha Kerr[a 59]	Sky Blue FC	Christen Press[a 60]	Chicago Red Stars	Ashlyn Harris[a 61]	Orlando Pride
19	Allie Long[a 62]	Portland Thorns FC	Kealia Ohai[a 63]	Houston Dash	Lydia Williams[a 64]	Houston Dash

Annual awards

Award	Winner
Golden Boot [12]	Lynn Williams	Western New York Flash	11 goals
Rookie of the Year [13]	Raquel Rodriguez	Sky Blue FC	1,461 minutes
Goalkeeper of the Year [14]	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	1.33 GAA, 62 saves
Defender of the Year [15]	Lauren Barnes	Seattle Reign FC	531 consecutive SO minutes
Coach of the Year [16]	Mark Parsons	Portland Thorns FC	12–3–5 regular season
Most Valuable Player [17]	Lynn Williams	Western New York Flash	11 goals, 5 assists

NWSL Best XI [18]
Position	First team			Second team
Goalkeeper	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	62 saves	Alyssa Naeher	Chicago Red Stars	1.00 GAA
Defender	Lauren Barnes	Seattle Reign FC	1,775 minutes	Julie Johnston	Chicago Red Stars	1.00 team GAA
Defender	Arin Gilliland	Chicago Red Stars	1.00 team GAA	Ali Krieger	Washington Spirit	1.05 team GAA
Defender	Emily Menges	Portland Thorns FC	0.95 team GAA	Christie Rampone	Sky Blue FC	1,800 minutes
Defender	Becky Sauerbrunn	FC Kansas City	1.00 team GAA	Casey Short	Chicago Red Stars	1,781 minutes
Midfielder	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Goal, 10 assists	Danielle Colaprico	Chicago Red Stars	Goal, 2 assists
Midfielder	Allie Long	Portland Thorns FC	6 goals, 2 assists	Vanessa DiBernardo	Chicago Red Stars	7 assists
FW // MF	Jessica McDonald	Western New York Flash	10 goals, 7 assists	Jess Fishlock	Seattle Reign FC	Goal, 4 assists
FW // MF	Kealia Ohai	Houston Dash	11 goals, 4 assists	Kim Little	Seattle Reign FC	6 goals, 2 assists
Forward	Christen Press	Chicago Red Stars	8 goals	Crystal Dunn	Washington Spirit	2 goals, 5 assists
Forward	Lynn Williams	Western New York Flash	11 goals, 5 assists	Shea Groom	FC Kansas City	8 goals

NWSL Championship Game MVP
Player	Club	Record
Sabrina D'Angelo	Western New York Flash	3 saves in PK shootout