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.
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
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. 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.
TeamStadiumCapacity 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 5,000 Utah Royals FC Rio Tinto Stadium 20,213 Washington Spirit Maryland SoccerPlex 4,000
Personnel and sponsorship
Note: All teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer.
Team Head coach Shirt sponsor Chicago Red Stars — Houston Dash — North Carolina Courage Continental AG Orlando Pride Orlando Health Portland Thorns Providence Health & Services Reign FC Zulily Sky Blue FC (interim) Meridian Health Utah Royals FC Conservice Washington Spirit GEICO
Coaching changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentRef. Washington Spirit End of interim period September 2, 2018 January 8, 2019 Orlando Pride Mutual separation September 14, 2018 January 14, 2019 Houston Dash Mutual separation September 20, 2018 December 11, 2018 Sky Blue FC Fired June 28, 2019 (interim) September 4, 2019
League standings
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, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
Head-to-head win–loss record between the teams (or points per game if more than two teams). Greater goal difference across the entire season (against all teams, not just tied teams). Greatest total number of goals scored (against all teams). Apply #1–3 to games played on the road. Apply #1–3 to games played at home. 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
Average home attendances Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance.
Team 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.
Highest attendances Regular season Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Stadium1Portland Thorns FC2–1North Carolina Courage25,218Providence Park2Portland Thorns FC0–0Washington Spirit24,521Providence Park3Portland Thorns FC5–0Houston Dash22,329Providence Park4Portland Thorns FC1–0Houston Dash21,022Providence Park5Portland Thorns FC3–1Washington Spirit20,895Providence Park6Washington Spirit2–1Orlando Pride19,871Audi Field7Portland Thorns FC3–0Chicago Red Stars19,461Providence Park8Portland Thorns FC0–1Reign FC19,116Providence Park9Portland Thorns FC1–1Sky Blue FC19,070Providence Park10 Portland Thorns FC 4–3 Orlando Pride 18,909 Providence Park Updated through end of regular season on October 12, 2019.
Statistical leaders
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars182 Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage123 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage9 Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC Amy Rodriguez Utah Royals FC6 Yuki Nagasato Chicago Red Stars8 Debinha North Carolina Courage Margaret Purce Portland Thorns FC Carli Lloyd Sky Blue FC Christen Press Utah Royals FC
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists1 Yuki Nagasato Chicago Red Stars82 Debinha North Carolina Courage73 Jaelene Hinkle North Carolina Courage6 Veronica Boquete Utah Royals FC5 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars5 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Merritt Mathias North Carolina Courage Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage9 Crystal Dunn North Carolina Courage4 Sofia Huerta Houston Dash Meghan Klingenberg Portland Thorns FC Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir Utah Royals FC
Shutouts
RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Nicole Barnhart Utah Royals FC102 Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit93 Stephanie Labbe North Carolina Courage84 Alyssa Naeher Chicago Red Stars6 Jane Campbell Houston Dash Casey Murphy Reign FC7 Adrianna Franch Portland Thorns FC58 Britt Eckerstrom Portland Thorns FC3 Kailen Sheridan Sky Blue FC10 Emily Boyd Chicago Red Stars2
Hat-tricks To date, 2019 had the most hat-tricks in a single NWSL season, with five. +PlayerForAgainstScoreDate Christine SinclairPortland Thorns FCChicago Red Stars4−4April 20 Kristen HamiltonNorth Carolina CourageOrlando Pride3−0June 1 Sam KerrChicago Red StarsOrlando Pride2−3June 30 Kristen Hamilton4North Carolina CourageHouston Dash5−2July 5 Lynn WilliamsNorth Carolina CouragePortland Thorns FC6−0September 11
4 Scored 4 goals
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
Individual awards
Monthly Awards
Player of the Month
MonthPlayer of the Month Club Month's Statline April Crystal Dunn North Carolina Courage4 Goals in three games, 2 Assists and 3 chances created. May Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars4 Goals in three games. June Jess Fishlock Reign FC3 Goals in three games. 1 Assist, 8 shots, and 7 chances created. July Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage4 goals in a single match. 5 goals and 2 assists in July. August Christen Press Utah Royals FC 3 Goals, 13 shots on goal, 12 chances created. September Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 5 Goals, 14 shots on goal, 3 assists.
Team of the Month
Month Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards RefApril 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 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 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 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 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, UTASeptember 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
Weekly awards
WeekPlayer of the WeekGoal of the WeekSave of the WeekReference Player Club Player Club Player Club1 Tobin Heath Portland Thorns FC Tobin Heath Portland Thorns FC Ashlyn Harris Orlando Pride2 Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC Alanna Kennedy Orlando Pride Kailen Sheridan Sky Blue FC3 Yuki Nagasato Chicago Red Stars Tobin Heath Portland Thorns FC Kailen Sheridan Sky Blue FC4 Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit Kealia Ohai Houston Dash Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit5 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Andressinha Portland Thorns Haley Kopmeyer Orlando Pride6 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Jordan DiBiasi Washington SpiritHonorary Morgan Andrews Winner Britt Eckerstrom Reign FC Portland Thorns7 Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit Bethany Balcer Reign FC Paige Nielsen Washington Spirit8 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Margaret Purce Portland Thorns Jane Campbell Houston Dash 9 Jess Fishlock Reign FC Amy Rodriguez Utah Royals FC Haley Kopmeyer Orlando Pride10 Ifeoma Onumonu Reign FC Jess Fishlock Reign FC Haley Kopmeyer Orlando Pride11 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Tyler Lussi Portland Thorns Haley Kopmeyer Orlando Pride12 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Marta Orlando Pride Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit13 Marta Orlando Pride Tyler Lussi Portland Thorns Haley Kopmeyer Orlando Pride 14 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Christen Press Utah Royals FC Adrianna Franch Portland Thorns FC 15 Kristen Hamilton North Carolina Courage Christen Press Utah Royals FC Jane Campbell Houston Dash 16 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit 17 Christen Press Utah Royals FC Amy Rodriguez Utah Royals FC Adrianna Franch Portland Thorns FC 18 Paige Monaghan Sky Blue FC Christen Press Utah Royals FC Kailen Sheridan Sky Blue FC 19 Midge Purce Portland Thorns FC Kealia Ohai Houston Dash Ashlyn Harris Orlando Pride 20 Crystal Thomas Washington Spirit Tiffany McCarty Washington Spirit Lainey Burdett Orlando Pride 21 Darian Jenkins Reign FC Becky Sauerbrunn Utah Royals FC Nicole Barnhart Utah Royals FC 22 Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage Heather O'Reilly North Carolina Courage Ashlyn Harris Orlando Pride 23 Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars Tobin Heath Portland Thorns FC Alyssa Naeher Chicago Red Stars 24 Jodie Taylor Reign FC Rose Lavelle Washington Spirit Ashlyn Harris Orlando Pride 25 Jessica McDonald North Carolina Courage Marta Orlando Pride Casey Murphy Reign FC
Annual awards
AwardWinnerGolden Boot Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 18 goals (NWSL Record)Coach of the Year Vlatko Andonovski Reign FC First head coach to win award for two different teamsRookie of the Year Bethany Balcer Reign FC 6 Goals; 2 AssistsGoalkeeper of the Year Aubrey Bledsoe Washington Spirit 86 Saves; 9 ShutoutsDefender of the Year Becky Sauerbrunn Utah Royals FC 87.6% PassIng accuracy (1st in league)Most Valuable Player Sam Kerr Chicago Red Stars 18 goals; Player of the Month twice; Player of the Week six times