Three members of San Diego Wave FC are finalists for the 2023 NWSL Awards, with defender Naomi Girma up for two awards for the second straight year.
Girma is a candidate for Most Valuable Player and Defender of the Year. She won the latter award a year ago, when she also was voted Rookie of the Year. The 23-year-old was the No. 1 overall choice in the 2022 NWSL Draft.
The Wave’s Casey Stoney, who was named Coach of the Year in 2022 and this season led her team to the league’s top regular-season record, is a finalist along with Juan Carlos Amoros of Gotham FC and Becki Tweed, who took over in June as Angel City’s interim coach and led the club to the playoffs.
And, the Wave’s Kailen Sheridan, the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year in 2022, again is a finalist along with Jane Campbell of Houston and Racing Louisville’s Katie Lund (LOU).
In addition to Girma, other candidates for MVP are last year’s winner, Sophia Smith, along with her Portland teammate Sam Coffey, Debinha of Kansas City and North Carolina’s Kerolin.
The other finalists for top defender are Sarah Gorden of Angel City, Ali Krieger of Gotham FC, North Carolina’s Kaleigh Kurtz and Washington’s Sam Staab.
Voting for the awards takes place over two rounds, with fans having the opportunity to participate in the final round of the voting process through 9 a.m. Friday at NWSL.com. The final round of voting uses a weighted scale of players (40 percent), owners/GMs/coaches (25 percent), media (25 percent) and fans (10 percent).
After receiving a first-round bye, the Wave will host OL Reign in a semifinal playoff game Nov. 5 at Snapdragon Stadium. The final is scheduled for Nov. 11 at the same site.
