2022 marks the NWSL’s 10th Anniversary season. This year we are celebrating all the greats that got us here, from the field to the fans.
2022 marks the NWSL’s 10th Anniversary season. This year we are celebrating all the greats that got us here, from the field to the fans.There are 21 athletes who have been crushing it on the pitch since the NWSL’s inception in 2013. These athletes are some of the most storied names not just in soccer, but in the world of global sport.
Lauren Barnes - OL Reign
Position: Defender Clubs: RGN (all seasons) The longtime Reign captain leads NWSL in minutes and appearances by a mile, and has started every playoff game in club history. Barnes has helped her club to two NWSL Shields (2014, 2015) as well as two appearances in the NWSL championship game (2014, 2015). She was named Defender of the Year in 2016.
Nicole Barnhart - Washington Spirit
Position: Goalkeeper Clubs: FCKC 2013-17; UTA 2018-20; KC 2021; WAS 2022 Barnhart holds the NWSL record for career regular season shutouts (52) and leads the league in goalkeeper starts and minutes played. She nabbed the first Goalkeeper of the Year honor in 2013, and led FC Kansas City to back-to-back titles in 2014-15. She's the oldest player in the league this season at age 40.
Jess Fishlock - OL Reign
Position: Midfielder Clubs: RGN (all seasons) The 2021 league MVP is one of just six players who've been with the same club for every season of NWSL. The Welsh international helped the Reign to two NWSL Shields (2014, 2015) and five playoff appearances. She started an incredible 125 consecutive regular-season games, a feat no other NWSL field player has matched.
Ashlyn Harris - NJ/NY Gotham FC
Position: Goalkeeper Clubs: WAS 2013-15; ORL 2016-21; NJY 2022 This two-time World Cup champion has earned more NWSL Save of the Week honors than any other goalkeeper. She led the Washington Spirit to its first playoffs appearances in 2014 and 2015, and then was selected by Orlando in the expansion draft for the 2016 season. Last year with the Pride, she became the league's all-time saves leader in regular-season play.
Tori Huster - Washington Spirit
Position: Midfielder Clubs: WAS (all seasons) Huster is the only remaining member of the Spirit's original 2013 roster. The midfielder has led Washington to four playoff appearances, including the 2016 final where the club fell on penalties, and then last fall's championship that saw the Spirit triumph 2-1 over Chicago for their first NWSL trophy.
Ali Krieger - NJ/NY Gotham FC
Position: Defender Clubs: WAS 2013-16; ORL 2017-21; NJY 2022 The 2-time World Cup champion left her Bundesliga career to join NWSL in 2013, playing four seasons with her hometown club before heading south to join Orlando. Krieger has been named to the league Best XI three times, and played every minute of the 2017 regular season for the Pride, becoming the club's first-ever "ironwoman."
Sydney Leroux - Orlando Pride
Position: Foward Clubs: BOS 2013; RGN 2014; WNY 2015; FCKC 2016-17; ORL 2018-22 Leroux scored the first hat trick in NWSL history just a few weeks into the inaugural season. A journeywoman in the league's early years, she found a home in Orlando to continue her blazing rate of scoring goals. She currently ranks 10th all-time in regular-season goals, despite missing nearly three seasons due to injuries and maternity leave.
Allie Long - NJ/NY Gotham FC
Position: Midfielder Clubs: POR 2013-18; RGN 2019-21 (April): NJY 2021-22 Allie Long is one of nine players from the inaugural NWSL game who is still part of the league today. She helped Portland tie Kansas City 1-1 in that 2013 match, and just months later she scored the first extra-time goal in NWSL history to send the Thorns to the first championship game. Long was part of both Portland title-winning teams (2013, 2017) and also helped Gotham FC reach the 2021 Challenge Cup final.
Merritt Mathias - North Carolina
Position: Defender Clubs: FCKC 2013-14; RGN 2015-17; NC 2018-22 Mathias has been a fixture in the NWSL since the inaugural game in 2013 when she started for FC Kansas City. She has won a multitude of league trophies, including three championship trophies (2014 Kansas City, 2018-19 North Carolina), three NWSL Shields (2015 Reign, 2018-19 North Carolina) and this year's Challenge Cup title.
Alyssa Mautz - Chicago Red Stars
Position: Midfielder Clubs: CHI (all seasons) No one has played more games in a Chicago uniform than Mautz, whose Red Stars career predates the launch of NWSL. The striker has seen the club set a league record for consecutive playoff appearances and reach three finals in three years. She is the only player remaining from Chicago's inaugural NWSL squad.
Jessica McDonald - Racing Louisville FC
Position: Forward Clubs: CHI 2013; RGN 2013; POR 2014; HOU 2015; WNY 2016; NC 2017-21; LOU 2022 **Voyager Athlete Ambassador
Watch Video >** McDonald one of just four players to score more than 50 regular-season goals and is also the all-time regular-season assists leader (27). She was named MVP of the 2018 NWSL championship game after scoring a brace to help North Carolina win 3-0 at Portland to claim the club's first NWSL title. McDonald has played for more clubs than any other player, and has scored for all but one of them.
Kristie Mewis - NJ/NY Gotham FC
Position: Midfielder Clubs: FCKC 2013; BOS 2014-16; WAS 2017; CHI 2017; HOU 2017-21; NJY 2022 A first-round draft pick in 2013, Mewis started for Kansas City in the league's inaugural game. She spent a few years in Boston before a flurry of trades landed her in Houston, where she helped the Dash win the NWSL Challenge Cup in 2020. She's one of just two players who has scored a goal every year of NWSL.
Alex Morgan - San Diego Wave
Position: Foward Clubs: POR 2013-15: ORL 2016-21: SD 2022 The two-time World Cup champion helped Portland win the inaugural NWSL championship game, assisting the second Thorns goal. She netted 15 regular-season goals with Portland, and then 23 with 2016 expansion side Orlando. This season with San Diego she became just the 4th player in league history to score four goals in a single game.
Alyssa Naeher - Chicago Red Stars
Position: Goalkeeper Clubs: BOS 2013-15; CHI 2016-22 The 2014 Goalkeeper of the Year set an NWSL record that year for saves in a single season. In her first year with Chicago, she led the defense to a then-league record 485 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. Naeher backstopped the Red Stars during both the 2019 NWSL final and the 2020 Challenge Cup final.
Kelley O'Hara - Washington Spirit
Position: Defender Clubs: NJY 2013-17; UTA 2018-20; WAS 2021 The USWNT veteran has played virtually every position but goalkeeper in her NWSL career, playing defense, assisting goals and scoring them. She helped Sky Blue FC (now Gotham FC) reach the playoffs in 2013, helped launch the Utah Royals in 2018 and scored the game-winner for the Spirit in the 2021 final.
Toni Pressley - Orlando Pride
Position: Defender Clubs: WAS 2013-14; WNY 2015; HOU 2015; ORL 2016-22 **Voyager Athlete Ambassador
Watch Video >** Pressley recently played her 100th regular-season NWSL game and also converted her first league PK. The veteran defender led the Spirit to its first playoff appearance in 2014 and helped the Dash to its best defensive season before joining the Pride. Pressley assisted Orlando's first playoff goal in 2017.
Megan Rapinoe - OL Reign
Position: Forward Clubs: RGN (all seasons) Rapinoe leads the Reign in career goals, both for the regular-season and the playoffs. She's started every playoff game in club history and is one of three players who've spent every NWSL season with the Seattle club. One of the top penalty-takers in the league, she scored the 100th NWSL goal from the spot in 2017.
Becky Sauerbrunn - Portland Thorns FC
Position: Defender Clubs: FCKC 2013-17; UTA 2018-19; POR 2020-22 No player has been named to the Best XI more than Sauerbrunn — only once has she not graced the list. She's also been a fixture on field, starting almost every game she's played. The 4-time Defender of the Year led Kansas City to two NWSL titles, helped launch the Utah Royals and converted a PK in Portland's triumphant 2021 Challenge Cup final.
Christine Sinclair - Portland Thorns FC
Position: Forward Clubs: POR (all seasons) No Thorns player has scored more goals or played more minutes than Sinclair. Scoring in the very first league game, she's spent every season of NWSL with Portland, leading the club to two NWSL championship titles, two NWSL Shields, the 2021 Challenge Cup championship plus the 2020 Fall Series title. She's one of just two players to score in every season.
Jasmyne Spencer - Angel City FC
Position: Forward Clubs: WAS 2013: WNY 2014-15: ORL 2016-17: RGN 2018-21: HOU 2021: LA 2022 Spencer is approaching the rarified milestone of 150 NWSL regular-season appearances. The dynamic forward is the only player on Angel City who was part of the inaugural season of NWSL. She helped Orlando reach the playoffs in 2017, and scored for Reign in the 2018 semifinal versus Portland.
McCall Zerboni - NJ/NY Gotham FC
Position: Midfielder Clubs: WNY 2013-14; POR 2015; BOS 2016; WNY 2016; NC 2017-19; NJY 2020-22 Zerboni has played in four NWSL finals with three clubs, and has been part of four NWSL Shield-winning teams (including three with North Carolina). The veteran midfielder leads the league in career fouls committed and also ranks second all-time in regular-season minutes played.