NWSL_Shield

NWSL Shield

NWSL Shield

Award

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.

Quick Facts Awarded for, Presented by ...

North Carolina Courage and Seattle-based team OL Reign, 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] San Diego Wave FC are the current (2023) winners.

History

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.[4]

Point system and tiebreakers

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.[5]

Since the 2022 season,[6] 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:

  1. Greater goal difference across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  2. Most total wins across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  3. Most goals scored across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  4. Head-to-head results (total points) between the tied teams.
  5. Head-to-head most goals scored between the tied teams.
  6. Least disciplinary points accumulated across the entire regular season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
  7. Coin flip (if two teams are tied) or drawing of lots (if three or more teams are tied).

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.[5][7]

Winners

More information Season, Winner ...
   team also won the NWSL Championship

Records

Shield winners

Italics indicates a defunct team.

More information Team, Wins ...

See also

References

  1. [1]
    NWSL. "OL Reign Claims 2022 NWSL Shield, Presented by CarMax". NWSLSoccer.com. National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  2. [2]
    "Seattle Reign win NWSL Shield for 2nd straight season". ESPN. August 27, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  3. [3]
    "NC Courage clinch third straight NWSL Shield after win over Utah". wralSPORTSfan.com. September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
  4. [4]
    Lauletta, Dan (February 26, 2013). "The Lowdown: A look at NWSL rules and tiebreakers". The Equalizer. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  5. [5]
    "2016 Competition Rules and Regulations". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2016.
  6. [6]
    "2022 Competition Rules & Regulations" (PDF). National Women's Soccer League. May 19, 2022. p. 6. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  7. [7]
    "2021 Competition Rules". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  8. [8]
    Yang, Steph (October 23, 2022). "Kansas City Current punches ticket to NWSL final with win over OL Reign". The Athletic. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
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