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NWSL Defender of the Year

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2024 winner Emily Sams

The NWSL Defender of the Year award is presented annually to the best defensive player in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Becky Sauerbrunn won the first three Defender of the Year awards from 2013 to 2015 and added her fourth in 2019. The most recent winner is Emily Sams (2024).

As of 2024, the NWSL's individual end-of-year awards are voted upon in two rounds: in the first round, players (50%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), and media (25%) vote to determine the nominees; in the second round, players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), media (25%), and fans (10%) vote among the nominees to determine the winner.[1]

Winners

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Season Player Nationality Club Other finalists Ref.
2013 Becky Sauerbrunn  United States FC Kansas City Christie Rampone, Leigh Ann Robinson [2]
2014 Becky Sauerbrunn (2)  United States FC Kansas City Ali Krieger, Julie Johnston [3]
2015 Becky Sauerbrunn (3)  United States FC Kansas City Lauren Barnes, Kendall Fletcher, Julie Johnston, Amy LePeilbet [4]
2016 Lauren Barnes  United States Seattle Reign FC Arin Gilliland, Julie Johnston, Emily Menges, Becky Sauerbrunn [5]
2017 Abby Dahlkemper  United States North Carolina Courage Steph Catley, Ali Krieger, Becky Sauerbrunn, Casey Short [6]
2018 Abby Erceg  New Zealand North Carolina Courage Abby Dahlkemper, Julie Ertz, Becky Sauerbrunn, Emily Sonnett [7]
2019 Becky Sauerbrunn (4)  United States Utah Royals FC Casey Short, Lauren Barnes, Abby Erceg, Jaelene Hinkle [8]
2021 Caprice Dydasco  United States NJ/NY Gotham FC Sarah Gorden, Emily Menges, Carson Pickett, Alana Cook [9]
2022 Naomi Girma  United States San Diego Wave FC Alana Cook, Sofia Huerta, Carson Pickett, Becky Sauerbrunn [10]
2023 Naomi Girma (2)  United States San Diego Wave FC Sarah Gorden, Ali Krieger, Kaleigh Kurtz, Sam Staab [11]
2024 Emily Sams  United States Orlando Pride Kaleigh Kurtz, Tara McKeown, Naomi Girma, Kylie Strom [12]

Wins by team

[edit]
Club Wins
FC Kansas City 3
North Carolina Courage 2
San Diego Wave FC 2
NJ/NY Gotham FC 1
Orlando Pride 1
Seattle Reign FC 1
Utah Royals 1

Wins by nationality

[edit]
Nationality Wins
 United States 10
 New Zealand 1

See also

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "National Women's Soccer League Announces 2024 NWSL Award Finalists, Opens Fan Voting Round". National Women's Soccer League. November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 19, 2024.
  2. ^ McDowell, Sam (August 22, 2013). "FC Kansas City's Becky Sauerbrunn is NWSL's defender of the year". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
    "Becky Sauerbrunn Wins NWSL Defender of the Year". FC Kansas City. August 21, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  3. ^ "Sauerbrunn named best NWSL defender for 2nd straight year". The Equalizer. August 26, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  4. ^ "Sauerbrunn wins 3rd straight Defender of Year award". The Equalizer. September 21, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
    Flatness, Eric (September 9, 2015). "2015 NWSL Awards have arrived". Reign FC. Retrieved July 25, 2024 – via Medium.
  5. ^ "Barnes ends Sauerbrunn's run as top NWSL defender". The Equalizer. October 5, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  6. ^ "2017 NWSL Defender of the Year: Abby Dahlkemper". The Equalizer. October 19, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
    "2017 NWSL Awards Finalists Revealed". National Women's Soccer League. October 5, 2017. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  7. ^ Balf, Celia (September 27, 2018). "Defender of the Year: Abby Erceg, North Carolina Courage". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  8. ^ Levine, Matthew (October 30, 2019). "Utah Royals FC defender Becky Sauerbrunn named 2019 NWSL Defender of the Year". National Women's Soccer League. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019.
  9. ^ Hruby, Emma (November 16, 2021). "Gotham FC's Caprice Dydasco Named NWSL Defender of the Year". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Lauletta, Dan (October 27, 2022). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Defender of the Year". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  11. ^ Hruby, Emma (November 8, 2023). "Naomi Girma Wins NWSL Defender of the Year in Back-to-Back Seasons". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  12. ^ "Orlando Pride defender Emily Sams named 2024 NWSL Defender of the Year" (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
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