Even though it may not be a complete surprise, especially to those of us who've watched her all season long, the NWSL announced today that San Diego Wave FC defender, Naomi Girma, was named both Rookie of the Year and Defender of the Year for the 2022 campaign. It's both the first and second-ever award for the rookie out of Stanford, who had a season that will go down as one of the best rookie seasons the NWSL has ever seen.
Girma is the first NWSL rookie ever to win two awards to kick off a career, and to do so as a defender is no small feat.