The 2026 NWSL College Prospect Dashboard

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It’s that time of year, where the world’s best women’s soccer academy system drops 100+ prospects onto the world’s clubs. Fortunately, there is no longer a draft in NWSL forcing the best players to play somewhere they don’t want to play, so you as a fan can dream on anyone in this list! As always, this dashboard is put together by Paul Harvey and we thank him for his efforts.

Before we start, some notes.

The Data:

The plethora of per 90 stats that Wyscout provides are broken down into specific subcategories, to help get a picture of what each player does and how they approach the game. Positions were combined into broader positional groups, based on the typical way most drafted players translate. For example, wingers, wingbacks, and fullbacks all tend to be more defensive players at the next level. The Wing Player catch-all group puts them together.

The following are the subcategories of the metrics:

Control: A player’s attempt to control the possession without losing the ball. Factors include offensive duel losses, pass completion percentage, back/lateral pass completion.

Progression: A player’s attempt to advance the ball into more dangerous areas. Factors include progressive passes and carries.

1v1: A player’s attempt to take opponents on and beat them. Offensive duels, dribbles, and fouls received are factors here.

Unlocking: A player’s attempt to break through either behind the defensive lines or inside the penalty area to create a shot. Factors include crosses, through balls, and shot assists (key passes).

Finishing: A player’s attempt to score goals via shots.

Proactive Engagement: Duel numbers are tricky, but this measure attempts to measure physical engagements with opposing players in both frequency and outcome.

Reactive Engagement: This reflects plays on the ball that do not require a physical engagement with an opponent. Factors include clearances and interceptions.

Role Score

The “Role Score” is a weighted calculation of the different statistical factors, with the weights determined by a player’s best fit role. Of course, there are players who fit strangely into roles and will likely find a different home in NWSL or elsewhere. The role scores still break down into a rough projection of how likely a player is to translate to the next level:

  • 80+: Elite in multiple areas, one of just a handful of top level players - just six in this year’s eligible class

  •  75-80: Exceptional in comparison to peers, with either particular elite strengths or broad base of high level skills. Likely to be NWSL contributors or high level lower level players.

  • 70-75: Strong candidates for an NWSL roster.

  • 65-70: Outside candidates for an NWSL roster, but may have individual skills that could translate.

  • Below 65: Not predicted to have an extensive pro career in NWSL, but with the right fit and skill development could still do so.

The dashboard is embedded here, but you can access it here if it’s easier.

Let’s walk through some of the fun. There are a couple of views for you, the intrepid data enjoying NWSL fan (or perhaps a USL-S, NWSL, or European team looking to explore). The workbook drops you in on the Player View page, for example, check out new Denver Summit signing Jasmine Aikey.

Aikey is one of the most dynamic scoring forces in the nation, putting up nearly a full expected goal contribution per 90 minutes. While she puts up strong shot and xG numbers, where she really sings is her chance creation numbers for others. Here you can also see her similar player comps - popping up on that list? Recent USWNT call up Reilyn Turner.

If you want to focus on players your club has already signed, you can flip to the Team View.

Peep Andrea Kitahata. Kitahata is, frankly, a statistical joke. She is an attacking dynamo to a frankly stupid degree, and Gotham decided to double down with the addition of Butler Bulldog Talia Sommer. The rich really do get richer.

Looking for someone for your team? You can head to the Discovery View where you can see where players rank amongst a number of metrics. Looking for a striker? Perhaps 2024 WAC player of the year and shot Godzilla Faith Webber interests you. EIGHT shots per game, north of a whole xG of contributions a game, 70 goals in an 82 game college career. Pretty good!

There are also individual player rankings, which you can sort by playing time, all the factors above, by position, all of the above. Scrolling through the holding midfield players, out pops Carina Lageyre, recent signee for Angel City. Ultra durable and starting her last 58 matches consecutively at Duke, the former U-20 national team player shows up as an extremely well rounded “six” type who wins the ball and passes it forward. Valuable skills!

The keepers also get some love, here is Izzy Lee the netminder for the Fighting Illini. Lee prevented a huge 14 goals above expectation, and led the Big 10 in saves and saves per game for the second year in a row.

That’s it. Go explore. Find the next generation for your teams and let us know who stands out to you.