Washington Spirit striker Ashley Hatch is the 2021 NWSL Golden Boot winner. Hatch scored 10 goals in 20 appearances for the Spirit this season, holding off challenges from Midge Purce, Bethany Balcer, Rachel Daly, Ifeoma Onumonu, and Sydney Leroux to bring the Golden Boot home for the second time in Spirit history (Crystal Dunn in 2015 being the other player to lead the league in goals for Washington).
The secret to Hatch’s success this year was a simple consistency: She scored in the Spirit’s regular season opener, and from there never went more than three games between goals.