**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.

Position	Player	Club	Country	Note
Goalkeeper	Adrianna Franch	Portland Thorns FC	USA	1.00 GAA

Defender	Emily Sonnett	Portland Thorns FC	USA	1 goal, 1 assist
Defender	Becky Sauerbrunn	Utah Royals FC	USA	1,720 minutes
Defender	Abby Erceg	North Carolina Courage	NZL	2 goals, 2 assists
Defender	Abby Dahlkemper	North Carolina Courage	USA	1,710 minutes

Midfielder	Tobin Heath	Portland Thorns FC	USA	7 goals, 7 assists
Midfielder	Lindsey Horan	Portland Thorns FC	USA	13 goals, 2 assists
Midfielder	McCall Zerboni	North Carolina Courage	USA	3 goals, 1 assist

Forward	Crystal Dunn	North Carolina Courage	USA	8 goals, 5 assists
Forward	Sam Kerr	Chicago Red Stars	AUS	16 goals, 4 assists
Forward	Megan Rapinoe	Seattle Reign FC	USA	7 goals, 6 assists

The NWSL awards are voted on by club officials, players, media that cover the league on a consistent basis and fans. 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. ###