Season 2015 Matches played 90 | Start date 2015 Goals scored 251 | |
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Biggest home win SEA 5–1 WNY (Apr 12)KC 4–0 WNY (Aug 8) Similar 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2014 CONCACAF Women's, 2015 North American Soccer L, 2015 Algarve Cup, 2014 Algarve Cup |
The 2015 National Women's Soccer League season was the third season of the National Women's Soccer League, 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), it was the ninth overall season of FIFA and USSF-sanctioned top division women's soccer in the United States. The league is operated by the United States Soccer Federation and receives major financial backing from that body. Further financial backing is expected to be provided by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Mexican Football Federation. All three national federations pay the league salaries of many of their respective national team members in an effort to nurture talent in those nations.
Contents
- Stadiums and locations
- Personnel and sponsorship
- Player acquisition
- Competition format
- Tiebreakers
- Weekly live standings
- References
In January, Jeff Plush was named NWSL commissioner, replacing Cheryl Bailey.
To accommodate the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup the league announced it would reduce the season to 20 games while extending the calendar length into September and take a two-week break from June 7–19.
For the second straight season, FC Kansas City defeated the Shield winners Seattle Reign FC 1–0 to win the NWSL title on October 1.
Stadiums and locations
Two teams, the Dash and Reign, do not make their stadiums' entire capacity available for home games, instead restricting ticket sales at a lower level. The full capacities of their venues are included in parentheses and italics.
Personnel and sponsorship
Note: All of the teams use Nike as their kit manufacturer.
Player acquisition
Players were acquired through the 2015 Allocation of national team players on January 14 and the 2015 NWSL College Draft on January 16, as well as free agency and trades.
Notable acquisitions and losses
Competition format
Scores listed as home-away
Tiebreakers
The initial determining factor for a team's position in the standings is most points earned, with three points earned for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams tie in point total, when determining rank and playoff qualification and seeding, the NWSL uses the following tiebreaker rules, going down the list until all teams are ranked.
If two teams tie:
- Head to Head win/loss record between the two teams.
- Greater goal difference across the entire season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
- Greatest total number of goals scored (against all teams).
- Apply #1–3 to games played on the road.
- Apply #1–3 to games played at home.
- If teams are still equal, ranking will be determined by a coin toss.
If three or more teams tie, the following rules apply until only two teams remain tied, at which point the two-team tiebreakers listed above are used:
- Points per game against all other tied teams (total all points earned in games against tied teams and divide by games played against tied teams).
- Greater goal difference across the entire season (against all teams, not just tied teams).
Weekly live standings
Considering each week to end on a Sunday