Position Benchmarks

Forward: D1 / D2 / D3

Name: NCAA Women's Soccer Forward Benchmarks (D1 / D2 / D3)
Creator: Brava
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Per-90 statistical benchmarks for forwards in NCAA women's soccer. Mean and standard deviation by division, with the Z-score formula college coaches actually use to compare players across competition levels.

Per-90 performance benchmarks

Division means (μ) and standard deviations (σ) for the six core forward metrics.

Forward — per-90 statistical distributions, NCAA Women's Soccer
Metric	D1 mean	D1 σ	D2 mean	D3 mean
Goalsper 90 minutes played	0.65	0.25	0.50	0.40
Shots on Targetper 90 minutes played	2.80	1.10	2.20	1.80
Shot Conversiongoals ÷ shots on target	22.5%	4.8	18.0%	14.5%
Expected Goals (xG)per 90 minutes played	0.55	0.20	0.42	0.35
Successful Dribbles (1v1)completed take-ons per 90	4.50	1.50	3.20	2.50
Assistsper 90 minutes played	0.30	0.15	0.22	0.18

Tier alignment

Once you have a Z-score, here's where that player realistically slots in.

Tier 1

Top D1 / Power-5

Z ≥ 1.5 · top 7%

Immediate impact at the highest collegiate level. SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12-equivalent starting potential.

Tier 2

Solid D1 / top D2

0.5 ≤ Z < 1.5 · 69–93rd %ile

Above-average starting potential at mid-major D1 or top-of-conference D2 programs.

Tier 3

D3 / NAIA / lower D2

−0.5 ≤ Z < 0.5 · 31–69th %ile

Average collegiate. Developmental programs that compete on tactics and chemistry rather than physical advantage.

Competition multipliers

Stats in ECNL National don't mean the same thing as stats in a competitive state high-school season. Multiply raw per-90 rates by M before computing the Z-score.

Competition multiplier (M) by league
League / Competition	Multiplier (M)
ECNL National / US Youth National Team	1.00
Girls Academy (GA)	0.95
ECRL / Development Player League (DPL)	0.80
NPL / Elite State Leagues	0.70
High School Varsity (competitive state)	0.65
High School JV / Recreational Club	0.40

Physical gates

Forward-specific height ranges and division-wide speed gates. Hitting these doesn't get a player recruited; missing them by a lot usually narrows the conversation.

Forward — height range by division (typical starter)
Division	Height range
D1	5'5" – 5'9"
D2	5'4" – 5'8"
D3	5'3" – 5'8"

Speed gates (all positions; lower is better)
Test	D1	D2	D3
10-meter split	1.75s	1.85s	1.95s
30-meter sprint	4.0s	4.2s	4.4s
40-yard dash	5.0s	5.2s	5.4s

Forward: deep dives

Spoke articles unpacking specific dimensions of the forward profile.

Goals per 90 by division

D1 0.65, D2 0.50, D3 0.40, and why the distributions overlap.

Conversion rate (xG to goals)

D1 22.5%. The xG-vs-actual gap recruiters actually read.

Highlight reel: clip by clip

3–5 minutes, 18–24 labeled clips, opens with a goal.

Height & recruitment

D1 5'5"–5'9". When height matters and what overrides it.

Sources

Collegiate Women's Soccer Performance Benchmarking Report. All per-90 rates require a 75-minute minutes-played minimum. Pipeline bounds applied: goals 0–40, assists 0–30, minutes 0–2,700. Licensed CC BY 4.0. Please link back to bravamade.com/research/benchmarks/forward.