Sam Kerr is the NWSL player of the month for May and now June. (Jeffrey Auger Photo)

TINTON FALLS, N.J. – She did it again.

For the second consecutive month, Sky Blue FC forward Sam Kerr has been named the National Women’s Soccer League player of the month by the NWSL Media Association.

Kerr, 23, became the second player in league history to be voted the player of the month in consecutive months as she joins former Seattle Reign midfielder Kim Little as the only player to accomplish the feat.

The Australia international accrued three goals and an assist in the month and became the third player in NWSL history to reach the 30-goal milestone. She stands with five goals on the year and 31 goals in her career – only two behind North Carolina Courage forward Jessica McDonald for No. 1 on the all-time NWSL scoring list.

“It is great news to hear that Sam has won player of the month in back-to-back months,” Sky Blue head coach Christy Holly said. “This is fantastic recognition for all of the hard work and tremendous drive that she shows our team. Sam is constantly improving her own game as well as those players around her, and we are excited to see the next stage of her development within Sky Blue FC.”

The Freemantle, Australia native scored the 29th and 30th goals of her league career to lead the Sky Blue FC to a 3-1 road victory over the Portland Thorns June 17. The first tally – and eventual game-winning goal – came in the 70th minute when she beat the offside trap and ran onto a header from Maya Hayes and broke in on goal before she sidestepped goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and slotted home.

Kerr registered her second goal of the night against the Thorns in the 88th minute when found herself one-on-one with Franch for a second time as she sprinted into the path of a through ball from Madison Tiernan and once again slipped past the Portland net minder and buried the ball in the back of the net.

In addition to her goals, Kerr was involved in NWSL history that day as she assisted on the goal by Raquel Rodriguez 24 seconds into the match against the Thorns – the fastest ever goal in the league.

Kerr is the only player in league history to score at least 15 goals for two different clubs in the NWSL – having already scored 15 times for the Western New York Flash before she arrived at Sky Blue FC in 2015. On June 28, she eclipsed the total with her 16th career goal for Sky Blue FC with her tally in the 46th minute of a 3-2 home loss to the Orlando Pride.

It is the third time Kerr has been honored as the NWSL Player of the Month and the fifth time a Sky Blue FC player earned the accolade – following in the footsteps of Brittany Cameron (May 2013), Monica Ocampo (August 2013) and Nadia Nadim (August 2014) and herself (May 2017).

Sky Blue FC will return to action in the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime Saturday, July 1 at 3:30 p.m. ET against the North Carolina Courage at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

The NWSL player of the month is selected each week of the regular season by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.