U.S. Olympic Committee Announces 2015 U.S. Women's World Cup Team as Olympic Team of the Year

CHICAGO (Dec. 10, 2015) – The United States Olympic Committee today announced the 2014-15 winners for the Team USA Awards, Best of the Year, and recognized the U.S. Women’s World Cup Team as Olympic Team of the Year for their performance in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The award was presented among six others during a live taping of the Team USA Awards, Best of the Year ceremony, held tonight at the University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall in Philadelphia. The awards show – which feature NBC’s Natalie Morales as host and retro pop/soul artist Andra Day as the musical guest – will be televised Dec. 27 on NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) from 3-4 p.m. ET.

The U.S. became the first nation to win three FIFA Women’s World Cup titles, setting the record for most goals scored in a World Cup Final in a 5-2 win over Japan and surpassing Germany as the top-scoring team in Women’s World Cup history with 112 goals. Team USA’s Carli Lloyd and Hope Solo were awarded the Golden Ball and Golden Glove as the best player and best goalkeeper of the tournament, respectively, with Lloyd setting World Cup Final records for the first hat trick and quickest goal (2:35).

The award winners were determined by online fan voting at TeamUSA.org/Awards, where nearly 200,000 fan votes determined 50 percent of the final tally. Members of the Olympic and Paralympic family – including an esteemed panel of Olympic and Paralympic journalists – accounted for the other 50 percent.

Formerly known as the USOC SportsMan, SportsWoman and Team of the Year awards, the honors began in 1974. The impressive and diverse collection of past winners represent nearly 30 sports on the summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic programs. Their collective accomplishments tell the inspiring story of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic movements throughout history. Athletes and teams considered for the Best of the Year were finalists for Best of the Month honors, dating back to the fall of the previous year and coinciding with the sport calendar. A USOC nominating committee then selected the top-five finalists in the individual categories and top three in the team categories to advance to the voting round. For more information on the Team USA Awards, including the full list of 2014-15 finalists, visit TeamUSA.org.

- ussoccer.com -