Results: San Diego Wave FC 2022 season awards

Well then! As we finish up the inaugural 2022 season for San Diego Wave FC it’s time we close out the year with the results of the inaugural end-of-season honors votes we have here at LAG Confidential. Votes are tallied and the results are in, and wow.

Usually, we have several categories to vote on, but the results of the others seemed fairly clear given Wave FC all but cleared out the NWSL league awards in 2022. However, we did want to know who deserved MVP honor, and it appears all of you had just as hard of a time deciding as the rest of us. Firstly, we have to give flowers to Naomi Girma who had arguably, one of the best rookie seasons the NWSL has ever seen. Taking home both NWSL Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year was huge for the number one pick overall. She also worked to all but cement her spot on the USWNT squad, as she sets her eyes on her first World Cup appearance.

As for this poll though, Girma finished third with 28% of the vote. Both Kailen Sheridan and Alex Morgan finished with 36% of the votes each, making this a draw! That’s right, these players had such standout seasons that even you all had a hard time deciding on who was best. Hard to be mad at those results considering the incredible seasons both of these players had. Alex Morgan finished the year with the Golden Boot, and more times than not was the reason her side pulled off dramatic wins.

On the other side, Sheridan was an absolute brick wall. If Morgan was the reason the team won, Sheridan was the reason they didn't lose, if that makes sense. She didn't give up sloppy goals, or make mistakes to put her squad in bad positions. She also had a handful of crucial penalty saves in 2022. She is more than deserving of 2022 MVP Honors.

More than anything, this vote shows just how deep San Diego are as a team. The real scary part is this team is just getting started. They will have another offseason to build chemistry, and will come into 2023 with a ton of priceless playoff experience. Not to mention a lot of their young talent has also spent time with the National Team, this is a squad that is definitely setting itself up for a very successful future. Now, the team will work to build on their massive success from last year, as they look to bring home that first championship much earlier than many expected.

We here at LAG Confidential would like to thank you all for reading and for your support! We wish you all a very happy and safe New Years, and look forward to doing it all again in 2023!