NWSL Shield | |
---|---|
Awarded for | National Women's Soccer League team with the best record in the regular season |
Presented by | National Women's Soccer League |
First awarded | 2013 |
Currently held by | Orlando Pride (2024) (1st shield) |
Most awards | North Carolina Courage OL Reign (3 shields) |
Website | http://nwslsoccer.com |
The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a major trophy by the league.
The North Carolina Courage and Seattle Reign FC, each with three NWSL Shields since the league's inception in 2013, are tied as of 2023 for the most shields won by any NWSL team. [1] [2] [3] The Orlando Pride are the current (2024) winners.
In 2024, CONCACAF announced that the NWSL Shield winner and runner-up qualified by virtue of those accomplishments for the 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the inaugural edition of that competition. [4]
When the NWSL was launched in 2013, the league's format was set up similarly to other contemporary North American leagues. After the regular season, the NWSL playoffs were held, with the top four teams vying for a spot in the postseason championship match. The club with the most regular-season points was awarded the NWSL Shield and earned the top seed in the playoffs. [5]
Since the 2013 inaugural season, the system of awarding points in the NWSL is the same as the international standard: three points for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. [6]
Since the 2022 season, [7] in the event of an end-of-season tie in total accumulated points, the following tie-breakers are used among all teams with the same number of points:
All tiebreakers involving goal counts (goal differential, goals for) include all regular-season games, not just games against tied teams.
Prior to the 2022 season, the first tie-breaker was head-to-head record. [6] [8]
Season | Winner | Record | Points / Pts per game | Playoff result | Win # | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Won | Lost | Tied | |||||
2013 | Western New York Flash | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 38 / 1.73 | Lost championship (to Portland Thorns FC) | 1 |
2014 | Seattle Reign FC | 24 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 54 / 2.25 | Lost championship (to FC Kansas City) | 1 |
2015 | Seattle Reign FC | 20 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 43 / 2.15 | Lost championship (to FC Kansas City) | 2 |
2016 | Portland Thorns FC | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 41 / 2.05 | Lost semifinal (to Western New York Flash) | 1 |
2017 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 49 / 2.04 | Lost championship (to Portland Thorns FC) | 1 |
2018 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 57 / 2.38 | Won championship (vs Portland Thorns FC) | 2 |
2019 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 49 / 2.09 | Won championship (vs Chicago Red Stars) | 3 |
2020 | Regular season canceled due to COVID-19; Fall Series won by Portland Thorns FC | |||||||
2021 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 44 / 1.83 | Lost semifinal (to Chicago Red Stars) | 2 |
2022 | OL Reign | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 40 / 1.82 | Lost semifinal (to Kansas City Current) [9] | 3 |
2023 | San Diego Wave FC | 22 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 37 / 1.68 | Lost semifinal (to OL Reign) | 1 |
2024 | Orlando Pride | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 60 / 2.31 | Won championship (vs Washington Spirit) | 1 |
Italics indicates a defunct team.
Team | Wins | Years won |
---|---|---|
North Carolina Courage | 3 | 2017, 2018, 2019 |
Seattle Reign FC | 2014, 2015, 2022 | |
Portland Thorns FC | 2 | 2016, 2021 |
Orlando Pride | 1 | 2024 |
San Diego Wave FC | 1 | 2023 |
Western New York Flash | 1 | 2013 |
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