NWSL awards season is back, and with less than a week to go until the winners are announced, cases are being made across the board in favor of different candidates. Here’s what the numbers say about who should win each award category.
Most Valuable Player
Ashley Sanchez
Going by statistics alone, Ashley Sanchez is the clear winner of this category. She led the league in scoring, with her 20 goals tying the record set by reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga in 2024. With 25 goal contributions, her season ranked second in NWSL history only to that same 2024 Chawinga campaign, when the latter won her first ever MVP award.
Remarkably, Sanchez did not rank first in expected goals (xG). She did, however, generate the most post-shot expected goals (PSxG) this season, meaning her actual shot quality is increasing the value of the chances which she finds herself on the end of. She has turned 15.99 xG into 19.14 PSxG and 20 goals, suggesting that what she did with the chances her teammates created for her had added value to those opportunities.
Her only downfall would be her performance in the final five games of the season, where her team registered three losses that essentially killed their playoff hopes. Sanchez’s scoring magic seemed to run out as she managed only one goal from the 2.99 xG she created.
Sophia Wilson
Sophia Wilson returned to the NWSL this year after missing the entire 2025 season for maternity leave, and she came back like she never left. She led the league in xG (17.48) and scored her most goals in a single regular season ever, surpassing the 14 goals she scored in her 2022 MVP-winning campaign. It’s no wonder that she also attempted the most shots and shots on target in the regular season this year.
What makes Wilson’s play stand out is not just her ability to finish but also her ability to create chances for herself and others. She ranks first among strikers for chances created and leads the league in both the number of big chances she’s found herself on the end of and the number of big chances she’s created herself. American Soccer Analysis’ g+ metric — which determines and then sums up each on-ball action’s chance of turning a play into a goal — had Wilson first in the league on shooting g+ and second in the league on dribbling g+. All of these statistics make her a very complete striker who has performed her job — creating goals — to the utmost level.
Trinity Rodman
Trinity Rodman entered the 2026 NWSL season as the newly crowned highest-paid women’s soccer player in the world and was, perhaps unfairly, tasked with proving she deserved it. With 23 goal contributions, just two behind Ashley Sanchez, it’s hard to argue that she failed.
Besides the raw numbers, what makes Rodman stand out is when she scored and assisted goals — five of her 23 goal contributions won the game for her team, and eight of them happened in games where her team won by a margin of one goal.
Temwa Chawinga
The two-time reigning NWSL MVP has made a strong case for herself to three-peat this season despite missing 10 games. The Kansas City Current have won 14, drawn two, and lost four games with Temwa Chawinga on the pitch this season. In contrast, the 10 games they played without her resulted in only two wins, three draws, and five losses for the defending Shield winners. Chawinga also ended the season first in the league on g+ per 96 minutes.
Even in a relatively abridged season compared to those her competitors enjoyed, Temwa Chawinga proved that she continues to add value to her team and pose a problem to opposing defenses, even in her third year in the league.
Janine Sonis
Janine Sonis’ historic 20-goal-contribution season — the most by a defender in NWSL history — has rightfully made her the second-ever defender to be nominated for the league’s MVP award after center back Naomi Girma was nominated in 2022 and 2023. She has turned 5.93 xG into an incredible 12 goals, doubling the value of her chances with her finishing ability. She also tops this nominee group in expected assists (xA) and is second in actual assists by one to Trinity Rodman. However, she was also part of a defense that had the sixth-highest goals conceded total this season and didn’t make the playoffs as a result.
Biggest snub: Cloé Lacasse
When talking about value added to a club, few players could boast of a more impactful season than Utah Royals forward Cloé Lacasse. She joined the club late in 2024 and suffered a season-ending knee injury soon after that limited her 2024 appearances to 9 and her 2025 appearances to 12. In 2026, however, her team enjoyed a full season from her in which she appeared in every single match in the regular season and tied the single-season assist record until Croix Bethune broke it in late October. Lacasse’s 18 regular-season goal contributions made up 41 percent of her team’s goals as they made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
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Defender of the Year
Tierna Davidson
Center back Tierna Davidson missed most of the 2025 NWSL season after she suffered a torn ACL early on in the year. Her comeback this year was nothing short of extraordinary, as she captained her team to a league-leading 14 clean sheets in the regular season. Davidson leads this group in g+; what she lacked in defensive responsibilities due to the style of play her club favors, she made up for in her contribution to the attack. Davidson leads center backs in goals this season and leads this group in passing accuracy and passes into the final third. And perhaps most importantly, she’s allowed the fewest goals of the defender of the year nominees.
Kate Del Fava
Not only did Utah Royals center back Kate Del Fava lead her team to a historic first ever playoff appearance, but she also leads the nominee group in clean sheets and interceptions. The impact of Del Fava’s contributions is hard to overstate; she leads both her team and this group in defensive actions, playing a key role in her team’s 2026 regular season campaign.
Kennedy Wesley
Recent USWNT stalwart Kennedy Wesley was a crucial member of the 2026 San Diego Wave side that finished second in regular season NWSL standings. As the team’s only ironwoman, she led her team in defensive actions and is second in the nominee pool only to Davidson in passing accuracy and passes into the final third. Wesley contributed to a strong season for the San Diego Wave on both sides of the ball and provided stability with her leadership presence.
Janine Sonis
Janine Sonis had a remarkable season in her first full year as a defender for her club team. She leads defenders in goals and assists, with 20 goal contributions to her name. However, she also contributed to the fewest clean sheets and allowed the most goals of this group, weakening her campaign for defender of the year.
Sarah Gorden
Angel City FC center back and club legend Sarah Gorden is continuing to shut down offenses, even in her 11th year in the league. She leads this group in tackle success rate and is the only defender to not have allowed a player to dribble past them this season. However, she has had many more opportunities for such game-saving defensive actions than her competitors thanks to poorer positioning, reflected in the -0.03 g+ she registers in the average game, the lowest of this group.
Biggest snub: Esme Morgan
The Washington Spirit allowed the second-fewest goals this season, and center back Esme Morgan was there for all but two games. In addition to attempting the second-most defensive actions on her team, Morgan led all defenders in the league in passes into the final third, all while maintaining a passing accuracy rate of 91.28 percent that beat all defenders with at least 10 starts this season.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Ann-Katrin Berger
The goalkeeper leading the 2026 NWSL Shield winners was perhaps the biggest contributor to their regular season campaign win. Ann-Katrin Berger led the league in save percentage for goalkeepers who had at least four games under their belt, and this showed in her league-leading 0.8 goals conceded per game.
Her value as a goalkeeper extends far beyond her shotstopping ability — she is uniquely able to stop shots before they happen. In particular, she leads all goalkeepers in high claims and sweeper actions per 90 and leads all players in ball recoveries per 90. Because of this defensive prowess, she is often aptly described as an “11th field player” for her team. She also contributes to her team’s attack, both by kickstarting patient, horizontal buildup and through her more direct balls forward; she leads all goalkeepers in successful long passes.
Jane Campbell
Jane Campbell’s Houston Dash ended their 2026 season without a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season, but their goalkeeper did all that she could to prevent that. Campbell ended the season with the most saves of any goalkeeper and her save percentage ranked second in the league among goalkeepers with at least 8 games played.
Campbell faced 170 shots on target — the most any goalkeeper was asked to deal with this season — allowed 42 shots to find the back of the net. That number is 15.7 fewer than expected based on the quality of the on-target shots that she faced, and this goals prevented figure put her at the top of the league in this metric.
Jordan Silkowitz
Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz made an impressive 115 saves and prevented 11.3 goals; however, she finished the season in second place on both metrics to Jane Campbell. She ranks in the middle of the pack in goals conceded per 90 and clean sheets, and ranks near the bottom in non-shot-stopping actions like claims and defensive actions, making her case against her competitors a little difficult.
Biggest snub: Sandy MacIver
Sandy MacIver had big shoes to fill this season as Aubrey Kingsbury, the Washington Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since the 2019 season, was announced to be missing the 2026 season on maternity leave. She responded by putting up the most clean sheets by a single goalkeeper across the league this season, making her omission from this list more than a little puzzling.
Midfielder of the Year
Croix Bethune
Croix Bethune switched teams this year and immediately got to business with the Kansas City Current, breaking the single-season assist record set by Tobin Heath 10 years ago. Aside from leading the league in assists, Bethune ranks at the top of this group in goal contributions and g+ and leads the league in big chances created and successful dribbles per 90.
Six of Bethune’s 11 assists won the game for her team. Moreover, five of her 15 goal contributions this year came in her club’s last eight matches of the regular season, cementing home field advantage in the quarterfinals for the Kansas City Current.
Kenza Dali
Kenza Dali plays a more defensive role on her team, but that hasn’t stopped her from being a key creator for the San Diego Wave. She leads the entire league in chances created and expected assists, beating out many players whose positions lend themselves better to chance creation. Dali is also one of the better passers of this nominee group, leading in passes into the final third as well as the accuracy of those passes.
Jaelin Howell
Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amorós recently described playing with Jaelin Howell as having a “12th player” on the field, and it shows in her work rate. She leads this group in interceptions, tackles, and ball recoveries and has been a key contributor to the stingiest defense in the league, making sure the defenders and goalkeepers behind her had far less to deal with.
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Rose Lavelle
Rose Lavelle continues to be one of the best attacking midfielders in the world, as well as a crucial member of the Shield winners’ squad. Of the five matches she missed this season, Gotham FC won just one. She ranks second among this group in expected assists, behind Dali, and second in possession won in the attacking third, behind Bethune.
Mina Tanaka
The Utah Royals made history this year with their first-ever playoffs appearance, yet they didn’t manage to win a single regular-season game in which Mina Tanaka was unavailable to play. She led her team in goals and expected goals as they finally crossed the threshold that had been eluding them for five seasons.
Biggest snub: Kimmi Ascanio
18-year-old Kimmi Ascanio stepped into a brand new role this season, going from forward to defensive midfielder, and somehow transformed into one of the best in her position in the entire league. Her absence from her team’s quarterfinal was essentially the difference-maker as the second-seed San Diego Wave exited early from this year’s postseason without her steady presence in front of the defense.
Rookie of the Year
Jordynn Dudley
Jordynn Dudley’s season was cut short with a foot injury, but that didn’t stop her from amassing the eighth highest g+ total per 96 minutes in the league during the regular season. She has completed the third-most successful dribbles in the entire league as she competes with the best players in the league in only her first professional season.
Kat Rader
Kat Rader’s 10 goals are second only to Diana Ordóñez’s 11 in 2022 for the most scored in a player’s rookie season. She leads both her team and this nominee group in xG and xA, making a strong case for this award.
Mimi Van Zanten
Like Dudley and Rader, Mimi Van Zanten has quickly established herself as a key part of her team in only her first professional season. She led her team in defensive contributions and even contributed to the attack, ranking third on the San Diego Wave for successful dribbles per 90.
Biggest snub: Taylor Suarez
Angel City made the playoffs for the first time in three years this season, bolstered by a 10-match unbeaten streak to close out the regular season. Six of Taylor Suarez’s seven goal contributions this year came in her team’s final seven matches, cementing their spot in the postseason for only the second time in club history.
Coach of the Year
Juan Carlos Amorós
Gotham FC head coach Juan Carlos Amorós has won the most trophies of any coach this season, with two already under his belt. He led the team with the stingiest defense in the league to a club-first first place finish in the regular season despite facing three season ending injuries on the defensive line.
Jimmy Coenraets
Utah Royals head coach Jimmy Coenraets led his team to a historic first-ever playoff appearance with a high press that stumped even the most disciplined of defenses in the league. However, a four-game winless slide to end the regular season dropped his team to a lower table position than they would have hoped for.
Jonas Eidevall
San Diego Wave head coach Jonas Eidevall led an impressive 2026 campaign for the San Diego Wave, resulting in a second-place finish in the league despite several injuries that the team had to contend with. However, Eidevall also leads the league in slurs directed towards the officiating staff, making his campaign for coach of the year a difficult one to justify.
Biggest snub: Leif Gunnar Smerud
Angel City FC’s interim head coach was at the helm for 19 of the club’s 30 matches this season and oversaw only two losses. He led the team on a club-record 10-match unbeaten streak to secure their first postseason berth in three years.
