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Fourth edition of top women's soccer league cup in the United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup, known as the 2023 UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons,[1] was a league cup competition that took place during the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season.[2][3] It was the fourth edition of the NWSL Challenge Cup tournament.
| 2023 UKG National Women's Soccer League Challenge Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | United States |
| Dates | April 19 – September 9 |
| Teams | 12 |
| Defending champions | North Carolina Courage |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | North Carolina Courage (2nd title) |
| Runner-up | Racing Louisville FC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 39 |
| Goals scored | 101 (2.59 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Kristen Hamilton (5 goals) |
| MVP | Kristen Hamilton |
All statistics correct as of September 9, 2023. | |
The 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup was the first time the NWSL Challenge Cup was played concurrently with the regular season, bringing it in line with most other league cup competitions worldwide.[4][5] It was also the first edition under a multi-year sponsorship with UKG, which increased the pool of prize money to $1 million toward a goal of achieving equal compensation when compared to men's leagues and open cup competitions in the United States.[6][7]
The North Carolina Courage defeated the Racing Louisville FC 2–0 in the final.[8]
The 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup was a multi-stage tournament. All 12 NWSL teams participated in the Challenge Cup, and the tournament was played concurrently with the regular season.[1] The tournament was split into three groups of four teams each, and each team played a six-game double round-robin with its group. Following the group stage, the top team of each group and the highest-placing group runner-up advanced to the single-elimination semifinals on September 6, with the winners competing in the final on September 9.[1][9] Matches did not have extra-time periods, and semifinal and final matches drawn during regulation proceeded directly to kicks from the penalty mark.[9]
Players in the four semifinal teams divide the tournament's $1 million pool of prize money. Sponsor UKG determined a prize pool of that size would draw the tournament's rewards closer to that of the men's MLS is Back tournament, which had a $1.1 million prize pool in 2020. For comparison, the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup prize pool was estimated to be about or less than $500,000.[6]
A team's position in the divisional standings was determined by points, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss. If two or more teams in the same group are tied on points at the end of the group stage, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied to determine the final group standings:[9]
yellow card: 1 point; 
indirect red card (as a result of two yellow cards): 3 points;
direct red card: 4 points; yellow card and direct red card: 5 points.In the case of two or more teams from different divisions being tied on points at the end of the group stage, the competition follows the same procedure except for the use of the head-to-head scenarios by virtue of the fact teams from different divisions would not have played each other during the group stage.[9]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NC | NJY | WAS | ORL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina Courage | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 1–1 | 6–0 | 0–0 | |
| 2 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 11 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | ||
| 3 | Washington Spirit | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 | −3 | 9 | 1–2 | 4–2 | — | 4–2 | ||
| 4 | Orlando Pride | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 15 | −10 | 2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | — |
| Orlando Pride | 1–1 | North Carolina Courage |
|---|---|---|
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| Orlando Pride | 1–3 | NJ/NY Gotham FC |
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| North Carolina Courage | 5–0 | Orlando Pride |
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| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 1–1 | Orlando Pride |
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| Pos | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KC | LOU | HOU | CHI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas City Current | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 4 | +10 | 13 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Racing Louisville FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage based on ranking | 3–2 | — | 3–0 | 2–0 | |
| 3 | Houston Dash | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 | −7 | 6 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | ||
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 4 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | — |
| Kansas City Current | 4–0 | Chicago Red Stars |
|---|---|---|
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| Kansas City Current | 3–1 | Houston Dash |
|---|---|---|
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| Portland Thorns FC | 3–2 | Angel City FC |
|---|---|---|
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| Angel City FC | 2–1 | Portland Thorns FC |
|---|---|---|
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| San Diego Wave FC | 1–1 | Angel City FC |
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The best second-placed team from the group stage advances to the knockout stage.
| Pos | Grp | Team | Pld | W | T | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central | Racing Louisville FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 12 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | East | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 11 | |
| 3 | West | Angel City FC | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 8 |
In the knockout stage, the semifinals occurred on September 6 and the final took place on September 9.[1]
| Semifinals | Championship | ||||||||
| 1 | OL Reign | 0 | |||||||
| 4 | Racing Louisville FC | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | Racing Louisville FC | 0 | |||||||
| 3 | North Carolina Courage | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Kansas City Current | 0 | |||||||
| 3 | North Carolina Courage | 1 | |||||||
There were 101 goals scored in 39 matches, for an average of 2.59 goals per match.
5 goals
Kristen Hamilton, KC3 goals
Debinha, KC Savannah DeMelo, LOU Brittany Ratcliffe, NC Morgan Weaver, POR2 goals
Penelope Hocking, CHI Cece Kizer, KC
Clarisse Le Bihan, LA Savannah McCaskill, LA Parker Goins, LOU Jenna Nighswonger, NJY Katie Stengel, NJY Lynn Williams, NJY McCall Zerboni, NJY Haley Hopkins, NC Brianna Pinto, NC Frankie Tagliaferri, NC Olivia Wingate, NC
Jordyn Huitema, RGN Ally Watt, ORL Hannah Betfort, POR Ashley Hatch, WAS1 goal
Yūki Nagasato, CHI Madelyn Desiano, HOU
Bárbara Olivieri, HOU
Diana Ordóñez, HOU
Ebony Salmon, HOU Michelle Cooper, KC Vanessa DiBernardo, KC Hailie Mace, KC Scarlett Camberos, LA
Claire Emslie, LA Madison Hammond, LA Jordan Baggett, LOU Ary Borges, LOU Kirsten Davis, LOU Kayla Fischer, LOU
Uchenna Kanu, LOU Paige Monaghan, LOU Margaret Purce, NJY Yazmeen Ryan, NJY Mana Shim, NJY Malia Berkely, NC Tess Boade, NC
Mille Gejl, NC Kerolin, NC
Manaka Matsukubo, NC Narumi Miura, NC
Denise O'Sullivan, NC Messiah Bright, ORL Tori Hansen, ORL Megan Montefusco, ORL Izzy D'Aquila, POR Reyna Reyes, POR Michele Vasconcelos, POR Bethany Balcer, RGN Elyse Bennett, RGN Ryanne Brown, RGN Olivia Athens, RGN Danielle Colaprico, SD Taylor Kornieck, SD Jaedyn Shaw, SD Camryn Biegalski, WAS Tara McKeown, WAS Chloe Ricketts, WAS Ashley Sanchez, WAS Marissa Sheva, WAS Lena Silano, WAS Mariana Speckmaier, WAS Sam Staab, WAS1 own goal
Katie Lind, KC (against HOU) Clarisse Le Bihan, LA (against RGN) Meaghan Nally, POR (against SD)Source: NWSL
Statistics do not include penalty-shootout goals.
A player is automatically suspended for the next match in the tournament for the following offenses:[9]
Manaka Matsukubo was awarded the MVP of the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final match,[8] and Kristen Hamilton was named the overall MVP of the tournament.[11]
Named to the All-Tournament team:[12][13]
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