The World Cup is over which leaves all the focus turned to the NWSL. The players from the UWSNT and other World Cup teams are on various clubs all throughout the league. But just because Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd or Rose Lavelle might not be playing that night or for a specific team does not mean you should not still tune in. The NWSL is flooded with talent and we have created a weekly series that looks at players in the NWSL who did not go to France this summer, but could very well turn into your new favorite player. First up on our series is Lynn Williams.
She was the top American goal scorer in the NWSL last season with 14 goals. Williams even has the most combined goals in the league by any American for the past few seasons. This all includes the players who dawned the USA jersey this summer. You did read that correctly, the top American goal scorer was not on the World Cup roster. We can even take it a step further and let you know Williams has not been called into a USWNT camp since April of 2018. But this meant while the World Cup was going on with people scratching their heads at why she is got snubbed, Williams was knocking in goals for her club team, the North Carolina Courage.
The Courage are the defending NWSL Champions and back to back Shield winners (given to the top regular season finisher). Their success is due large in part to Williams who has been excelling at the club level since she entered the league in 2016. She had 14 goals not only last year but also in her rookie campaign. Williams least productive year so far was in 2017 when she still scored nine goals.
In just 13 games this season Williams has already scored six goals and added four assists. Those marks have her in fifth place overall for goals and first overall for assists. She is the only player in the league in the top five for both categories.
Williams likes to use her pace to get in behind back lines. Her teammates often play her through balls that she is able to run onto and just flat out beat defenders in a foot race. Her most recent goal shows this perfectly.
This ball from @Debinha7 is perfection and the finish from @lynnraenie is just as nice. @TheNCCourage go up after 30 minutes. #CHIvNC on ESPN2. pic.twitter.com/9j14Xv1OL4
— NWSL (@NWSL) July 21, 2019
Not only is Williams fast with her feet but she is also fast with scoring in a match. All six of her goals this season have happened in the first half of games. Her earliest goal coming in at 22nd minute and her latest just before half at 45+1. All of her goals this year have come in different games, but the single goal she scores sets the tone for the Courage. For five of the six goals she was the first goalscorer for her team and the Courage are 4-2 when Williams scores in a match.
The NC Courage are currently in second place just behind the Portland Thorns by four points. The two teams will meet two more times this season and their first meeting ended in a 1-1 tie. If the Courage want to gain some ground on the Thorns they can start with their next game against the Utah Royals. In their last meeting Williams was pretty quiet with just one shot on goal. The Royals did well to stop Williams in the attack who at the time had to foot most of the offense since her teammates Crystal Dunn, Jess McDonald and Debhina were all playing in France. With more offensive weapons around her this time Williams might be able to find some more space and have a completely different game.
You can catch Williams and the Courage facing off against the Utah Royals on Saturday at 10 pm ET on ESPNews. Perhaps it will be the game Williams scores more than one goal and even jumps in first place as the overall top goal scorer.