Ahead of the 2022 NWSL playoffs, which start on Oct. 16, the league announced the nominees for its regular season awards.
The five players considered for MVP this year include Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan, who led the San Diego Wave to the third seed in this year's playoffs. Forward Mallory Pugh will challenge her USWNT teammate for the award after a career season with the Chicago Red Stars. She was second in the league in assists and fifth in goals. Naomi Girma, Morgan's teammate, is vying for not only the MVP this year but also Defender of the Year and Rookie of the Year. North Carolina Courage's Debinha, third in goals and fifth in assists, joins the group along with Sophia Smith, who scored 14 goals, from the Portland Thorns.
Along with Girma, Thorns defender Becky Sauerbrunn, North Carolina's Carson Pickett and OL Reign teammates Alana Cook and Sofia Huerta are Defender of the Year candidates. Portland's Sam Coffey and North Carolina's Diana Ordóñez will challenge Girma for Rookie of the Year.
Goalkeeper of the Year will come down between AD Franch of Kansas City, Kailen Sheridan of San Diego and OL Reign's Phallon Tullis-Joyce.
The Coach of the Year nominees include OL Reign's Laura Harvey, whose team took home their third NWSL Shield, Matt Potter from the Current and Casey Stoney from the Wave.
According to the release, the awards will be announced “in the days surrounding the 2022 NWSL Championship game” which takes place on Oct. 29. The playoffs kick off on Oct. 16 with two first round matchups. The Houston Dash will face the Current at 5 p.m. ET before the Wave take on the Red Stars at 10 p.m. ET.
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