Houston Dash announce 2022 Team Awards

The Houston Dash announced their 2022 end of year award winners today, with a total of five players earning honors following a record-breaking season.

MF Sophie Schmidt was named the Most Valuable Player and was voted as the Player’s Player of the Year by her teammates. The midfielder played 15 games and scored three goals for the Dash this season. She was a mainstay in Houston’s midfield as the team qualified for the postseason for the first time. Houston also set a new single-season wins record with a 10-6-6 (WLD) campaign prior to hosting their first playoff game in front of a sold-out crowd of 21,284 at PNC Stadium.

FW Ebony Salmon won the Golden Boot as the top scorer for the Dash this season with nine goals. The forward joined the team on June 27 and would go on to earn back-to-back NWSL Team of the Month (July and Aug.) honors and was named the NWSL Player of the Month for July. The forward also earned league accolades as a member of the 2022 NWSL Best XI Second Team.

GK Jane Campbell was named the Defender of the Year and this is her sixth team award since being drafted by the Dash in the 2017 NWSL Draft with the No. 15 overall selection. The Dash shot stopper finished with 54 saves and six clean sheets this season. Campbell reached 100 appearances for the team in all competitions on April 15 against the Kansas City Current and 100 appearances in league play on Sept. 11 against Angel City FC. She is the third player to reach the 100 regular season game milestone with the Dash.

MF Marisa Viggiano is the Newcomer of the Year, joining the team at the start of the year in a trade with Orlando Pride. She finished with two goals and two assists for the Dash this season, and her impact showed as she played in every NWSL Challenge Cup match for Houston and started 18 games in the regular season.

The final award goes to rookie Ryan Gareis, who was named the Young Player of the Year. Gareis was the only player drafted by the team in the 2022 NWSL Draft and she finished with six starts and appeared in 20 games across all competitions. The University of South Carolina product played both as a defender and forward this season and she tallied an assist in her first start of the season, a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Red Stars on July 16. Gareis also tallied an assist in the 2-1 victory over the Washington Spirit in the final game of the regular season on Oct. 1 at Audi Field.