Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan has earned her first ever Player of the Month honors of her NWSL career, after scoring seven goals and tallying two assists during August. Morgan was involved in nine of the Pride’s 13 goals, as the club went undefeated in August with a 4-0-1 record. According to Opta, Morgan finished […]

Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan has earned her first ever Player of the Month honors of her NWSL career, after scoring seven goals and tallying two assists during August. Morgan was involved in nine of the Pride’s 13 goals, as the club went undefeated in August with a 4-0-1 record. According to Opta, Morgan finished the month with 13 shots on goal, nine key passes, and created 11 chances.She scored a goal on 54% of her shots on goal in August, and at a rate of 61.4 minutes per goal. [Youtube oembed has failed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2czgSEYG6Rk] Morgan has scored the game-winning goal for Orlando in each of the last three games — a new record for the NWSL. She also scored in all five games in August, and can match the record of six consecutive goals scores, currently owned by former Seattle Reign FC midfielder Kim Little and set in 2014. (Abby Wambach also scored in six consecutive matches played in 2013, but missed two games during her streak to play with the U.S. national team.) Morgan’s month kicked off on August 5, when she scored the only goal for the Pride in a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Red Stars. That match, she also led the team in winning duels with a 87.5% success rate, and winning every aerial duel with a 6-for-6 record. Three days later, she scored a goal and provided an assist to Marta in the 3-0 win over the Washington Spirit. On August 12, Morgan had her best game of the month in the 5-0 win over Sky Blue FC, scoring a brace and adding another assist on a Marta goal. In that game, she finished with four shots on target, three key passes and four chances created. A week later, Morgan tallied another brace as she helped the Pride to a 2-1 win in Boston against the Breakers. Finally, she scored her last game-winning goal against FC Kansas City on August 26. That goal, scored in the 87th minute, was a nifty flick past Blues goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart off a Marta free kick. The Pride reaped the benefits from Morgan’s August — it’s the first time the club has ever gone undefeated in a calendar month. Back on August 1, the Pride were five points out of the playoffs in seventh, and they enter the final month of the regular season now with a three-point cushion in fourth on the table. This is the first time an Orlando Pride player has won Player of the Month. Previously, Morgan won Player of the Week honors in 2014 while with Portland Thorns FC. The NWSL Player of the Month is selected each month of the regular season by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis. For more information on the NWSL Media Association, follow them on Twitter.