By OkayGoal 
The NWSL is known to be the deepest league in the world for a reason. The current player pool is deep with emerging talent and every year we see a handful of new players have a breakout season. We’re a month into the NWSL season, and we’ve already seen some virtuoso performances from players you may not have heard of seen of coming into this season. That’s what we’re here for, here’s GSN top standouts from the first month of the NWSL season.
Kiki van Zanten
The Houston Dash started the season off with a blockbuster trade sending two starters in Yasmeen Ryan and Delanie Sheehan to the Denver Summit. This in turn opened the door for Kiki van Zanten to shine. The former Notre Dame star has getting the job done for both club and country with some great performances for Jamaica as well. Kiki van Zanten’s goals have come in bunches with two braces this season. One against the Boston Legacy and the second against Racing Louisville. Time will tell if she can keep it up, but based on how young Houston’s roster is, Van Zanten will have plenty of opportunities to keep herself in the Golden Boot race this season. According to PIRLo Stats, van Zanten is in the top top 25 players in all the NWSL in terms of their ratings which factor in 50 possible playing actions during the match. The eye test and stats don’t like, Kiki van Zanten could be in the middle of a breakout season for the Houston Dash.
Melissa Kössler
Melissa Kössler has proven to be one of best signings of the offseason and entered the NWSL as a relative unknown from the American perspective. In the Frauen Bundesliga, all Kössler did was score goals for both Turbine Potsdam and TSG Hoffenheim with 38 combined over five seasons. Now all she’s done is bring that with her to the NWSL. Denver has been incredibly competitive in every game this season and Kossler has been a big reason why. Four out of the six games feature a goal from Kössler, with two of those coming against the run of play. Kössler managed to do this against Orlando and Gotham, two teams that have won the last two NWSL Championships. If Kössler can keep finishing like this, she’ll have Denver in the running for a playoff spot while potentially getting her way back into Germany’s national team.
Alex Pfeiffer
The Kansas City Current let Alex Pfeiffer walk away in free agency and Bay FC made a great move to pick her up. Pfeiffer is still just 18 and within the first few weeks of the season, she made Kansas City look bad for letting her leave. Pfeiffer has scored twice for a team that is in the bottom half of the league in goals scored. Not only did she score but both goals were beautiful runs down the right wing while taking on and beating defenders. For a young player to show that level of fearlessness and attacking prowess is rare and it had to feel good for Bay FC’s front office to see her play like this right away. It appears that Bay FC will give her more minutes unlike Kansas City did. This will only help Pfeiffer’s development, growth and confidence. This first month was a great platform for her to build off of.
Abby Smith
Abby Smith has been a true NWSL vet who has suited up for six different NWSL teams prior to Denver adding her in the offseason. It’s great to see her finally get her flowers based on her recent performances for Denver. The Summit have had two 0-0 games already this season and Smith leads the league in saves with 25. It’s been great to see Smith have a career resurgence in Denver and she is more than likely going to end up in the top 5 in saves this year even if she doesn’t hold her spot at the top.
Kennedy Wesley
Kennedy Wesley has come into the NWSL and become a key player for the San Diego Wave in her first three seasons as a pro. 2026 is turning into a breakout campaign for Wesley as she’s performed well for club and country. Heading into a huge showdown with Portland, the Wave sit in first place with one of the best defensive records in the league. Wesley currently leads the league in passes completed which shows how involved she’s been in team possession. Now, passes can be a misleading stat because defenders passes sometimes don’t pass more than 5 yards at a time but Wesley has also played 18 accurate long balls this season. It’s this level of play that got Emma Hayes to take notice and call her back into the USWNT. Wesley took full advantage with a goal and assist in her last game against Japan. For both team USA and the San Diego Wave, Kennedy Wesley has had an elite first month to the season.
Featured image via @kikivanzanten