2019 National Women's Soccer League season

The 2019 National Women's Soccer League season was the seventh 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 thirteenth overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States.

National Women's Soccer League

Season	2019
Champions	North Carolina Courage
NWSL Shield	North Carolina Courage
Matches played	108
Goals scored	282 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorer	Sam Kerr (18) (NWSL Record)
Biggest home win	NCC 5–0 ORL (April 17) POR 5–0 HOU (July 24)
Biggest away win	POR 0–6 NCC (September 11)
Highest scoring	CHI 4–4 POR (April 20)
Longest winning run	5 games Chicago Red Stars (July 13 – August 10)
Longest unbeaten run	7 games Washington Spirit (May 4 – July 6)
Longest winless run	9 games Orlando Pride (April 14 – June 15) Sky Blue FC (April 13 – July 6)
Longest losing run	5 games Orlando Pride (April 27 – June 1) Sky Blue FC (May 11 – July 6)
Highest attendance	25,218 POR 2–1 NCC (August 11)
Lowest attendance	1,321 SKY 2–2 POR (April 28)
Total attendance	798,056
Average attendance	7,389
← 2018 2020 → All statistics correct as of October 12, 2019.

The league is operated by the United States Soccer Federation and receives major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing is provided by the Canadian Soccer Association. Both national federations pay the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations and take the financial burden of individual clubs.

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

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

The Dash does not make its stadium's entire capacity available for home games, instead restricting ticket sales at a lower level. The full capacity of this venue is included in parentheses and italics.

Two stadiums were renamed during the season. First, on June 4, Exploria Resorts acquired the naming rights to Orlando City Stadium, which was accordingly renamed Exploria Stadium.^[1] Then, on June 13, the U.S. arm of the Spanish multinational bank BBVA announced a rebranding of the U.S. operations from "BBVA Compass" to "BBVA". As part of the rebranding, BBVA Compass Stadium became simply BBVA Stadium.^[2]

Team Stadium Capacity Chicago Red Stars SeatGeek Stadium 20,000 Houston Dash BBVA Stadium 7,000 (22,039) North Carolina Courage Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park 10,000 Orlando Pride Exploria Stadium 25,500 Portland Thorns Providence Park 25,218 Reign FC Cheney Stadium 6,500 Sky Blue FC Yurcak Field[a] 5,000 Utah Royals FC Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 Washington Spirit Maryland SoccerPlex[b] 4,000 Sky Blue played two home games at Red Bull Arena (capacity 25,000). The Spirit played two home games at Audi Field (capacity 20,000).

Red Stars Dash Courage Pride Thorns Reign Sky Blue Royals Spirit Locations of the National Women's Soccer League teams in 2019.

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer.

Team	Head coach	Shirt sponsor
Chicago Red Stars	Rory Dames	—
Houston Dash	James Clarkson	—
North Carolina Courage	Paul Riley	Continental AG
Orlando Pride	Marc Skinner	Orlando Health
Portland Thorns	Mark Parsons	Providence Health & Services
Reign FC	Vlatko Andonovski	Zulily
Sky Blue FC	Freya Coombe (interim)	Meridian Health
Utah Royals FC	Laura Harvey	Conservice
Washington Spirit	Richie Burke	GEICO

Coaching changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Incoming manager	Date of appointment	Ref.
Washington Spirit	Tom Torres	End of interim period	September 2, 2018	Richie Burke	January 8, 2019	[3][4]
Orlando Pride	Tom Sermanni	Mutual separation	September 14, 2018	Marc Skinner	January 14, 2019	[5][6]
Houston Dash	Vera Pauw	Mutual separation	September 20, 2018	James Clarkson	December 11, 2018	[7][8]
Sky Blue FC	Denise Reddy	Fired	June 28, 2019	Freya Coombe (interim)	September 4, 2019	[9][10]

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Carolina Courage (C)	24	15	4	5	54	23	+31	49	NWSL Shield
2	Chicago Red Stars	24	14	2	8	41	28	+13	44	NWSL Playoffs
3	Portland Thorns FC	24	11	7	6	40	31	+9	40
4	Reign FC	24	10	8	6	27	27	0	38
5	Washington Spirit	24	9	7	8	30	25	+5	34
6	Utah Royals FC	24	10	4	10	25	25	0	34
7	Houston Dash	24	7	5	12	21	36	−15	26
8	Sky Blue FC	24	5	5	14	20	34	−14	20
9	Orlando Pride	24	4	4	16	24	53	−29	16

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,^[11] 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 tiebreaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.

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	12	241,181	25,218	15,581	20,098
Utah Royals FC	12	129,288	18,015	5,777	10,774
Washington Spirit	12	73,661	19,871	2,097	6,138
North Carolina Courage	12	70,496	9,563	4,053	5,875
Orlando Pride	12	66,783	9,415	3,703	5,565
Chicago Red Stars	12	65,406	17,388	2,023	5,451
Reign FC	12	62,551	7,479	3,032	5,213
Houston Dash	12	48,631	5,327	2,933	4,053
Sky Blue FC	12	40,059	9,415	1,321	3,338
Total	108	798,056	25,218	1,321	7,389

Updated through end of regular season on October 12, 2019.^[12]

Highest attendances

Regular season

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Stadium
1	Portland Thorns FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	25,218[13]	August 11, 2019 (2019-08-11)	Providence Park
2	Portland Thorns FC	0–0	Washington Spirit	24,521[14]	October 12, 2019 (2019-10-12)	Providence Park
3	Portland Thorns FC	5–0	Houston Dash	22,329[15]	July 24, 2019 (2019-07-24)	Providence Park
4	Portland Thorns FC	1–0	Houston Dash	21,022[16]	September 21, 2019 (2019-09-21)	Providence Park
5	Portland Thorns FC	3–1	Washington Spirit	20,895[17]	August 17, 2019 (2019-08-17)	Providence Park
6	Washington Spirit	2–1	Orlando Pride	19,871[18][19][20]	August 24, 2019 (2019-08-24)	Audi Field
7	Portland Thorns FC	3–0	Chicago Red Stars	19,461[21]	June 2, 2019 (2019-06-02)	Providence Park
8	Portland Thorns FC	0–1	Reign FC	19,116[22]	July 5, 2019 (2019-07-05)	Providence Park
9	Portland Thorns FC	1–1	Sky Blue FC	19,070[23]	August 3, 2019 (2019-08-03)	Providence Park
10	Portland Thorns FC	4–3	Orlando Pride	18,909[24]	July 14, 2019 (2019-07-14)	Providence Park

Updated through end of regular season on October 12, 2019.^[12]

Statistical leaders

As of October 12, 2019^[25]

Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 18 2 Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage 12 3 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage 9 Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC Amy Rodriguez Utah Royals FC 6 Yuki Nagasato Chicago Red Stars 8 Debinha North Carolina Courage Margaret Purce Portland Thorns FC Carli Lloyd Sky Blue FC Christen Press Utah Royals FC

Top assists Rank Player Club Assists 1 Yuki Nagasato Chicago Red Stars 8 2 Debinha North Carolina Courage 7 3 Jaelene Hinkle North Carolina Courage 6 Veronica Boquete Utah Royals FC 5 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 5 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Merritt Mathias North Carolina Courage Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage 9 Crystal Dunn North Carolina Courage 4 Sofia Huerta Houston Dash Meghan Klingenberg Portland Thorns FC Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir Utah Royals FC

Shutouts Rank Player Club Clean sheets 1 Nicole Barnhart Utah Royals FC 10 2 Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit 9 3 Stephanie Labbe North Carolina Courage 8 4 Alyssa Naeher Chicago Red Stars 6 Jane Campbell Houston Dash Casey Murphy Reign FC 7 Adrianna Franch Portland Thorns FC 5 8 Britt Eckerstrom Portland Thorns FC 3 Kailen Sheridan Sky Blue FC 10 Emily Boyd Chicago Red Stars 2

Hat-tricks Player For Against Score Date Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC Chicago Red Stars 4−4 April 20 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Orlando Pride 3−0 June 1 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Orlando Pride 2−3 June 30 Kristen Hamilton4 North Carolina Courage Houston Dash 5−2 July 5 Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage Portland Thorns FC 6−0 September 11 4 Scored 4 goals

NWSL Playoffs

Further information: NWSL Playoffs

The top four teams from the regular season compete for the NWSL Championship. The North Carolina Courage secured the number one seed on September 21, winning their third straight NWSL Shield.

	Semi-finals					Championship
	1	North Carolina Courage	4
	4	Reign FC	1
						1	North Carolina Courage	4
						2	Chicago Red Stars	0
	2	Chicago Red Stars	1
	3	Portland Thorns FC	0

Semi-finals

North Carolina Courage	4–1 (a.e.t.)	Reign FC
O'Reilly 88' (pen.) Debinha 99' Barnes 106' (o.g.) Dunn 107'	Report	Long  50' Onumonu 90+3'

October 20, 2019

1:30pm (EDT)

Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
Cary, North Carolina

Attendance: 7,422

Referee: Tori Penso

Chicago Red Stars	1–0	Portland Thorns FC
Kerr 8'	Report	Ball  45+1'

October 20, 2019

2:30pm (CDT)

SeatGeek Stadium
Bridgeview, Illinois

Attendance: 9,218

Referee: Danielle Chesky

Championship

North Carolina Courage	4–0	Chicago Red Stars
Debinha 8' McDonald 26' Dunn 45+5' Mewis 61' Zerboni  74'	Report	DiBernardo  47' Ertz  67'

October 27, 2019

4:00pm (EDT)

Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
Cary, North Carolina

Attendance: 10,227

Referee: Rosendo Mendoza

Individual awards

As of October 16, 2019

Monthly Awards

Player of the Month

Month	Player of the Month		Club	Month's Statline
April		Crystal Dunn	North Carolina Courage	4 Goals in three games, 2 Assists and 3 chances created.[26]
May		Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	4 Goals in three games.[27]
June		Jess Fishlock	Reign FC	3 Goals in three games. 1 Assist, 8 shots, and 7 chances created.[28]
July		Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage	4 goals in a single match. 5 goals and 2 assists in July.[29]
August		Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	3 Goals, 13 shots on goal, 12 chances created.[30]
September		Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	5 Goals, 14 shots on goal, 3 assists.[31]

Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref
April	Kailen Sheridan, NJ	Casey Short, CHI Becky Sauerbrunn, UTA Abby Erceg, NC Meghan Klingenberg, POR	Christine Sinclair, POR Yuki Nagasato, CHI Crystal Dunn, NC	Christen Press, UTA Sam Kerr, CHI Tobin Heath, POR	[32]
May	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Casey Short, CHI Rachel Corsie, UTA Sam Staab, WAS Merritt Mathias, NC	Yuki Nagasato, CHI Jordan DiBiasi, WAS Vero Boquete, UTA	Sam Kerr, CHI Amy Rodriguez, UTA Ashley Hatch, WAS	[33]
June	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Casey Short, CHI Sam Staab, WAS Megan Oyster, RFC Katherine Reynolds, POR	Andi Sullivan, WAS Jess Fishlock, RFC Kristen Hamilton, NC	Midge Purce, POR Amy Rodriguez, UTA Ifeoma Onumonu, RFC	[34]
July	Kailen Sheridan, NJ	Casey Short, CHI Sarah Gorden, CHI Abby Erceg, NC Merritt Mathias, NC	Vanessa DiBernardo, CHI Debinha, NC Gabby Seiler, POR	Kristen Hamilton, NC Sam Kerr, CHI Marta, ORL	[35]
August	Aubrey Bledsoe, WAS	Jaelene Hinkle, NC Emily Menges, POR Abby Erceg, NC Casey Short, CHI	Debinha, NC Christine Sinclair, POR Lo'eau LaBonta, UTA	Midge Purce, POR Christen Press, UTA Amy Rodriguez, UTA	[36]
September	Alyssa Naeher, CHI	Jaelene Hinkle, NC Lauren Barnes, RFC Julie Ertz, CHI Casey Short, CHI	Beverly Yanez, RFC Debinha, NC Morgan Brian, CHI	Yuki Nagasato, CHI Sam Kerr, CHI Lynn Williams, NC	[37]

Weekly awards

Week	Player of the Week		Goal of the Week		Save of the Week		Reference
	Player	Club	Player	Club	Player	Club
1	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	[38][39][40]
2	Christine Sinclair	Portland Thorns FC	Alanna Kennedy	Orlando Pride	Kailen Sheridan	Sky Blue FC	[41][42][43]
3	Yuki Nagasato	Chicago Red Stars	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Kailen Sheridan	Sky Blue FC	[44][45][46]
4	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	Kealia Ohai	Houston Dash	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	[47][48]
5	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Andressinha	Portland Thorns	Haley Kopmeyer	Orlando Pride	[49][50][51]
6	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Jordan DiBiasi	Washington Spirit	Honorary Morgan Andrews Winner Britt Eckerstrom	Reign FC Portland Thorns	[52][53][54][55]
7	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	Bethany Balcer	Reign FC	Paige Nielsen	Washington Spirit	[56][57][58]
8	Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage	Margaret Purce	Portland Thorns	Jane Campbell	Houston Dash	[59][60][61]
9	Jess Fishlock	Reign FC	Amy Rodriguez	Utah Royals FC	Haley Kopmeyer	Orlando Pride	[62][63][64]
10	Ifeoma Onumonu	Reign FC	Jess Fishlock	Reign FC	Haley Kopmeyer	Orlando Pride	[65][66][67]
11	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Tyler Lussi	Portland Thorns	Haley Kopmeyer	Orlando Pride	[68][69][70]
12	Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage	Marta	Orlando Pride	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	[71][72][73]
13	Marta	Orlando Pride	Tyler Lussi	Portland Thorns	Haley Kopmeyer	Orlando Pride	[74][75][76]
14	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	Adrianna Franch	Portland Thorns FC	[77][78][79]
15	Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage	Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	Jane Campbell	Houston Dash	[80][81][82]
16	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	[83][84][85]
17	Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	Amy Rodriguez	Utah Royals FC	Adrianna Franch	Portland Thorns FC	[86][87][88]
18	Paige Monaghan	Sky Blue FC	Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	Kailen Sheridan	Sky Blue FC	[89][90][91]
19	Midge Purce	Portland Thorns FC	Kealia Ohai	Houston Dash	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	[92][93][94]
20	Crystal Thomas	Washington Spirit	Tiffany McCarty	Washington Spirit	Lainey Burdett	Orlando Pride	[95][96][97]
21	Darian Jenkins	Reign FC	Becky Sauerbrunn	Utah Royals FC	Nicole Barnhart	Utah Royals FC	[98][99][100]
22	Lynn Williams	North Carolina Courage	Heather O'Reilly	North Carolina Courage	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	[101][102][103]
23	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Alyssa Naeher	Chicago Red Stars	[104][105][106]
24	Jodie Taylor	Reign FC	Rose Lavelle	Washington Spirit	Ashlyn Harris	Orlando Pride	[107][108][109]
25	Jessica McDonald	North Carolina Courage	Marta	Orlando Pride	Casey Murphy	Reign FC	[110][111][112]

Annual awards

See also: NWSL awards

Award	Winner
Golden Boot[113]	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	18 goals (NWSL Record)
Coach of the Year[114]	Vlatko Andonovski	Reign FC	First head coach to win award for two different teams
Rookie of the Year[115]	Bethany Balcer	Reign FC	6 Goals; 2 Assists
Goalkeeper of the Year[116]	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	86 Saves; 9 Shutouts
Defender of the Year[117]	Becky Sauerbrunn	Utah Royals FC	87.6% PassIng accuracy (1st in league)
Most Valuable Player[118]	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	18 goals; Player of the Month twice; Player of the Week six times

NWSL Team of the Season[119]
Position	Best XI		Second XI
Goalkeeper	Aubrey Bledsoe	Washington Spirit	Alyssa Naeher	Chicago Red Stars
Defender	Ali Krieger	Orlando Pride	Lauren Barnes	Reign FC
Defender	Becky Sauerbrunn	Utah Royals FC	Abby Erceg	North Carolina Courage
Defender	Abby Dahlkemper	North Carolina Courage	Kelley O'Hara	Utah Royals FC
Defender	Casey Short	Chicago Red Stars	Emily Sonnett	Portland Thorns FC
Midfielder	Lindsey Horan	Portland Thorns FC	Bethany Balcer	Reign FC
Midfielder	Julie Ertz	Chicago Red Stars	Crystal Dunn	North Carolina Courage
Midfielder	Rose Lavelle	Washington Spirit	Yuki Nagasato	Chicago Red Stars
Forward	Christen Press	Utah Royals FC	Kristen Hamilton	North Carolina Courage
Forward	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	Carli Lloyd	Sky Blue FC
Forward	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	Megan Rapinoe	Reign FC

NWSL Championship Game MVP
Player	Club	Record
Debinha	North Carolina Courage	Scored opening goal