NWSL is officially on break, who stepped up in May?
Player of the Month: Temwa Chawinga
Although Temwa Chawinga didn’t have the best of starts this season due to injury, she’s catching up now. The Kansas City Current striker is peaking right when her club needs her the most.
Only in May, the Malawian tallied seven goals in six games, the first month this year she’s been fully available.
Her most notable matches in May? The one against Chicago, where she scored a hat-trick and against Houston, where she scored a brace. Those goals have helped Kansas to climb positions in the table after the team’s worst start of a season in their history.
Rookie of the Month: Kat Rader
Houston Dash midfielder Kat Rader has been chosen as May’s Rookie of the Year.
After scoring back-to-back tallies in the span of three days, the 21-year-old helped the Dash to get four points out of six that week.
Coach of the Month: Jimmy Coenraets
If there’s an underdog this season, that’s the Utah Royals. They didn’t drop any points while playing at home, winning the three games they played at America First by an aggregate of 6-2.
Besides that, they were unbeaten in May, which has helped them to finish the month in second place in the table. So, it’s no wonder that Utah’s coach, Jimmy Coenraets, has been chosen as Coach of the Month.
May’s Best XI
After the great month Utah has had, they dominate May’s starting XI with three players from that club included.
These are the 11 players chosen for May:
GK – Mandy McGlynn (UTA): Her three clean sheets in six matches during this month helped Utah to finish among the top teams in the table.
D – Janine Sonis (DEN): The Canadian fullback registered two braces in back-to-back May games.
D – Sam Hiatt (POR): The Thorns’ captain and center back helped the team to get keep three clean sheets during May.
D – Kate Del Fava (UTA): The center back registered 16 tackles and six interceptions across six matches last month.
D – Tierna Davidson (GFC): Gotham’s captain helped the team keep clean sheets in three of four matches and tallied her first goal since 2019
M – Manaka Matsukubo (NC): The Courage’s midfielder scored three goals and made three assists in six matches.
M – Kimmi Ascanio (SD): The 18-year-old had 13 tackles across six matches and scored her first goal of the season.
M – Croix Bethune (KC): The 2024 Midfielder of the Year scored once but she also contributed with three assists during May.
F – Temwa Chawinga (KC): The two-time reigning MVP showed what she’s capable of when fully healthy and scored half a dozen last month.
F – Barbra Banda (ORL): What a month for the Zambian, who tallied six goals in six matches.
F – Mina Tanaka (UTA): The Royals forward scored two goals and had three assists to help Utah go unbeaten in May.
