Making the Case: Olivia Moultrie for Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year

Following a whirlwind 2022 in which she represented the U.S. Under-20 Women’s Youth National Team at two championship events and helped the Portland Thorns to an NWSL championship, midfielder Olivia Moultrie has been nominated for the 2022 Chipotle U.S. Young Female Player of the Year award.

As the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team programming returned from its COVID-imposed hiatus, the criteria to be eligible for the 2022 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year returned: any player who played at least one full international match for any of the USA’s Women’s Youth National Teams is eligible for the award. With two Concacaf qualifying tournaments and both the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women’s World Cups held in 2022, several excellent candidates emerged. Players can win the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Award only once.

• READ MORE: 2022 Young Female Player of the Year Nominees

While nominees for all awards are selected by U.S. Soccer’s technical staff, fans will once again have the opportunity to vote on select Player of the Year Awards, with the fan vote comprising 15% of the total vote. Voting for the awards starts Thursday, Dec. 15 at 11:00 a.m. ET and closes on Dec. 22 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced in the weeks that follow.

 

• VOTE NOW: Fan Voting for Player of the Year Awards
  
  

Making the Case for Olivia Moultrie for U.S. Soccer Chipotle Young Female Player of the Year:

• Moultrie, who was age-eligible to play in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, was one of the USA’s most consistent players at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica where she started all three games in the midfield, showed savvy and professionalism beyond her years, and had one assist.

• In the USA’s qualifying campaign at the 2022 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship, Moultrie started five matches and had two goals and one assist as the USA outscored its opposition 49-0 en route to winning the tournament.

• She finished the year with 10 U-20 caps, which included playing in her first FIFA youth World Cup.

• Moultrie, who holds a place in history as the youngest player to play in the National Women’s Soccer League, helped the Thorns win the NWSL Championship this year and coming on late in the championship game against the Kansas City Current.

• The now 17-year-old midfielder played 708 minutes over 15 matches for PTFC this season, starting eight of them, and had three goals and four assists.

• Moultrie’s goal on June 12 against the Houston Dash made her the youngest goal-scorer in NWSL history, scoring at 16 years and eight months of age.

 

This is Moultrie’s first nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.