NWSL Best XI for May: Dominance of Finishers and Playmakers
In a league built on fine margins and furious tempo, May belonged to the finishers, the playmakers, and a Utah side that simply refused to lose.
The National Women’s Soccer League unveiled its Best XI of the Month for May, and the list reads like a roll call of the league’s current power brokers. Headlining the group: two-time reigning MVP Temwa Chawinga, whose month looked less like a hot streak and more like a statement of intent.
Seven goals in six games. Defenses knew what was coming; they still couldn’t live with her.
Utah’s unbeaten spine
No team rode the month’s momentum quite like Utah Royals FC. Unbeaten across May, three of their players forced their way into the Best XI and their run also delivered Jimmy Coenraets the Coach of the Month award.
At the back, goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn anchored a Royals defense that posted three clean sheets in six matches, a steadying presence behind a back line that rarely lost its shape. In front of her, Kate Del Fava did the dirty work and then some. Sixteen tackles, six interceptions, and a milestone that underlines her reliability: her 63rd consecutive start for Utah since the club’s 2024 re-launch. She has become the constant in a team that has rapidly found its identity.
Further up the pitch, Mina Tanaka stitched Utah’s attack together. Two goals, three assists, and a central role in an offense that has already produced eight different goalscorers. She didn’t just contribute; she connected everything.
Defenders who do more than defend
The back line in this Best XI is anything but conservative.
Denver’s Janine Sonis turned fullback into a goal threat, hitting braces in back-to-back games in the middle of the month. Those are forward numbers from a defender, and they changed matches.
In Portland, Sam Hiatt quietly drove standards for the Thorns. She sat at the heart of a unit that recorded three clean sheets in May, a key piece in a defense that looks increasingly hard to break down.
Tierna Davidson, now wearing the armband at Gotham FC, brought authority and timing to her side’s back line. Gotham kept three clean sheets in four matches with her marshalling the defense, and she added a landmark of her own: her first goal since 2019. For a center back, that kind of moment can tilt an entire month.
Midfield engines and artists
The midfield trio named to the Best XI offers a blend of control, bite, and creativity.
North Carolina’s Manaka Matsukubo delivered end product at a premium position: three goals and two assists in six matches. She drove play, arrived in the right spaces, and kept the Courage ticking in possession.
In San Diego, 18-year-old Kimmi Ascanio used May to announce herself. Thirteen tackles in six games and her first goal of the season showed a young player unafraid of the physical and tactical demands of the league. She didn’t just hold her own; she imposed herself.
Croix Bethune, the 2024 Midfielder of the Year, reminded everyone why that title already sits on her résumé. One goal, three assists, and a constant creative spark for Kansas City. When she gets on the ball, things happen, and Chawinga is often the one finishing the move.
Relentless firepower up front
If May had a theme, it was ruthless finishing.
Chawinga’s seven goals in six games for Kansas City set the tone. Defenders tried to contain her runs in behind, her power on the turn, her instinct in the box. They rarely succeeded.
Orlando Pride’s Barbra Banda matched that relentlessness stride for stride. Six games, six goals. A clean, one-to-one ratio that tells its own story. Give her a chance, she buries it. Give her two, and the game might already be gone.
Tanaka’s inclusion rounds out a front line that punished almost every mistake. With her vision and link play for Utah, she turned promising moves into clear chances and helped ensure the Royals never tasted defeat during the month.
A league-wide snapshot of form
Eight clubs are represented in this Best XI, a sign of how widely the talent is spread and how quickly the balance of power can shift in the NWSL. From a teenage ball-winner in San Diego to an established MVP in Kansas City, from Utah’s ironwoman center back to Gotham’s captain scoring again after seven years, May captured a league thriving on storylines.
The NWSL Media Association, made up of writers who track the league week after week, cast the votes. The result is a snapshot of who set the standard in May—and a warning to everyone else.
Because if this is what these 11 can do in a single month, what will the rest of the season look like if they keep this pace?
