Abby Smith was nominated for NWSL save of the week in week six, alongside Nicole Barnhart, Alyssa Naeher and Haley Kopmeyer. Smith won for her 24th minute leaping parry to keep Nadia Nadim’s strike out of the net.
You can see all of the save nominees below:
That wasn’t Smith’s only crucial stop of the game. She also had a huge block in the 74’ when Lindsey Horan blasted the ball at goal and Smith was quick to parry the ball up, catching it on the way back down.
Smith has been like this for most of the season thus far - not just the big stops, although she’s shown she’s capable of making those, but the “simple” catches and smothers that came about because she was in the right place at the right time.