MAKING THE CASE: Mia Fishel for 2021 Chipotle Young Female Player of the Year

A year removed from powering the USA to victory at the 2020 Concacaf Under-20 Women’s Championship, forward Mia Fishel put together a fine campaign to close out her collegiate career and earn her second consecutive nomination for Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year.

 

Because no Youth National Team matches were played in 2021 to the global pandemic, players were eligible for the 2021 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year if they were 23-years-of-age or younger and a) played in a senior WNT match this calendar year or b) played in the 2020 Concacaf U-20 Women’s Championship. Players can win the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year Award only once.

 

• READ MORE: 2021 Chipotle Young Female Player of the Year Nominees

 

While nominees are selected by U.S. Soccer’s technical staff, fans will now have the opportunity to vote on select Player of the Year Awards, with the fan vote comprising 15% of the total vote. Voting for the awards starts Monday, Dec. 6 at 11:00 a.m. ET and closes on Dec. 12 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winners will be announced throughout the month of December.

 

• VOTE NOW: Fan Voting for Player of the Year Awards

Making the case for Mia Fishel as the 2021 Chipotle Young Female Player of the Year:

 

• The now 20-year-old Fishel was a major part of the USA’s U-20 cycle in 2020, winning the Golden Ball at the 2020 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship where she scored 13 goals overall in the tournament, a record for any U.S. Youth National Team player in any Concacaf competition. Fishel attended her first training camp with the full USWNT in October of 2020.

  

With their Pac-12 college seasons suspended due to COVID, @USYNT standouts @miafishel10, @naomi_girma and @catarinamacario have relished the opportunity to return to the field and learn from #USWNT veterans in their first full team training camp 🇺🇸⚽️ pic.twitter.com/TN9bLelWwj

— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) October 27, 2020

 

• A center forward who has shown a high level of talent playing back to goal, running behind defenses and smashing in goals in the penalty area, Fishel was one of college soccer’s top players this past season and led UCLA in scoring with 12 goals and five assists as the Bruins ran through an unbeaten regular season.

• She was named First-Team All-Pac-12 and moved into UCLA’s all-time Top 10 for career goals with 32. She led the Pac-12 with six game-winning goals, including the “golden goal” in second overtime against Cal that kept UCLA’s Pac-12 title hopes alive and helped the Bruins go on to claim the Pac-12 championship.

 

 

The golden goal by @miafishel10, with assists by @brianneriley8 and @JaydenPerry20!

UCLA remains unbeaten and in the hunt for the @pac12 title! #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/F6Hkrm9p3G

— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 31, 2021

 

 

This is Fishel’s second consecutive nomination for Young Female Player of the Year.