NWSL Week 23 Interlude- The Awards Ballot

I was out of town and unable to watch a majority of this weekend's NWSL matches (though one could also consider my mourning period after the Hina Sugita trade as an acceptable excuse), so here's a three week early awards ballot instead of the usual weekend recap. Minimum 1300 --approximately 2/3 of the maximum-- minutes played as of the end of Week 22.

1. MVP

   (1) Temwa Chawinga

   (2) Kenza Dali

   (3) Manaka Matsukubo

   (4) Ludmila

   (5) Esther Gonzalez

   
   

   Not a hard one- Chawinga is the best player in the league and it's not particularly close. Eye test says it, stats back it up. I do want to mention Dali here, who has played virtually every central midfield position for San Diego, has played all but four minutes of the Wave's season, and has a straight up arousing fbref page. Then there's Manaka, who is my single favorite player in the league to watch and around whom the entire Courage ship has been built.

   
   

2. Rookie of the Year

   (1) Maddie Dahlien

   (2) Lilly Reale

   (3) Riley Tiernan

   (4) Trinity Armstrong

   (5) Maggie Graham

   
   

   This is a REALLY tough one, and I'm not sure there's a right answer- In the first draft-less year, almost every team has had an impact rookie, with many having multiple. The five I listed above doesn't include Portland's trio of Caiya Hanks, Pietra Tordin, and Jayden Perry; Bay's Taylor Huff, Karlie Lema, and Hannah Bebar; Angel City's Evelyn Shores and Macey Hodge; Gotham's Sarah Schupansky; Louisville's Ella Hase, Katie O'Kane, and Sarah Weber; and Washington's Deborah Abiodun. The difference between the top four is negligible. There are legitimate arguments all four of Dahlien, Reale, Tiernan, and Armstrong. Actually, here: I'll make the condensed argument for numbers 2-4 on my ballot before we get to Dahlien:

   
   

   Reale: She's been a mainstay in the second best defense in the league by xGA and goals allowed, while also being an excellent attacking FB. A fan who's never watched her play would never guess she's a rookie. I would be surprised if we don't see her in the national team picture shortly.

   
   

   Tiernan: She has 8 goals and an assist as the only stable part of the arguably the most unstable team from a weekly lineup perspective in the league. She's a tireless worker and has gotten better in buildup as the season has gone on. I might argue that she's actually become a better overall player, even as the goals have dried up a tad.

   
   

   Armstrong: She's a 17 year old who has started a majority of games at CB for the team with the third best defense by xGA in the league. That's ABSURD. It's not something we've ever seen before. I'm still not sure people fully appreciate how nuts this is.

   
   

   I went with Dahlien in part because she has the stats to back it up (seven goal contributions on the year), but mostly because she jumps off the screen more than any other rookie when I watch her. In a Seattle team devoid of creative outlets or any real attacking impetus on most nights, Dahlien had a massive burden to carry while playing multiple positions over the course of the season. The fact that Dahlien managed even seven goal contributions for the worst offensive team in the league as a rookie is a minor miracle. I promise this doesn't mean I hate Riley Tiernan, people. She's awesome too.

   
   

3. Midfielder of the Year

   (1) Kenza Dali

   (2) Manaka Matsukubo

   (3) Olivia Moultrie

   
   

   Dali gets this one relatively comfortably for me. A list of statistical categories Dali leads the league in in 2025:

   - Touches (she not only has nearly 100 more than the next closest player, she is the only non-defender in the top ten).

   - Progressive carries (the only non pure-attacking player in the top ten)

   - Progressive carrying distance (once again, the only non defender in the top ten)

   - Progressive passes

   - Passes into the penalty area (19 more than second place Moultrie)

   - Expected assists

   
   

   I actually don't think it's been discussed enough how good Dali has been. An absolutely ELITE midfield player who is the only player to play as a 6, an 8, and a 10 over the course of the season, often doing it all in the same match. She almost certainly has the single highest usage rate in the league (again, someone pls invent a soccer usage rate stat!)

   
   

   I did, admittedly, lean a little attacking here.....which is both against my brand and probably unfair to a few deserving sixes. Both Taylor Flint and Jaelin Howell could easily be on this list.

   
   

4. Defender of the Year

   (1) Kayla Sharples

   (2) Tara McKeown

   (3) Emily Sonnet

   
   

   It's been an absolutely spectacular year for Sharples, who has been the rock at the heart of KC's league best defense and played a full 90 in 21 of 22 games. Special mention goes to Tara the Explorer and Sonnet, who has gone from a talented but slightly mistake-prone CB during her time in Portland to an absolute stud at the heart of the second best defense in the league in Gotham.

   
   

   (You know who could use Sharples, by the way? Bay FC!)

   
   

5. Goalkeeper of the Year

   (1) Claudia Dickey

   (2) Aubrey Kingsbury

   (3) Jordyn Bloomer

   
   

   Dickey and Kingsbury have nearly identical underlying metrics (+8.6 psxG +/- for Kingsbury vs. 8.4 for Dickey), so I went with my gut.....which is that I feel like there's been ten games I've watched where Dickey has saved Seattle's asses with incredible saves. GK quality is hard to measure purely with stats because of how many factors go into GK metrics, and Dickey is the best keeper I've watched in NWSL this season. So she gets the nod.

   
   

6. Coach of the Year

   (1) Vlatko Andonovski

   (2) Jonas Eidevall

   (3) Bev Yanez

   
   

   I usually like giving my vote to coaches that overachieve with fewer resources, but it's pretty damn impossible to ignore what Vlatko's done with a KC side which, while extremely talented in attack, does not have a backline full of stars and still put up the best defensive season in NWSL history. Yes, KC has an excellent midfield and a loaded attack led by the runaway MVP, but one does not simply concede seven fewer goals than the second best defense and score seven more goals than the second best offense without being excellently coached. Eidevall certainly deserves credit for how well structured he's got this Wave team looking one season in, but he (and his front office) have some work to do to ensure this doesn't turn into a Sean Nahas Courage situation down the line. I've spoken a lot about Yanez and teams have started to figure out Louisville's press with more consistency over the last month or so, but I really like what she's done this year in terms of leaning into a physical, high energy identity despite the lack of pure talent.

   
   

7. NWSL First Team (4-2-3-1)

   GK: Claudia Dickey

   Defense: Lilly Reale (LB), Kayla Sharples (CB), Tara McKeown (CB), Avery Patterson (RB)

   Midfield: Taylor Flint (6), Kenza Dali (8), Manaka Matsukubo (10)

   Front Line: Temwa Chawinga (LW), Esther Gonzalez (ST), Ludmila (RW)

   
   

   Comments:

   - Very close between Flint and Howell for the first team six spot. I went with Flint simply because of how much Louisville's entire structure is built around her, but you can't go wrong either way.

   - Very clear front three for me this year with Banda juuuust ineligible minutes-wise.

   - LB was a HARD choice. I went with Reale because I think she's a better pure defender than Izzy Rodriguez and the FB spots on All-NWSL teams too often go to the best attackers instead of the best defenders. No shade to Rodriguez, who is a good defender in her own right, and is one of the best pure crossers of the ball in the entire league.

   
   

8. NWSL Second Team (4-2-3-1)

   GK: Aubrey Kingsbury

   Defense: Izzy Rodriguez (LB), Emily Sams (CB), Emily Sonett (CB), Hanna Lundkvist (RB)

   Midfield: Jaelin Howell (6), Sam Coffey (8), Olivia Moultrie (10)

   Front Line: Emma Sears (LW) Bia Zaneratto (ST) Delphine Cascarino (RW)

   
   

   Comments:

   - Cheating just a little bit with Sears on the left, but c'est la vie.

   - Same with Coffey at the 8, but the Thorns have essentially played with two eights for most of the season, so it's far from egregious. See what she did (not for the first time) for Portland's first goal on Saturday night.

   - Lundkvist might surprise some people, but I've been really impressed by the meaningful leap she's taken this season. Her improvements both defensively and on the ball have been significant, going from a bit of an empty calories hacker to more of a pure physical defender.

   - Close between Mina Tanaka and Moultrie.

   - Very close between Kundananji and Bia.

   - There might be some who don't think Sams deserves to be here, but she's had a mostly excellent season despite Orlando's struggles.

   - I know I'm going to get pushback for omitting Perle Morroni entirely....but I'm going Rodriguez if we're choosing between offensive-minded left backs.

   
   

9. Five Players who just missed out

   (1) Rachael Kundananji

   (2) Yaz Ryan

   (3) Savannah McKaskill

   (4) Sam Meza

   (5) Mina Tanaka

   
   

   ........plus another five cause I can't help myself:

   (6) Sam Staab

   (7) Claire Hutton

   (8) Perle Morroni

   (9) Riley Jackson

   (10) Gabrielle Carle

   
   

10. Five (six) players that might have made an All-NWSL team, but didn't play enough

    (1) Rose Lavelle

    (2) Barbra Banda

    (3) Kaleigh Riehl

    (4) Gisele Thompson

    (5) Debinha

    (6) Croix Bethune

    
    

    Lavelle and Banda would unquestionably have made one of the two All-NWSL teams if eligible, and Utah's late-season defensive resurgence has coincided directly with Riehl's return. Debinha would also have an argument, but the list of really high level NWSL tens is so long, I'm not sure she makes it even if they did reach the minutes threshold.

So there it is! Yell at me if I missed someone obvious.