2023 Sounder at Heart Awards

Last season's best of SaH/Ride of Valkyries included the first time the vote came down to single-digit separation in a category. You can see the previous winners here. We'll start the reveals there.

Defensive Player of the Year – Reign, Emily Sonnett (25.6%)

Emily Sonnett, who is now with Gotham, won the award by just two votes. This vote was also the most evenly distributed, with four players with a strong case to be made.

Sonnett joins Phallon Tullis-Joyce, Alana Cook, Rebekah Stott and five-time winner Lauren Barnes in the kinda-hallowed halls of our fandom.

Defensive Player of the Year - Sounders, Jackson Ragen (33.3%)

Jackson Ragen beat out Yeimar, who earned the team honors, by about 30 votes in a tight contest between the two. Yeimar was the reigning holder of the title and had won it three straight seasons. Stef Frei is a two-time winner, which means the defensive core is carrying three who have earned this recognition in 2024

Offensive Player of the Year - Reign, Bethany Balcer (25.1%)

Bethany Balcer, who just signed an extension with Reign, beat out legends Megan Rapinoe and Jess Fishlock by 10 and 20 votes, respectively. Balcer only took 25.1% of the overall vote, with Offensive PotY copying Defensive PotY in voting patterns a bit.

Bethany is now a two-time winner of this award and has also won Reign MVP when Ride of the Valkyries bestowed that honor.

Offensive Player of the Year - Sounders, Jordan Morris (63.0%)

Jordan Morris more than doubled the next two highest vote earners in this landslide. The number three was Cristian Roldan, who missed large portions of the season. Albert Rusnak came in second.

Cristian won last year and the only three-time honoree, Nicolás Lodeiro, is no longer on the team.

Young Player of the Year - Reign, Jordyn Huitema (43.1%)

Jordyn Huitema ended the season as the most frequent starter at forward and is just 22, scoring seven all-competition goals for Reign and three for Canada. Her rise to the potential bodes well for Reign's future.

Jordyn is a two-time winner to the RoValks award that started in 2022.

Young Player of the Year - Sounders, Josh Atencio (64.6%)

Josh Atencio is also a repeat winner and you're about to hear his name a lot. Atencio signed an extension that makes him a U22 player, keeping the 21-year-old with Seattle for at least four years or until he's sold. He's currently at the USMNT camp serving as a potential trial for the Olympics. He took nearly three-times the vote of second place Chú.

Josh won Young PotY in 2021, the first time he broke out.

Breakout Player of the Year - Reign, Veronica Latsko (53.9%)

Veronica Latsko took this award in its second season. Latsko's previous high for goals scored was three, in 2023 she scored 6 in NWSL play as she became a rotational player who added direct attack to play.

Latsko joins Sam Hiatt as the only winners.

Breakout Player of the Year - Sounders, Josh Atencio (42.1%)

Atencio not only won Young Player of the Year for the second time, he won Breakout Player for the second time. That kind of stair-step leveling up from "oh, I guess he can fill in" to "I guess he can start on a contender" is a huge bonus to develop from the Academy, especially when another youngster is a previous winner (Obed Vargas)

This contest may have been closer if the committee had put Jackson Ragen forward as a potential winner.

Final Round of Seattle Soccer Moment of the Year

The previous round of voting allowed you to honor several moments. We're now down to the four options that earned the most recognition, but you must choose one.

If the embedded form doesn't work, click this link