National Women's Soccer League MVP Sophia Smith was voted the 2022 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, the sport's governing body said on Friday, after scoring 11 goals for the national team last year.
TFW @beckysauerbrunn crashes your Zoom to break the Player of the Year news
Congrats @sophsssmith! pic.twitter.com/YzdbEUPm4O
FBref.com last week published a map of its most-viewed soccer teams by state in 2022 and the results show the incredibly varied interests across the United States.
Across the 50 states there were teams represented from the English Premier League, MLS, La Liga, USL, NWSL, the EFL Championship, the English fifth-tier National League – and the U.S. national team.
“There were definitely some surprises,” Jonah Gardner, product marketing manager for FBref, told The18 in an email.
Olivia Moultrie is the youngest NWSL champion in history. The 17-year-old phenom and the Portland Thorns defeated the KC Current 2-0 on Sunday to win the club’s third NWSL Championship.
Moultrie came into the game as a substitute in the final minute to become the youngest ever player to appear in the NWSL Championship.
The Portland Thorns defeated the KC Current 2-0 in front of 17,624 fans at Audi Field in the nation’s capital on Saturday to win the club’s third NWSL Championship. Sophia Smith, the National Women’s Soccer League MVP, led her team to victory scoring the first and being involved in the second.
It was a momentous game for the league as the Championship game was CBS showed the game on national television during primetime for the first time in history.
2022 is the year of Sophia Smith.
Portland Thorns striker Sophia Smith was named the National Women's Soccer League's (NWSL) Most Valuable Player on Thursday, becoming the youngest to earn the regular-season honor days before their championship match against Kansas City.
The 22-year-old scored a club record 14 goals in 18 appearances, the second highest tally this season behind San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan (16), and three assists to help the Thorns to a second consecutive postseason appearance.
The Portland Thorns clinched a spot in next Saturday's NWSL Championship by eliminating the San Diego Wave 2-1 in today's semifinal at Providence Park with sensational goals from Rocky Rodríguez and Crystal Dunn overcoming Taylor Kornieck's opener.
The expansion Wave took the lead in the eighth-minute when Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan turned provider with Kornieck finishing from close range.
Merritt Paulson, the CEO of the Portland Thorns and their Major League Soccer counterparts, the Timbers, said he was removing himself effective immediately, following a report that detailed abuse in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
Statement From Merritt Paulson
England and the United States will come together to show their support for the victims of the abuse scandal that has rocked the U.S. National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) when the countries meet in a friendly on Friday, Lionesses forward Beth Mead said.
An independent investigation this week showed abuse and misconduct "had become systemic" in the American top-flight and that the league, teams and governing body U.S. Soccer failed to adequately protect players.
The NWSL playoff picture became a little clearer Wednesday after four results brought every team to 20 matches played in the 22-game regular season. However, there's still everything to play for with the distance between first-place and sixth-place (the final playoff position) just five points.
Alex Morgan's San Diego Wave had been leading the NWSL Shield race for a majority of the season, but the Portland Thorns took pole position last night, and clinched a spot in the playoffs, after a 3-0 hammering of already eliminated Racing Louisville.
Sophia Smith called out NWSL’s continuously awful officiating on Tuesday after the referees missed a clear foul on her in the Portland Thorns’ game vs. Kansas City Current game from Sunday. In the second half of Sunday’s game Smith was taken down in the box with a dangerous tackle from behind.
No foul was called, and one Twitter user posted the highlight asking how nothing was given from the referee. Smith responded, too.
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