‘Why we all watch the sport’ - From injury comeback to NWSL Championship MVP: How USWNT's Rose Lavelle won U.S. Soccer’s top honor

Lavelle is used to sharing the ball, the glory, and all of the wins and losses of the sport. And when asked what winning the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award means to her, she did a Lavelle-special; she threw in a bunch of assists. 

"When I look at the past year, it feels like a testament to the support system I had, with my family, the medical staff at Gotham and with the National Team, all my teammates, coaches and friends,” Lavelle said. 

"I wouldn’t have been in the position to even be up for the award without all of the support I received throughout the year just to get back on the field. So, this award is definitely shared with all the people I was lucky enough to have in my corner along the way.”

Lavelle underwent ankle surgery in December 2024, and would spend the next six months rehabbing to get back out onto the pitch. 

On June 7, 2025, Lavelle took the field for her club team NJ/NY Gotham FC for the first time since her injury. Few could have guessed she'd been away from the game for so much time, given the crispness of her first touch and movement on and off the ball. 

"I think the profile of Rose Lavelle is probably the most rare to find when it's a player that can basically do everything at such a high level," Gotham head coach Juan Carlos Amoros said after Lavelle's first game back. "And then on top of that, she does the special things on the ball that create - why we all watch the sport."

Lavelle was one of the missing pieces to Gotham's late-season Cinderella run, which carried them from barely making the postseason (No. 8 seed) to winning their second NWSL Championship in three years. 

For Gotham, Lavelle started 13 games of the 16 matches she appeared in, seemingly peaking just when it mattered the most: The end of the season. In the final nine regular season matches of the NWSL season, Lavelle scored five times and she also scored the lone goal to earn Gotham the 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit for the 2025 NWSL Championship. Her 80th minute goal also helped grant her MVP honors of the match. Between Parc de Princes and PayPal Park, Lavelle became the only person to score in two NWSL Championships and a FIFA Women's World Cup Final. 

“I’m really happy for Rose, who is thriving. She’s an extremely selfless person who has been through a lot of adversity,” said USWNT head coach Emma Hayes.

For the USWNT, Lavelle's year got a late start; her first game back against the Republic of Ireland was only the beginning of what she would solidify in the midfield for the Americans. 

On Oct. 26, she famously scored just 34 seconds into the match vs. Portugal. A few days later, she put away a half-volley against New Zealand, and also wore the captain's armband. All in all, Lavelle has 27 goals and 27 assists with the USWNT, making her an official member of the USWNT 50-plus club.

 “I think we all know that Rose is not only one of the best players in the world, but also one of the most fun to watch, and to coach, so it’s very satisfying to see her recognized in this way," Hayes continued.

When Lavelle found out that she needed surgery, she was entering territory she's never been in before. 

After her first game back for Gotham, she told the media about the experience of getting surgery for the very first time. 

"It was the first time I had to get surgery, which is a blessing, but I definitely was a little naïve to what that entailed... So, it was definitely a lot harder than I anticipated."

Any surgery and then recovery timeline is different depending on the person, and for Lavelle, she stayed the course and used the time away from the field to focus on parts of the game she hadn't seen before. 

"I think I've found a lot of silver lining during this time away. I think [some] of that is learning how to be a good teammate when I can't be on the field with them, staying present, still having a voice, and helping people where I can."

Whether humbly accepting the MVP award at the 2025 NWSL Championship or delivering game-winning moments for the USWNT, Rose Lavelle has consistently shown why she remains one of the sport’s most distinctive talents. This year, she adds another milestone - becoming the 22nd different player to be named U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year.

Lavelle was left off the USWNT’s January camp roster due to club commitments abroad with Gotham, but her place in the program remains unchanged. As Emma Hayes builds toward the 2027 World Cup, it is veterans who have thrived in defining moments - and scored in them - who will shape the team’s leadership. Lavelle has long been one of those players.