Spring has sprung, random thunderstorms are an every other day occurrence, and the first Best XI of the NWSL season has dropped. I don’t have too many complaints (beyond Denise O’Sullivan deserving the midfield nod over Taylor Flint imo). Anyway, I’m not here to argue, it’s a solid collection of pure hoopers.
But it got me thinking about other players who’ve been ballin under the proverbial radar. Maybe not enough to supplant any of the Best XI, but enough that they deserve recognition too.
To find five such players, I dropped a few coins into the stat machine, told it what I was looking for, and after shaking, sputtering and sparking a bit it delivered some dope performances that deserve to be shared.
Laurel Ivory
Goalkeeper, Seattle Reign
Ivory’s heroics against Kansas City on Wednesday night was almost good enough to make her too popular of a name to include. However, that wasn’t a one-off performance. Ivory’s .55 overall On Ball Value (OBV) per 90 is tied with Kailen Sheridan, who has been in exceptional form to start the season.
When looking at specifically Goalkeeper OBV, Sheridan’s 3.05 goals saved above average (GSAA) leads the league, which puts her at the top of Goalkeeper OBV with .43 per 90 [min. 400 minutes]. Ivory is the next keeper closest, with .32, because her GSAA ain’t too shabby either.
With Alyssa Naeher, Jane Campbell and Aubrey Kingsbury all in their 30s, and Casey Murphy struggling to rediscover her best form, Ivory might be one to watch if the USWNT goalkeeper search begins to expand (as it soon should).
Madison Curry
Fullback, Angel City FC
Angel City have been hit with lots of injuries at key positions. Wide sometimes forward sometimes defender, Jun Endo, tore her ACL just before the season. During the year, 2023 standout M.A. Vignola picked up an injury that’s kept her out since March.
That’s forced interim-no-longer head coach Becki Tweed to turn to rookie, Madison Curry. And it’s gone quite well.
Curry is second among all fullbacks in possession adjusted (PAdj) pressures, with 20.11 per 90, and leads all fullbacks in PAdj tackles & interceptions, with 7.27. Her lowest values relate to in-possession metrics, which can’t be entirely blamed on her since Angel City has yet to find any semblance of cohesion on that front.
If Tweed can find some midfield fluidity and a way to alleviate Sydney Leroux’s current job of being in two places at once, Curry we might get more opportunities to see how much of a weapon she can be on the other side of the ball.
Also, apparently she graduated from Princeton with a degree in neuroscience. Unfortunately important neurological breakthroughs will have to wait, she’s pretty good at this soccer thing.
Claire Hutton
Defensive Midfielder, KC Current
The biggest compliment to be made about Hutton’s performances has been that it was signaled early on that Vlatko Andonovski would be relying on a teenager in her first season as a professional, at one of the most unsung but vitally important positions on the pitch, defensive midfield.
Those early suspicions have turned into passive expectation, which is a tremendous accomplishment for any player entering this league for the first time, let alone a player this young and at this complex of a position.
Among defensive midfielder with a minimum of 500 minutes played (Hutton has played 795), she’s top 3 in total OBV (Sam Coffey, Nealy Martin), and top 5 in Defensive Action OBV and PAdj tackles and interceptions.
Nealy Martin
Midfielder (part-time gk), Gotham FC
It had been my understanding that Martin was an integral piece of Gotham’s playoffs and championship successes, but then they went and signed Emily Sonnett to presumably play in the same position and I was confused.
Due to injuries, Sonnett has had to drop into a center back role, where she played when she won the 2021 NWSL Championship with the Spirit. That’s given Martin a run of games in a more familiar setup within Juan Carlos Amoros’s system, and has helped stabilize Gotham after a wonky start to the season.
One of the team’s best performances in 2024 came in their second match against the North Carolina Courage earlier this month. The typically free-flowing Courage were looking to bounce back.
Nealy Martin and Gotham didn’t let them. Instead they executed their press and positional play perfectly to cut off passing lanes and disrupt buildup opportunities. Game state mattered, as the Pride were up 3-0 by halftime, but the difference is still notable.
Courage v. Pride
Courage v. Gotham
Martin was at the heart of midfield, and a performance that limited the Courage to just .8xG. I could type more, but knowing the Courage like to progress the ball wide then find open central spaces for shots, how about we just let Martin’s heat map speak for itself.
Tara McKeown
Center Back(?), Washington Spirit
Ok, this has been one of the wildest positional conversions I’ve ever seen. In fact, I don’t know who you are reading this, specifically, but I’m willing to say it’s one of the wildest you’ve seen too. The only thing I can think of that comes closest is Yenith Bailey going from midfielder to goalkeeper.
However, and this is an extremely wild thing to say and be true, just a handful of games into her second season as a center back, the former forward has been the most solid central defender. Some of that has to do with center back partner Anaïg Butel struggling with foot speed against some of the NWSL’s most absurd attackers, but also, she’s in her eighth season as professional center back.
It’s been one of the most shocking ongoing player stories in the league. I do not know how this is happening, but it is kind of amazing. Among all center backs with at least 500 minutes played, McKeown is top 3 in PAdj interceptions (2.12), PAdj clearances (6.01), second in PAdj tackles (2.56), and second to only Emily Sams, with 92% Tack/DP% (percentage of time a player makes a tackle when going into a duel vs getting dribbled past).
The stats tell a solid story, and eye tests may tell an even more remarkable one. Barbra Banda found nothing but frustration when going up against McKeown, and had to switch flanks to find success. Lynn Williams and Mallory Swanson both struggled to create consistent chances against McKeown. And months after ending up in several Sophia Smith highlights (like most defenders do), and the Spirit held her to three shots totaling .07xG in their last meeting.
I have no idea what McKeown’s ceiling is as a center back. To be fair, she’s probably already exceeded the amount of consistently great performances she might’ve had as a forward. That’s less a knock on her skills a the top of the formation, instead it’s a nod to how genuinely good she’s been as a center back.