Is This The Year A Goalkeeper Wins League MVP?
With the final bit of the NWSL season approaching quickly, the end-of-the-year awards start to creep up too. The awards include the Golden Boot, Most Valuable Player, Defender of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Teams of the Year. Most Valuable Player is the biggest of the seven honors given. A goalkeeper has never won the award, but is this the year that could change?
Since the league began in 2013, all but one player who has won MVP has also won the Golden Boot in the same year. The goalscorers are the players that get most of the attention, with other positions overlooked each season.
For example, Sam Kerr won the MVP award in 2017 and 2019 and the Golden Boot, the award for most goals, in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Kerr scored 17, 16, and 18 goals in those respective seasons, which are no doubt incredible, record-breaking accomplishments.
Yet, this year there have been some amazing goalkeeping from Ashlyn Harris, Michelle Betos, AD Franch, and Casey Murphy. Michelle Betos won Goalkeeper of the Year in 2015, Ashlyn Harris in 2016, and AD Franch in 2017 and 2018.
Many players are deserving of earning these honors, but Casey Murphy can’t be overlooked. The goalkeeper position is overlooked quite a bit at times. The old saying is that defense wins championships, so if North Carolina is in the running for the title, then Murphy’s form cannot be passed by. Murphy has been the glue for this North Carolina Courage team. Her play between the posts has been a massive key to the Courage picking up points and staying in playoff contention.
The goalkeeper position was one that the Courage needed to improve on coming into the 2021 season, and the addition of Murphy has been huge for them.
So far this season, Murphy has 18 starts and ten clean sheets. Her ten clean sheets are the most in the league, with the next closest keeper having six. Since 2017, no goalkeeper has had more than ten clean sheets. With five games still in the regular season, Murphy could add a few more to her name.
She’s got 13 goals conceded but has made 78 saves giving her an 85.7% save success rate. Her 78 saves are second-most in the league, only behind Michelle Betos.
It’s not just the MVP award that Casey Murphy should be considered for; it’s also the USWNT. A long-standing issue with the USWNT is not developing younger players in the goalkeeper position. They could use someone like Murphy in the fold. If NWSL form plays a major role in USWNT selection, we should see Murphy called into camp again soon.
Featured image via @TheNCCourage on Twitter
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