Sam Kerr had plenty of reasons to celebrate goals and win the NWSL Golden Boot again. (Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports)

CHICAGO – Chicago Red Stars forward Sam Kerr is as the winner of 2018 NWSL Golden Boot, which awarded to the player with the most goals during the regular season.

Kerr, 24, became the first player in league history to capture the award in back-to-back seasons after finishing with 16 goals in 19 appearances despite missing the first month of the season at the Asian Cup. She also added four assists, which was tied for fifth in the league.

The Freemantle, Australia native had at least a goal in four consecutive games from Aug. 18 – Sept. 8, scoring six goals to end the 2018 campaign. She scored against all eight other teams in the league this season, with her four goals against the Orlando Pride and Sky Blue FC the most against any opponent.

Kerr scored all but one goal from inside the box while finishing 11 goals with her right foot and five goals with the head. She also registered two or more goals in four games, including a hat-trick against Sky Blue FC July 7.

The striker was voted the player of the week in Week 15 and 22 and the player of the month in August as well as being named to the team of the month in July and August.

Kerr joined a distinguish group of past winners including Lauren Holiday (12 goals – 2013), Kim Little (16 goals – 2014), Crystal Dunn (15 goals – 2015) and Lynn Williams (11 goals – 2016) and Kerr (17 goals – 2017).

The Red Stars face off against the North Carolina Courage in the semifinals of the 2018 NWSL Playoffs at Sahlen’s Stadium in Cary, N.C. Sunday, Sept. 16 at 3 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

See below for a complete log of Kerr’s goals in the 2018 NWSL season:

Goal

Date

Opponent

Min

Assist

Result

1

5/6/2018

North Carolina Courage

37

Unassisted

D 1-1

2

5/12/2018

Houston Dash

20

Arin Gilliland

D 2-2

3

5/26/2018

Orlando Pride

21

Yuki Nagasato

L 2-5

4

5/26/2018

Orlando Pride

60

Yuki Nagasato

L 2-5

5

6/2/2018

Washington Spirit

25

Unassisted

W 2-0

6

7/7/2018

Sky Blue FC

40

Alyssa Mautz

W 3-1

7

7/7/2018

Sky Blue FC

46

Yuki Nagasato

W 3-1

8

7/7/2018

Sky Blue FC

63

Yuki Nagasato

W 3-1

9

7/14/2018

Seattle Reign FC

87

Yuki Nagasato

W 1-0

10

8/10/2018

North Carolina Courage

64

Vanessa DiBernardo

D 1-1

11

8/18/2018

Portland Thorns FC

44

Yuki Nagasato

D 2-2

12

8/18/2018

Portland Thorns FC

49

Vanessa DiBernardo

D 2-2

13

8/25/2018

Orlando Pride

44

Yuki Nagasato

W 3-1

14

8/25/2018

Orlando Pride

59

Unassisted

W 3-1

15

9/4/2018

Sky Blue FC

64

Brooke Elby

W 5-0

16

9/8/2018

Utah Royals FC

39

Arin Gilliland

L 1-2

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.