Let me state for openers, that the MVP should be whoever got the games played at Red Bull Arena. 'nuff said.
These awards were voted upon by teamates and coaches, including Newcomer of the Year, Defender of the Year, Unsung Hero, MVP & True Grit.
Newcomer of the Year: Paige Monaghan, with 20 starts out of her 23 games, this rookie had 1,759 minutes. Her first goals came as a brace facing the #2 team in the league, Chicago Red Stars in a 2-1 win, July 7.
Defender of the Year: Erica Skroski: Started 24 games, team tops in clearances with 85, 46 interceptions & 20 blocks, all good for top 5 in clearances, interceptions & blocks league wide.
Unsung Hero of the Year:Sarah Killion, fitting, as she was the captain. Only Sarah played every minute of the 24 games this season. A tremendous link from her midfield position, dishing out 1,106 passes with a success rate of 82.7% and tops in chances created with 35. Her sole goal was a pk to go with a trio of assists.
MVP & Player's Player of the Year: World Cup Champion Carli Lloyd of NJ garnered this award. Over 14 games, she played all 90 minutes. The leading goal getter in so few games with 8 to go with 1 assist. Over her last 6 games, Carli struck for 6 goals, including the winner against the Dash and at Red Bull with a tremendous header v the Reign and her current WNT coach.
True Grit: This interesting one, denotes the essence of a Sky Blue player. GK Kailen Sheridan takes it this year. She is like a folk hero to the supporters as evidenced by her 86 saves and 3 shutouts over 19 games. A stellar 77% save pct. with 20 big chances saved. She shared both the total saves and pct. lead in the NWSL with her counterpart from the Spirit, Aubrey Bledsoe. Kailen's work was acknowledged with nods to the NWSL Team of the Month in April & July. Over the 2019 season, she had the Save of the Week thrice over. Sheridan is a finalist for 2019 GK of the Year.