The 2013 National Women's Soccer League season was the inaugural season of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2009–2011) and the Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003), this was the seventh overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league was (and 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 soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

and received major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing was provided by the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

and the

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (), abbreviated as FMF is the official governing body of football in Mexico. It administers the men's and women's national teams with all its youth teams, the national teams of futsal and beach soccer, Liga MX wit ...

. All three national federations paid the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations. The league started on April 13 with FC Kansas City hosting

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

. The last regular season matches were played on August 18, with the Western New York Flash topping the standings to win 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 ...

. This was followed by postseason playoffs, which culminated in a final on August 31. In the final,

defeated the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

2–0 to win the inaugural

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

Teams, stadiums, and personnel

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorship

Note: All teams used

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

as kit manufacturer.

Player Acquisition

Players were acquired through the 2013 Allocation of national team players announced on January 11, the 2013 NWSL College Draft on January 18, and the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft on February 7, along with free agency, trading and loans. The Portland Thorns received an allocation with a notably strong offensive record including

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

and

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a retired Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who most recently played as a Forward (association football), forward for the Portland Thorns FC, Portland Thorns of the ...

, the 2012 U.S. and Canadian Players of the Year and leading scorers for their national teams respectively, as well as a U.S. allocation (Morgan,

Tobin Heath Tobin Powell Heath (born May 29, 1988) is an American professional soccer player and entrepreneur. Playing primarily as a forward and midfielder for the United States national team, she won gold at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 2012 Lon ...

, and Rachel Buehler) that accounted for 1/3 of their national team's assists in 2012.

Competition format

The regular season began on April 13 and ended on August 18. Each team played a total of 22 games: 11 at home and 11 away. Each team played * three other teams (based on an east/west geographical split) four times each: twice at home and twice away * two other teams twice each: once at home and once away * and the remaining two teams three times each: one twice at home and once away, the other vice versa The four teams at the end of the season with the most points qualified for the playoffs. Two semifinal games were played on August 24, with the winners advancing to the league final to be played on August 31.

Results table

''Scores listed as home-away''

League standings

NWSL Championship

The top four teams from the regular season qualified for the championship playoffs. In the semifinals, the regular season winner hosted the fourth-placed team and the regular season runner-up hosted the third-placed team. The highest-seeded semifinal winner then hosted the championship final. All match-ups were one-game series (as opposed to home-and-away series).

Semi-finals

Championship

Attendance

Average home attendances

Highest Attendance: 17,619 (August 4, Kansas City at Portland) Lowest Attendance: 688 (May 8, Chicago at Sky Blue) Total Attendance: 375,846 (88 games total) League Average: 4,271

Playoff attendance

Semifinal 1, Portland at FC Kansas City: 4,016 Semifinal 2, Sky Blue at Western New York: 7,316 Championship, Portland at Western New York: 9,129

Statistical leaders

Top scorers

Source:

Top assists

Source:

Goalkeeping

(Minimum of 540 Minutes Played) Source:

Individual awards

Monthly awards

Weekly awards

Annual awards

Statistics

Scoring

* First goal of the season: Renae Cuellar for FC Kansas City against

, 3rd minute (April 13) * Earliest goal in a match: 2 minutes ** CoCo Goodson for

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

against

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

(April 27) * Latest goal in a match: 90+6 minutes ** Lori Chalupny for

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

against FC Kansas City (July 14) * Widest winning margin: 4 goals **

Sky Blue Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. Typically it is a shade of cyan or light teal, though some iterations are closer to light Azure (color), azure or light blue. The term (as "sky blew") is atte ...

5–1

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's 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 defu ...

(June 1) **

4–0

(May 4) * Most goals scored in a match: 7 **

2–5

(July 27) **

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL, which received supp ...

4-3 FC Kansas City (June 6) * First Own Goal: McCall Zerboni of

for

(April 14) * Average goals per match: 2.705

Hat-tricks

Discipline

* First yellow card: Kristie Mewis for FC Kansas City against

, 43rd minute (April 13) * Most yellow cards in a match: 6 **

2–1

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

– 3 for Portland (

Allie Long Alexandra Linsley Long (born August 13, 1987) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder. She played for Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC, and NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League, and represented the United S ...

, Angie Kerr, & Nikki Washington) and 3 for Seattle ( Elli Reed, Christine Nairn, & Jessica Fishlock) (April 21)

Streaks

* Longest winning streak: 5 games **

, games 5–9 * Longest unbeaten streak: 10 games ** FC Kansas City, games 11–20 * Longest winless streak: 13 games **

, games 7–19 * Longest losing streak: 9 games **

, games 2–10 * Longest shutout: 435 minutes by Brittany Cameron for

* Longest drought: 541 minutes for

Other firsts

* First player to score twice in a match: Heather O'Reilly for