**CHICAGO (Sept. 20, 2018) –**The National Women’s Soccer League announced today, the Best XI and Second XI selections for the 2018 NWSL season.

NWSL Shield winners, the North Carolina Courage, are well represented with Abby Erceg, Abby Dahlkemper, McCall Zerboni and Crystal Dunn voted on the Best XI, while Lynn Williams, Merritt Mathias, and Debinha all made the Second XI list.

The Courage and Portland Thorns FC are set to feature in the 2018 NWSL Championship on Saturday, Sept. 22 at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. in a match broadcast nationally at 4:30 p.m. ET live on Lifetime.

Five players were voted to the Best XI for the second consecutive year – highlighted by Utah Royals FC defender Becky Sauerbrunn, who earned her sixth straight selection to the squad. Chicago Red Stars forward Sam Kerr, North Carolina Courage defender Abby Dahlkemper, Portland Thorns FC goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, North Carolina Courage midfielder McCall Zerboni were the other players to repeat as selections from the 2017 Best XI.

Three players earned their first selection to the Best XI this year including North Carolina Courage defender Abby Erceg, Portland Thorns FC midfielder Lindsey Horan and Portland Thorns FC defender Emily Sonnett.

Erceg was also one of three players – along with Horan and Reign FC forward Megan Rapinoe – that made the leap to the Best XI after making the Second XI last season.

The NWSL Second XI is comprised of the next leading vote getters at each position that did not make the Best XI (listed by position): Position Player Club Country Note   Goalkeeper Lydia Williams Seattle Reign FC AUS 10 Clean Sheets             Defender Merritt Mathias North Carolina Courage USA 3 goals, 2 assists   Defender Julie Ertz Chicago Red Stars USA 1,126 minutes   Defender Emily Menges Portland Thorns FC USA 1,305 minutes   Defender Steph Catley Seattle Reign FC  AUS 3 assists               Midfielder Debinha North Carolina Courage BRA 8 goals, 2 assists   Midfielder Carli Lloyd Sky Blue FC USA 4 goals, 1 assist   Midfielder Christine Sinclair Portland Thorns FC CAN 9 goals, 6 assists               Forward Lynn Williams North Carolina Courage USA 14 goals, 5 assists   Forward Rachel Daly Houston Dash ENG 10 goals, 2 assists   Forward Sofia Huerta Houston Dash USA 5 goals, 4 assists   The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is a nine-team Division-I women’s professional soccer league featuring national team players from around the world. The clubs are the Chicago Red Stars, Houston Dash, Orlando Pride, Portland Thorns FC, Seattle Reign FC, Sky Blue FC, Utah Royals FC and the Washington Spirit.