NWSL May Highlights: Temwa Chawinga and Unbeaten Utah Royals Shine
NEW YORK – The NWSL’s May belonged to finishers, iron-willed defenders, and one unstoppable force from Kansas City.
Temwa Chawinga, already a two-time reigning MVP, headlined the NWSL Best XI of the Month after tearing through backlines with seven goals in six games. Her selection as Player of the Month felt less like a debate and more like a confirmation. When Kansas City needed a spark, she lit the match.
Around her, the league’s standout performers formed a spine that stretched from an unbeaten fortress in Utah to a resurgent Gotham defense and a ruthless Orlando attack.
Utah’s unbeaten core
No team stamped its identity on May quite like Utah Royals FC. Undefeated across the month, they placed three players in the Best XI and saw head coach Jimmy Coenraets named Coach of the Month.
At the back, goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn anchored a unit that refused to bend, helping Utah to three clean sheets in six matches. In front of her, center back Kate Del Fava turned consistency into an art form. Sixteen tackles, six interceptions, and her 63rd consecutive start for the Royals since the club’s 2024 re-launch underline just how central she has become to Utah’s rebirth.
Higher up the pitch, Mina Tanaka pulled the strings in attack. Two goals, three assists, and a starring role in an offense that has already produced eight different goalscorers. Utah didn’t just avoid defeat in May; they controlled games, and Tanaka was often the player tilting the field in their favor.
Defenders setting the tone
Across the league, defenders didn’t just protect leads; they created them.
For Denver, Canadian fullback Janine Sonis turned May into her personal highlight reel. Braces in back-to-back matches from a wide defensive role is the kind of production most forwards would envy, and it gave Denver a cutting edge from deep.
In Portland, Sam Hiatt served as a steady, unflinching presence on a Thorns back line that posted three clean sheets in the month. She read danger early, snuffed it out, and allowed Portland’s attacking stars to play on the front foot.
Gotham FC’s captain Tierna Davidson added her own twist to the defensive story. Gotham kept clean sheets in three of their four May fixtures, and Davidson sat at the center of that resilience. She also found the net for the first time since 2019, a milestone moment that capped her influence on both sides of the ball.
Midfield engines and creators
The midfield selections reflect a blend of industry, invention, and composure.
North Carolina’s Manaka Matsukubo delivered end product from the middle of the park, finishing May with three goals and two assists in six matches. She drifted into pockets of space, dictated tempo, and punished any defense that gave her time to operate.
In San Diego, 18-year-old Kimmi Ascanio announced herself as a force in the tackle. Thirteen tackles across six matches told one story; her first goal of the season told another. She didn’t just break up play, she broke lines, and gave San Diego a youthful surge of energy.
Kansas City’s Croix Bethune, the 2024 Midfielder of the Year, played like someone determined to keep that title. One goal, three assists, and the kind of composure that knits an attack together. When Chawinga made the runs, Bethune often supplied the path.
Relentless finishers up front
If May had a soundtrack, it was the thud of the ball hitting the net.
Alongside Chawinga’s seven-goal rampage, Orlando Pride star Barbra Banda kept pace with a ruthless one-to-one goal-to-game ratio: six goals in six matches. She bullied defenses, attacked space, and turned half-chances into certainties.
Tanaka’s inclusion in the forward line rounded out a front three that terrorized the league in different ways. Chawinga with power and relentlessness, Banda with precision and presence, Tanaka with vision and timing.
A league-wide snapshot of form
Eight different teams are represented in May’s Best XI, a snapshot of a league where dominance shifts week to week, but excellence still stands out.
From McGlynn’s command in goal to Chawinga’s finishing touch, this group didn’t just shine individually. They defined how May felt across the NWSL: fast, unforgiving, and increasingly star-studded.
The NWSL Media Association, a collective of writers who cover the league throughout the season, cast the votes that shaped this XI. The result is a lineup that reads less like a list and more like a warning.
If this is the standard in May, what will it take to stand out when the stakes climb even higher?
