BIOSTEEL FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
All five USWNT nominees played important roles in the team’s qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning the Concacaf W Championship in Monterrey, Mexico.
As the reigning BioSteel U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, Horan earned another nomination for the award after a stellar year highlighted by her USWNT accomplishments as well as winning the UEFA Women’s Champions League with Olympique Lyon. For the USWNT, Horan continued to distinguish herself as a key midfielder and leader for the USA. She started all 14 matches in which she played in 2022, going 979 minutes and scoring one goal, that coming on a slick dribbling move against Nigeria in a friendly.
Lavelle returns for a second consecutive nomination after dazzling as one of the most entertaining and productive midfielders in the world. She started in 15 of the 16 matches she played with the USA and tallied a career-high six assists on the year which ranked second overall on the team while also scoring four goals. For OL Reign, she played 1,558 minutes over 18 matches to help the club win the 2022 NWSL Shield while scoring five goals and recording one assist.
Morgan earns her seventh Player of the Year nomination overall and first since 2019 after having a historic year for club and country. Her first matches with the USWNT this year came in the Concacaf W Championship, which she kick-started with two goals in the USA’s first game of the tournament before capping it off with the game-winning goal in the championship final as she converted a penalty kick to defeat Canada 1-0. For expansion side San Diego Wave FC, Morgan scored a career-high 15 regular season goals which earned her the NWSL Golden Boot, and was a finalist for the NWSL MVP
The 24-year-old Pugh had possibly the most consistently stellar year on the USWNT, scoring seven goals with seven assists, and was perhaps the USA’s most dangerous player in the majority of matches in which she played. Her seven goals were the most she’s ever scored for the National Team in a calendar year, and her team-leading seven assists tied a career-high after she also had seven in her first year on the USWNT in 2016. Pugh had a stellar NWSL season in which she scored 11 goals and had six assists for the Chicago Red Stars and was a finalist for MVP for the second year in a row.
With a team-leading 11 international goals in 2022, the 22-year-old Smith became the youngest player to lead the USWNT in scoring in a calendar year since a 21-year-old Mia Hamm did so with 10 goals in 1993. She scored her first career hat trick on April 9 vs. Uzbekistan, becoming the youngest USWNT player since 2000 and the fifth youngest to net a hat trick in in USWNT history. Smith also scored against Colombia (2), Jamaica (2), Nigeria (2), England (in the USA’s match at a packed Wembley Stadium) and Germany (in the USA’s 2-1 win to end the year). Smith had a trophy-laden end to the NWSL season in which she was named the youngest MVP in league history after scoring 14 regular season goals. She then scored in the NWSL title game to earn Championship Game MVP honors while leading Portland Thorns FC to its third league title.
