Lindsey Horan named NWSL MVP

Portland Thorns FC and USWNT midfielder Lindsey Horan has been named NWSL MVP for the 2018 season. Horan was one of five MVP finalists, including Megan Rapinoe, Sam Kerr, McCall Zerboni, and Lynn Williams. The award caps off a tremendous regular season for Horan, who was instrumental in helping to guide the Thorns to NWSL playoffs.

Horan started and played 23 games for the Thorns this season for a combined 2,070 minutes. She had 14 goals and three assists in the regular season, scoring seven of them with her head, for a rate of one goal every 148 minutes. Horan was the engine driving the Thorns offense, tirelessly working every game box to box, orchestrating a lot of the team’s forward movement in the attacking half, as well as passing out of deep and then adding to numbers forward herself.

Horan is probably most known for being an aerial threat in the box; she has the ability to get over defenders, no matter how many of them are around her.

But she can also pick up the ball and shoot from distance, as she did in the Thorns’ semifinal against Seattle.

All eyes will once again turn to Horan as the Thorns take on the North Carolina Courage in the 2018 NWSL championship game on Saturday. With the Courage down McCall Zerboni, they’ve had to work a little harder and be willing to absorb a little more pressure before springing their pressure on opponents, as they did against Chicago. We’ll see how that plays out with a full-strength and better-rested Thorns midfield.

Portland Thorns vs North Carolina Courage
Saturday, September 22
4:30 PM ET / 1:30 PM PT
Lifetime