NEW YORK (November 10, 2025) – The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) today announced the finalists for the 2025 NWSL Awards, including Most Valuable Player, presented AT&T, Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, presented by e.l.f., Midfielder of the Year, Rookie of the Year presented by Ally, and Coach of the Year.
New this year, the inaugural NWSL Awards, presented by AT&T, will be broadcast live on ESPN2 from San Jose on Wednesday, November 19, honoring the league’s top players, coaches and performances of the season in a special event held ahead of the 2025 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel.
The 2025 NWSL Awards are voted upon in two rounds, with fans having the opportunity to participate in the final round of the voting process. The final round will also include voting for the 2025 NWSL Best XI, presented by Amazon Prime, celebrating a first and second team representing the top 22 players in the league.
Fans wishing to vote on the individual award winners, Best XI First Team and Best XI Second Team can access the voting ballot here.
All votes must be submitted by Wednesday, November 12, at 8 p.m. ET.
In the preliminary round of voting, players, owners, general managers, coaches and the media voted on individual awards to determine the finalists. The preliminary round used a weighted scale, broken down by players (50%), owners/GMs/coaches (25%) and media (25%).
The finalists for 2025 NWSL Awards are below:
Most Valuable Player, presented by AT&T: Delphine Cascarino (SD), Temwa Chawinga (KC), Esther González (GFC), Manaka Matsukubo (NC), Bia Zaneratto (KC)
Defender of the Year: Jordyn Bugg (SEA), Tara McKeown (WAS), Avery Patterson (HOU), Izzy Rodriguez (KC), Kayla Sharples (KC)
Goalkeeper of the Year, presented by e.l.f.: Ann-Katrin Berger (GFC), Claudia Dickey (SEA), Lorena (KC)
Midfielder of the Year: Kenza Dali (SD), Debinha (KC), Claire Hutton (KC), Manaka Matsukubo (NC), Olivia Moultrie (POR)
Rookie of the Year, presented by Ally: Maddie Dahlien (SEA), Lilly Reale (GFC), Riley Tiernan (LA)
Coach of the Year: Vlatko Andonovski (KC), Adrian Gonzalez (WAS), Beverly Yanez (LOU)
The final round of voting uses a weighted scale of players (40%), owners/GMs/coaches (25%), media (25%) and fans (10%).
All end-of-year accolades will be announced live at the 2025 NWSL Awards, presented by AT&T. In addition, the winner of the Lauren Holiday Impact Award, presented by Nationwide, will also be announced. Kansas City midfielder Claire Hutton was named the LHIA Fan Impact Challenge winner earlier this season.
The league will also honor the NWSL Championship MVP during a post-match presentation following the conclusion of Saturday’s match.
The 2025 NWSL Championship, presented by Google Pixel, set for Saturday, November 22, kicks off at 8 p.m. ET at PayPal Park in San Jose, California, and will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
For more information on the NWSL Championship, or to purchase tickets to the match, click here.