The 2018 National Women's Soccer League season was the sixth 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 Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(2009–2011) and the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Un ...

(2001–2003), it was the twelfth 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 The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

and receives major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing is provided by the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

. 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 off individual clubs. The off-season brought significant changes, with FC Kansas City and the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

ceasing operations, while new club

Utah Royals FC Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...

joined the league. The 2018 season began on March 24, and ended on September 8. Teams once again played 24 regular-season games this year, with the top four teams making a single-elimination playoff. The

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York ...

won the

NWSL Shield 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 ...

with 15 more points than second place

Thorns Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Com ...

. The

NWSL Playoffs The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games can ...

began on September 15 with the two semifinal matches, which were won by the Thorns and the Courage. The NWSL Championship Game was held on September 22 at Providence Park in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. The Courage won 3–0, becoming the first team to win both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in the same season.

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 Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

as their kit manufacturer.

Coaching changes

Competition format

* Each team will play each team 3 times, for a total of 24 games (12 home and 12 away). * The four teams at the end of the season with the most points qualify for the playoffs.

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 tie breaker reverts to step 1 of the two-club format.

Attendance

Average home attendances

Ranked from highest to lowest average attendance. Updated to games played on September 8, 2018.

Highest attendances

Regular season Updated to games played on November 3, 2018.

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Updated: September 8, 2018

Top assists

Updated: September 8, 2018

NWSL Playoffs

The top four teams from the regular season compete for the NWSL Championship. The

secured the number one seed on August 5, winning their second straight NWSL Shield.

Semi-finals

*''Originally scheduled for September 16 at Sahlen's Stadium in

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...

; rescheduled and moved due to

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...

.''

Championship

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Player of the Month

Team of the Month

Weekly awards

Annual awards

References

; NWSL Statistics

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Women's Soccer League 2018

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

National Women's Soccer League