CHICAGO – NJ/NY Gotham FC’s Caprice Dydasco Monday was named the National Women’s Soccer League defender of the year.

Dydasco enjoyed a highly productive year marked by more than 2,000 minutes of play, a career-best assist total and the first goal of her NWSL career.

In 24 starts, Dydasco helped guarded Gotham’s defensive half, making 49 clearances and 49 interceptions, the most of any defender. The Honolulu, Hawaii native also proved her mettle by winning more than 60 percent of tackles and completing nearly 80 percent of her passes, landing her on the NWSL team of the month five times.

She found her way into Gotham FC’s attack on many occasions, contributing 56 key passes across 25 games and recording five assists, good for second among league defenders. Dydasco’s offensive highlights also included her first career goal, which came on June 20 when she scored in the waning moments of the first half against the Orlando Pride.

Dydasco celebrated her 100th regular-season appearance in the NWSL on Oct. 6 against her former team the Washington Spirit.

Chicago Red Stars defender Sarah Gorden was second in voting, while Portland Thorns back Emily Menges was third, Carson Pickett of the North Carolina Courage was fourth and OL Reign’s Alana Cook was fifth.

The list of finalists was decided after a preliminary round of voting by owners, general managers, coaches, players and media. The finalists were then voted on by fans, owners, general managers, coaches, players and media.

 

Voting Breakdown:

Preliminary Round: Owners/GMs/Coaches (25%), Media (25%) and Players (50%)
Final Round: Owners/GMs/Coaches (20%), Media (20%), Players (50%) and Fans (10%)

List of NWSL Defenders of the Year

2013: Becky Sauerbrunn, FC Kansas City
2014: Becky Sauerbrunn, FC Kansas City
2015: Becky Sauerbrunn, FC Kansas City
2016: Lauren Barnes, Seattle Reign FC
2017: Abby Dahlkemper, North Carolina Courage
2018: Abby Erceg, North Carolina Courage
2019: Becky Sauerbrunn, Utah Royals FC
2021: Caprice Dydasco, NJ/NY Gotham FC

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.