If you are interested, why not predict the regular season league leader in Total Points for 2017? (24 Game Season) Predict the following: Name, Number of goals(to separate all the correct name givers)[nearest number, either higher or lower], Total Points, (first tie-breaker)[nearest number, either higher or lower] Name of 2nd highest points getter (second tie-breaker) DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES: Midnight Pacific Time April 14th( 3am eastern April 15th) If you change your prediction, I will take the one closest to and before the Deadline. Here is some information to chew on NameTotal PointsGoalsAssistsGames in SeasonGames Played 2016 Williams271152019 McDonald271072019 Ohai261142020 Nadim21932020 Press16802014 2015 Dunn331532020 Little271072020 Long221022020 2014 Little391672423 Rodriguez291332422 McDonald231112424 2013 Holiday331292018 Wambach301182019 Leroux241122019 I will throw the first dart: Jess McDonald *knock on wood* 13 goals 30 total points Christen Press is #2 (only b/c Nadim is going to Euros)
Interesting. So you're counting a goal as 2 points and an assist as 1 point. That devalues players like Heath and DiBernardo who had lots of assists but few goals. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume she stays healthy: Sam Kerr 16 goals 34 points McDonald #2
...that's a REALLY common method of determining "points" for attacking players in soccer. Have you not seen it around often? MLS used it for their scoring award before going to just goals, NCAA still uses it, and I've seen WPSL and I think UWS and old-NASL use it as well.
I'll go with Kerr in first spot, and 16 goals and 2 assists for 34 points sounds about right. Nadim for 2nd with about 14 goals and a couple of assists for 30 points ....although she's second only because she takes penalty kicks and will get about 3 of them. . Ohai 3rd, with 11 goals and maybe 5 assists for 27 pts. Groom, 4th, with 11 goals and a couple of assists for 24 points. (With Leroux and A-Rod coming back, I may be wildly optimistic there) Huerta, 4th, a midfielder, with nine goals and 5 assists, for 23 points. L. Williams 5th, with 10 goals and 2 assists for 22 points. (she'd have more but will miss some games for NT duty. K. Mewis, 6th, another midfielder who'll get about 8 goals and 5 assists each for 21 points. (Prediction: Mewis is reborn in Washington and is the star for a team that has seen better days..) J. McDonald could crack the top 5. As could Christian Press, but she'll miss a few games for NT duty. They'll probably each get about 10 goals. Who will be the surprise goal big scorer? Maybe Daly or Beckie for Houston? Maybe Natasha Dowie will show up bigly for Boston? .Or one of a half dozen rookies? . Somebody from Seattle will come up with 20 or more points. Yanez, Rapinoe, or Kawasumi?
I've only really seen points used in hockey. And that's 1 point for a goal and 1 point for an assist.
2/1 is the traditional "points" system for soccer in the United States. Personally, it's a bit messy - some leagues at some times love secondary assists - and it doesn't really solve the discussion of what you're trying to measure. But in the 30+ years I've been covering soccer in the United States, it's been the standard calculation. In the last decade, MLS has gone to the more traditional international standard of not measuring "points". It tracks assists, and it tracks goals, but generally doesn't try to combine them - at least not in anything they give an award for.
Only 3 of us ended up making predictions on who the #1 scorer would be, and only I got it wrong. @Smallchief wins the contest because his prediction for who the #2 scorer would be was closer to the mark than @holden 's. Predictions CategoryHoldenSmallchiefCoachJon Top ScorerKerr Kerr McDonald Goals161613 Total Points343430 #2 ScorerMcDonaldNadimPress Season Scoring Data from NWSLsoccer.com (I may have some errors and/or omissions) #NameTotal PointsGoalsAssistsGames PlayedPts per Game Played 1Kerr38174211.8 2Marta32136211.5 3Press26114221.2 4Rapinoe25121171.5 5Williams23 95211.1 6Morgan2294121.8 7Kawasumi2169220.95 8Leon1866210.86Huerta, Sinclair, Dowie & Fishlock at 16 pts. Nadim, Hatch, S. Mewis, Raso at 15 pts.