Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images
Here’s a look at some stats and minutiae following Week 16 of the 2026 National Women’s Soccer League season. We’ll keep evolving this space every week to try and keep you informed. Have an idea or an addition? Hit me @thedanlauletta on Bsky or X.
Before we get into it, here is a look at how the table looks as the season nears the 2/3 mark.
All statistics below reference regular season games only except where noted.
PLAYER STATS
-Kaleigh Kurtz has now played 132 consecutive regular season matches and 11,842 consecutive minutes. Both are league records. The streaks began June 26, 2021, while playing for the Courage. (The unrounded number is due to a rain-shortened match in 2023.)
-Two players made NWSL debuts last week. Natalie Hammond (née Bain) was a 90th minute sub for the Houston Dash. She played her college soccer at Xavier, winning Big East Defensive Player of the Year twice.
Heather Gilchrist was a 72nd minute sub for Bay FC on Sunday and helped her club keep a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw in Chicago. Gilchrist was signed out of Florida State where she was part of national championship teams in 2023 and 2025.
-The 10/10 watch is on. No player has ever scored 10 goals and added 10 assists in the same NWSL season. Pietra Tordin’s hat trick for the Thorns on Sunday moved her to 7 goals/8 assists. Cloé Lacasse of the Royals has 6 goals/7 assists. Trinity Rodman of the Spirit has 9 goals/5 assists.
-Mackenzie Arnold assisted on Pietra Tordin’s third goal on Sunday to become the fifth goalkeeper to record an assist, and the second in two weeks. Casey Murphy, who Tordin scored on, assisted Sammy Smith one week earlier in Denver. Arnold is the fifth goalkeeper to register an assist in the NWSL. Before her and Murphy, Jane Campbell, Mandy McGlynn and Kailen Sheridan pulled it off. Abby Smith has an assist in the Challenge Cup.
-The Golden Boot race is tightening. WAFCON-bound Barbra Banda remains on top with 12 goals but Ashley Sanchez is creeping on her with 11. Evelyn Ijeh’s 5 goals in eight days moved her to 9 and on level terms with Trinity Rodman, Sophia Wilson and Temwa Chawinga.
TEAM STATS
-Kate Del Fava remains minute-perfect for the Royals having played all 6,390 over 71 games since the team launched in 2024. Those are the longest streaks from the start of any expansion team.
-Kimmie Ascanio made her 45th straight appearance for the Wave on Friday night. That tied Christen Westphal’s club record.
-Angelina Anderson played her 24th consecutive match for Angel City over the weekend. That passed DiDi Haracic for the most games started in a row by an Angel City keeper. She has played every minute, and her streak is now at 2,160 straight minutes.
-Riley Jackson’s penalty conversion on Saturday was her third in a row. She is the first Courage player ever to convert three straight tries from the spot. No one did it during the team’s existence as the Western New York Flash either.
-The Thorns 3 goals in the opening 9:38 of Sunday’s match in Boston broke their own NWSL record. The previous fastest 3 goals from the start of a match was when the Thorns did it to Gotham in 2002. That match ended 5-0 and kicked off a league-record, 12-game losing streak for Gotham.
