Carli Lloyd Wins Her Second Player of the Year Award
Soccer News: Houston Dash Midfielder Carli Lloyd has been voted the 2015 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year, with the announcement taking place live on FOX Sports 1’s pre-game coverage of the USA’s final Victory Tour match against China PR.
The Golden Ball winner at the top player at the 2015 Women’s World Cup rocked the soccer world when she scored the fastest goal in World Cup Final history, giving the USA at 1-0 lead just two minutes and 34 seconds into the match.
She also became the first female player to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final, getting all four goals in a 16-minute span. Lloyd also won the Silver Boot as the second leading scorer at the Women’s World Cup, where her knock-out round performance was the stuff of legend as she scored in all four elimination games and ended the tournament with six goals total. She also assisted on the clinching goal in the 2-0 semifinal victory against Germany, setting up Kelley O’Hara.
Her legendary strike from midfield that capped her hat trick was voted Goal of the Tournament and was up for FIFA Goal of the Year.
Lloyd is far and away the leader in goals for the USA in 2015 with 18, a career high for her in a calendar year and breaking her own record of 15 scored in 2012. She also has five assists and is second on the team in minutes played with 1,983, having started 23 of the 25 matches she’s played for the USA this year.
Lloyd opened her scoring account in March in the opening game of the Algarve Cup in Portugal when brought the USA from behind with two goals to win 2-1 against Norway. In club play, she was one of the dominant players for the Houston Dash and was named to the NWSL Second XI after scoring four goals in 12 matches.
“It an absolute honor to be named the U.S. Soccer player of the Year, but when you look at the players nominated this year, it’s obvious that all of them were deserving of the award,” said Lloyd. “I want to thank everyone who voted for me, but more so everyone who supported the team this year, especially at the World Cup, as playing in front of those crowds in Canada was a special experience for all of us. Of course, I’m so thankful to my amazing teammates and coaches. We all know any individual award is a product of the team and I’m so proud of how everyone stepped up this year. It took all 23 players and support staff to win the World Cup and it was just fantastic to be a part of it all.”
A new voting process was put in place starting last year. Votes will be collected from National Team coaches and staff, WNT players who have earned a cap in 2015, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer’s Athlete Council, National Women’s Soccer League coaches, select college head coaches and select media members.
Lloyd received 59 percent of the votes while Becky Sauerbrunn finished second.
This is Lloyd’s second U.S. Soccer Player of the Year award as she was previously honored in 2008. The seven years is the third-longest time span between awards for any player who has won it multiple times. Michelle Akers, who won it three times, won it in 1991 and 1999. Kristine Lilly, who also won it three times, was awarded in 1993 and again in 2005 and 2006.
The U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year has been awarded since 1985, when midfielder Sharon Remer earned the first Female Athlete of the Year honor.
