The NWSL announced the finalists for the 2024 end-of-year awards on Tuesday, with lists showcasing heavy-hitters around the league.
The 2024 MVP award is an all-attacker affair, as the league's top scorers all earned nominations. The Orlando Pride's Barbra Banda and Marta both snagged nods, with Kansas City's Golden Boot-winner Temwa Chawinga, Washington's Trinity Rodman, and Portland's Sophia Smith rounding out the shortlist.
The Rookie of the Year category is similarly stacked, as injured Washington rookie Croix Bethune and her record-tying 10 assists goes up against Utah standout Ally Sentnor and KC Current star Claire Hutton for top honors.
Position players snag share of NWSL awards spotlight
The NWSL's top position players are also vying for solo hardware this season.
In the league's first-ever Midfielder of the Year category, Kansas City's Vanessa DiBernardo and celly queen Lo LaBonta earned nominations, as did Orlando's Marta and North Carolina's Ashley Sanchez. Washington rookie Croix Bethune's short but impressive season also scored her a nod.
Battling in the backline for Defender of the Year are North Carolina's Kaleigh Kurtz and Washington's forward-turned-center back Tara McKeown. Both Iron Women are in the running alongside San Diego’s Naomi Girma and Orlando’s Emily Sams and Kylie Strom.
As the new NWSL single-season shutout leader, Orlando's Anna Moorhouse headlines the Goalkeeper of the Year race, with Gotham's Ann-Katrin Berger and Utah's Mandy Haught in hot pursuit.
Top sideline leaders earn NWSL Coach of the Year nominations
After flipping Orlando from a non-playoff team into 2024’s Shield-winners with a record-setting 23-match undefeated streak, Pride boss Seb Hines is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year (COTY).
However, Hines faces tough competition from Gotham's Juan Carlos Amorós and Kansas City's Vlatko Andonovski.
Andonovski took the Current from a second-to-last 2023 finish to fourth-place on this season's table, while 2023 COTY winner Amorós is one of just two coaches to defeat Orlando this year.
How to vote for the 2024 NWSL individual awards
Fan ballots account for 10% of the final tally, so weigh in by voting online for this season's individual awards, as well as the Best XI First Team and Best XI Second Team. Ballots are due by 3 PM ET on Friday.
After a record-setting season, the 2024 NWSL Playoffs have landed, with the expanded eight-team lineup kicking off the weekend's do-or-die quarterfinals with a clean slate.
No. 1 Orlando, whose Shield-winning year ended in a skid, begins the postseason action on Friday, hosting a No. 8 Chicago side that just barely made the postseason cut. The Pride will notably do so without defender Rafaelle, who landed on the season-ending injury list with a partial quad tendon tear on Tuesday.
Adding another hurdle to Chicago's gargantuan Orlando task is the fact that the Red Stars will be without some key firepower. Striker Ludmila, the club's third-most prolific goal scorer on the season, is serving an extended red card suspension that will keep her sidelined through the semifinals, should the Red Stars advance.
After finishing last season second-to-last on the NWSL table, No. 4 Kansas City earned quarterfinal hosting rights this year. The Current, who scored a league-record 57 goals this season, haven't lost since September 1st, when they fell to the No. 5 North Carolina Courage — the same team they'll face on Saturday.
The biggest question-mark for the Current, however, is the status of 2024 Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, who was sidelined last weekend after a knock to the knee.
"She’s progressing well," KC coach Vlatko Andonovski said of Chawinga's status on Wednesday. "Hopefully, we have more answers closer to the game."
That said, Andonovski made it clear that expectations won't change regardless of Chawinga's availability. Pointed to KC’s 3-1 win over Chicago last Sunday, he noted that while "the success that this team has enjoyed this season is a team success, and it’s not just the 20 goals that Temwa scored."
Sunday doubleheader will finalize NWSL semis
This Sunday afternoon is all about the NWSL, beginning when No. 7 Bay FC, the winningest expansion team in league history, head to DC to play a No. 2 Spirit squad still bouncing back from injuries.
While Washington has star forward Trinity Rodman and defender Casey Krueger back on the pitch, they'll be without midfielder Andi Sullivan, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear last month. Also missing will be forward Rosemonde Kouassi as she finishes serving her extended red card suspension.
To cap things off, defending champs No. 3 Gotham FC will host perennial contenders Portland. The Thorns snagged their lowest postseason seeding ever at No. 6 after a shaky season put their now eight-straight playoffs streak at risk.
Even so, Portland could be poised to surprise a Gotham side that boasts one of the best defenses in the league. The Thorns' final regular-season match displayed their best attacking performance in NWSL play since May, with prolific scorers Christine Sinclair, Sophia Smith, and Morgan Weaver all finding the back of the net.
NWSL MVP, Rookie of the Year awards come into focus
As the season ends, the NWSL's individual award frontrunners are emerging — and none more so than KC's Chawinga. The Kansas City striker is poised to run away with the league's MVP honors thanks to her speed, technical skill, and record-breaking 20 goals on the season.
Though Orlando’s Barbra Banda made her MVP case by keeping pace with Chawinga in the season's first half, she quieted after the Olympics while Chawinga upheld her unbelievable consistency, blasting eight more goals across nine post-break matches.
Instead, the Pride could likely see Coach of the Year honors after Seb Hines led the Shield-winners on a record-breaking 23-match unbeaten streak this season.
In the Rookie of the Year race, the NWSL’s 2024 class impressed, from Louisville ringer Emma Sears to KC defensive midfielder Claire Hutton to Washington’s absolutely stacked group of six debutants.
That said, Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune tops the competition with five goals and a record-tying 10 assists, despite playing in just 17 matches before a torn meniscus ended her season.
How to watch the 2024 NWSL Playoffs this weekend
Orlando and Chicago kick off at 8 PM ET on Friday, live on Prime, with KC battling NC on Saturday at 12 PM ET on CBS.
On Sunday, Washington hosts Bay FC at 12:30 PM ET before Portland visits Gotham at 3 PM ET, with live coverage on ABC.
The 2024 NWSL Playoffs are officially set, with Portland and Bay FC clinching the final two postseason spots this weekend.
The Thorns punched their ticket with Friday's 3-0 win over Angel City thanks to a trio of first-half goals from attackers Christine Sinclair, Sophia Smith, and Morgan Weaver. The victory officially extends Sinclair's pro career by at least one more match, and saw the soccer legend notch her final goal in front of a Providence Park home crowd in her 200th regular-season game.
Then on Saturday, a brace from forward Racheal Kundananji boosted Bay FC to a 3-2 win over Houston, snagging the 2024 expansion team the postseason's No. 7 seed in the process. Even more, Bay became the winningest first-year team in NWSL history with 11 wins, surpassing 2022 expansion team San Diego's 10 victories.
Top NWSL playoff teams build postseason momentum
The top four playoff-bound teams rolled through their last regular-season matches, with Orlando, Washington, Gotham, and Kansas City securing both victories and important postseason momentum.
Notably, Shield-winners Orlando snapped their two-game skid with Saturday's 3-2 win over Seattle, giving Pride fans hope for some more 2024 hardware.
North Carolina and Chicago, however, floundered in losses. Washington striker Ashley's Hatch's 37th-minute goal was the difference-maker in North Carolina's 1-0 loss on Saturday, the Courage's first home defeat since April 2023, when they also fell to the Spirit on a Hatch game-winner.
Like the Courage, the Red Stars locked up their playoff spot weeks ago, but their 3-1 Sunday loss to KC had arguably the most potent impact on the postseason picture. The combination of Chicago's defeat and victories from Portland and Bay sent the Red Stars down to eighth place on the table, their lowest standing in the league all season.
Chawinga officially clinches NWSL Golden Boot Award
The other big weekend winner was KC's Temwa Chawinga. Chawinga officially took the 2024 Golden Boot title behind her league-record 20 goals and six assists, despite sitting out the Current's Sunday victory with a knee injury.
Also impressing from the injured list this season is Spirit rookie Croix Bethune, who finished as the year's NWSL assist leader. Before her season-ending meniscus tear in August, Bethune notched 10 assists to tie the NWSL record held by Tobin Heath.
How to watch the 2024 NWSL Playoffs
The NWSL's first-ever eight-team bracket is locked up, with the quarterfinals kicking off on Friday.
No. 1 Orlando will face No. 8 Chicago at 8 PM ET on Friday, streaming live on Prime, with No. 4 Kansas City battling No. 5 North Carolina on Saturday at 12 PM ET on CBS.
Sunday's doubleheader will air on ABC, with No. 2 Washington hosting No. 7 Bay FC at 12:30 PM ET before No. 6 Portland visits No. 3 Gotham at 3 PM ET.
With only five regular-season NWSL matchdays left, every point counts as teams jockey for postseason seeding, with this weekend’s lineup potentially shifting the standings.
After Spirit star Trinity Rodman exited last week's match with a back spasm, the forecast for Friday's bout between 10th-place Angel City and second-place Washington went from fairly uneventful to decidedly uncertain.
Rodman's now-confirmed absence, as well as that of teammate Casey Krueger, opens the door for ACFC to capitalize and snatch the three points LA needs to catapult them over the postseason cutoff line.
Two tight top-six tilts are also on deck later this weekend. First, third-place Gotham and fourth-place Kansas City will battle for a possible second-place spot on Saturday afternoon.
Then on Sunday evening, sixth-place Chicago will try to enhance their own playoff security against a North Carolina team whose fifth-place positioning is all but guaranteed.
Golden Boot race leaders headline NWSL MVP buzz
Also catching fire entering the NWSL's final stretch are individual award races, with 2024 Golden Boot race frontrunners Temwa Chawinga and Barbra Banda leading the charge for MVP.
With 16 goals, Chawinga's on pace to lap ex-Red Star Sam Kerr's 2019 single-season scoring record of 18, while Banda's 13 goals has tied Orlando teammate Marta's 2017 franchise best and her six game-winners put her on par with the NWSL’s single-season record.
Even amid Portland's struggles, last year's Golden Boot winner Sophia Smith's 11 goals and six assists on the season can’t be discounted.
MVP race aside, despite her season-ending injury, Washington’s Croix Bethune still seems like a lock for Rookie of the Year with five goals and a league record-tying 10 assists.
Meanwhile, Pride keeper Anna Moorhouse and her single-season record 12 shutouts leads the Goalkeeper of the Year campaign.
Portland's Weaver takes this week’s top NWSL celly
Making her case for this week's top NWSL celly is Thorns striker Morgan Weaver, who capped off her 49th-minute goal with a team-wide "rockabye baby" party in Monday's 2-2 draw with Angel City.
The celebration was well-warranted: Still working back to full fitness after a May knee injury sidelined her for the summer, the goal was Weaver's first since returning to the pitch.
Weaver later told reporters that the celly was a shout out to teammate Bella Bixby's newborn daughter and assistant coach Vytas Andriuškevičius's soon-to-arrive baby.
Much like the league's top teams, individual NWSL MVP contenders continue to make their mark coming out of the Olympic break.
KC Current forward Temwa Chawinga now tops the 2024 Golden Boot race, having scored her season's 13th goal last weekend against the Spirit. In that same game, Washington midfielder Croix Bethune tied Tobin Heath's single-season assist record with her 10th of the year.
Stacked field means big choice for award voters
With so many deserving candidates, 2024's MVP award-winner could come down to whichever factors voters value the most.
Chawinga sits first in the league in goals scored and second in assists this season, finding the back of the net against nine different teams along the way. But Orlando forward Barbra Banda isn't far behind. Banda scored one less goal in four fewer games played than Chawinga, all while guiding the Pride to an unprecedented unbeaten streak.
Bethune likely has Rookie of the Year on lock, but she's also on the MVP watchlist with five goals and 10 assists in her debut season.
USWNT attackers also in the NWSL award hunt
Another steady presence on the leaderboard, 2022 MVP Sophia Smith has racked up 10 goals and six assists for the Thorns so far this season, while USWNT teammate Trinity Rodman has also kept herself award-relevant, registering her season's sixth goal last weekend.
This season's attacking firepower has truly set a new standard, leaving many worthy award candidates likely to garner votes by the time NWSL Championship weekend rolls around.
The NWSL saw a lively return to regular season play as the weekend brought a few shakeups to the standings as teams jockey for playoff positioning.
One of the most significant shifts featured the Kansas City Current, whose hot streak has officially cooled after going undefeated through their first 15 matches this season.
Spirit humbles Current with Sunday victory
Kansas City lost 4-1 to the Washington Spirit in their regular-season return on Sunday, weeks after falling 2-1 to league-leaders Orlando in their last pre-Olympics NWSL match. The final scoreline saw the Spirit leapfrogging KC to take second place while the Current dropped to third.
Four different goal-scorers got the job done for the Spirit, including returning Olympian Trinity Rodman. Also showing out was fellow gold medalist Croix Bethune, who's 10th assist tied Tobin Heath’s 2016 single-season record — one the rookie will likely break with nine matches left on the season.
Striker Temwa Chawinga notched KC's lone goal in the loss, breaking a tie with Orlando’s Barbra Banda to top the Golden Boot race with her 13th contribution this season.
Other noteworthy NWSL action
Earning their 18th victory with Friday's 1-0 win over Houston, Orlando has now laid claim to the longest regular-season undefeated streak in league history. Meanwhile, defending NWSL champs Gotham defeated Portland 2-0 on Friday, putting a seven-point margin between the fifth-place Thorns and the table's top four teams.
With Saturday's 3-1 win over the Red Stars, Racing Louisville moved above the postseason cutoff line into eighth place. Also on Saturday, 19-year-old Alyssa Thompson’s brace — the NWSL's second-ever registered by a teen — secured ninth-place Angel City’s 2-1 win over San Diego.