# 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.
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.
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

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.

### 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 | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match |
| Club | 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 |
| Boston Breakers | 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 |
| Chicago Red Stars | 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 |
| Houston Dash | 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 |
| FC Kansas City | 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 |
| Orlando Pride | 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 |
| Portland Thorns FC | 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 |
| Seattle Reign FC | 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 |
| Sky Blue FC | 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 |
| Washington Spirit | 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 |
| Western New York Flash | 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.
Scores listed as home-away

## League standings

| Pos | Teamvte | 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 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 4 | Western New York Flash (C) | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 32 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 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 | |

### 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 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
### 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.

### 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.

## NWSL Playoffs

The top four teams from the regular season will compete for the NWSL Championship.
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Championship | Championship | Championship |
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC | 3 | | | |
| 4 | Western New York Flash (a.e.t.) | 4 | | | |
| 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 | 2 | Washington Spirit | 2 (2) |
| 3 | Chicago Red Stars | 1 | | | |

### Championship
## Individual awards
### Monthly awards

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

### Weekly awards

| Week | NWSL Player of the Week | NWSL Player of the Week | NWSL Goal of the Week | NWSL Goal of the Week | NWSL Save of the Week | NWSL Save of the Week |
| Week | Player | Club | Player | Club | Player | Club |
| 1 | Rachel Daly | Houston Dash | Steph Catley | Orlando Pride | Michelle Betos | Portland Thorns FC |
| 2 | Kim Little | Seattle Reign FC | Ali Krieger | Washington Spirit | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 3 | Kim Little | Seattle Reign FC | Christen Press | Chicago Red Stars | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 4 | Chioma Ubogagu | Houston Dash | Christen Press | Chicago Red Stars | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 5 | Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars | Alex Morgan | Orlando Pride | Lydia Williams | Houston Dash |
| 6 | Tobin Heath | Portland Thorns FC | Tobin Heath | Portland Thorns FC | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 7 | Lynn Williams | Western New York Flash | Erika Tymrak | FC Kansas City | Katherine Reynolds | Portland Thorns FC |
| 8 | Britt Eckerstrom | Western New York Flash | Christen Press | Chicago Red Stars | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 9 | Sofia Huerta | Chicago Red Stars | Becky Sauerbrunn | FC Kansas City | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 10 | Jessica McDonald | Western New York Flash | Jasmyne Spencer | Orlando Pride | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 11 | Nahomi Kawasumi | Seattle Reign | Dagný Brynjarsdóttir | Portland Thorns FC | Nicole Barnhart | FC Kansas City |
| 12 | Kristen Edmonds | Orlando Pride | Kristen Edmonds | Orlando Pride | Michelle Betos | Portland Thorns FC |
| 13 | Estefania Banini | Washington Spirit | Estefania Banini | Washington Spirit | Michelle Betos | Portland Thorns FC |
| 14 | Nicole Barnhart | FC Kansas City | Rachel Daly | Houston Dash | Kendall Fletcher | Seattle Reign FC |
| 15 | Kealia Ohai | Houston Dash | Rachel Daly | Houston Dash | Michelle Betos | Portland Thorns FC |
| 16 | Manon Melis | Seattle Reign FC | Christine Nairn | Washington Spirit | Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars |
| 17 | Kealia Ohai | Houston Dash | Alex Morgan | Orlando Pride | Alyssa Naeher | Chicago Red Stars |
| 18 | Samantha Kerr | Sky Blue FC | Christen Press | Chicago Red Stars | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride |
| 19 | Allie Long | Portland Thorns FC | Kealia Ohai | Houston Dash | Lydia Williams | Houston Dash |

### Annual awards

| Award | Winner | Winner | Winner |
| Golden Boot | Lynn Williams | Western New York Flash | 11 goals |
| Rookie of the Year | Raquel Rodriguez | Sky Blue FC | 1,461 minutes |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Ashlyn Harris | Orlando Pride | 1.33 GAA, 62 saves |
| Defender of the Year | Lauren Barnes | Seattle Reign FC | 531 consecutive SO minutes |
| Coach of the Year | Mark Parsons | Portland Thorns FC | 12–3–5 regular season |
| Most Valuable Player | Lynn Williams | Western New York Flash | 11 goals, 5 assists |
NWSL Best XI :
| Position | First team | First team | First team | Second team | Second 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 |