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Morgan, Smith & GOAL’s NWSL Team of the Season

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11 months ago

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Alex Morgan, Sophia Smith & GOAL’s NWSL Team of the 2023 Season

The two USWNT stars feature in the frontline in this best XI, but who else makes the cut?

And then there were two. Gotham and OL Reign will face off on Saturday in the NWSL Championship game, with both teams looking to win a first-ever title. It’s going to be dream come true for one legend of the United States women’s national team and heartbreak for another, with Ali Krieger and Megan Rapinoe both set to play the final games of their illustrious careers when these two sides meet in San Diego this weekend.

That match will be the climax of a quite brilliant NWSL campaign which has produced plenty of drama, including the chaos on the final day of the regular season which saw the San Diego Wave win its first silverware in just its second year. Rapinoe’s Reign denied the Wave a chance of playing for a Shield and Championship double on its own turf, though, with the Pacific Northwest side making its third appearance in the big season finale, a situation Gotham is entirely new to.

But before one of these teams lifts the big trophy, let’s take a look back at the last eight months. The league itself has already revealed its Best XI, but now it’s GOAL‘s turn to pick the team of the 2023 NWSL season…

GK: Jane Campbell (Houston Dash)

It wasn’t a great season for Houston. In 22 regular season games, the Dash netted just 16 goals, nine fewer than any other team in the league. Yet, with two games remaining, it was still in contention for a play-off spot. Why? Because its defense was the best in the division.

Jane Campbell, capped seven times by the United States women’s national team, was a huge reason for that, racking up an outstanding tally of eight clean sheets that was only one away from being the best in the division this year. The two goalkeepers who reached nine, Casey Murphy and Kailen Sheridan, were both in teams that made the playoffs.

The expected goals against stats say that Campbell should’ve conceded 36.9 goals in the NWSL in 2023. Instead, she conceded just 18, making more saves than any other shot-stopper and registering the best save percentage of anyone in her position playing more than five games. She’s more than earned a place in this XI.

RB: Kaleigh Kurtz (North Carolina Courage)

Okay, we’ve cheated a little bit by moving her to rightback, but there were so many outstanding centerbacks in the NWSL this year that one of them was always going to end up shoehorned in. And Kaleigh Kurtz has played here before, so she won’t mind.

The North Carolina Courage had the second-best defense in the NWSL this season and Kurtz was a big reason why, playing every single minute for the club as it finished third. No one on the team made more clearances and she ranked second in the league for blocks, too, the 29-year-old so often in the right place to thwart any danger.

Kurtz played a big role in getting things started at the other end as well, with no one in the NWSL completing more passes than the Courage’s reliable and consistent No.3.

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