US Soccer announced their nominees for a variety of 2025 end-of-year awards and the field of finalists has a distinctly Tri-State Area flavor.
Matt Freese of New York City FC is finalist for Senior Male Player of the Year, while Rose Lavelle of newly-crowned NWSL Champions Gotham FC is up for Senior Female Player of the Year.
Gotham has two end-of-year nominees, as just-named NWSL Rookie of the Year, defender Lilly Reale, is also nominated for Young Female Player of the Year.
Voting for all three of these awards is open to the general soccer-loving public, and you can cast votes for Freese, Lavelle, and Reale here until the deadline, Friday, December 12.
The individual honors cap big years for all three local players, with 2025 a year featuring a meteoric rise to first-choice USMNT goalkeeper for Freese, sustained health and production for club and country for the decorated veteran Lavelle, and a breakthrough year in NWSL and with the United States for Reale.
From uncapped to starter for Freese
That Matt Freese is a nominee for Male Player of the Year feels extra impressive when you consider he entered 2025 with zero appearances for the United States men's national team.
He got his first senior call-up for January camp almost 12 whole months ago, but didn't actually make his USMNT debut until the June friendly in East Hartford, Connecticut, against Turkiye.
From that point on, Freese grabbed hold of the starting goalkeeper role and never let it go. The New York City keeper made 12 consecutive starts in goal for Mauricio Pochettino to close out 2025, including leading the USMNT to the Gold Cup Final this summer, with Freese instrumental by playing penalty-shootout hero in the Quarterfinal win over Costa Rica.
Freese's performances pushed competing goalkeepers like Matt Turner of the New England Revolution and Patrick Schulte of Columbus Crew to the periphery, and have Freese looking like a stone-cold lock to at minimum earn a roster spot with the USMNT for next summer's FIFA World Cup.
Freese has tough competition for Male Player of the Year in the form of players like defender Chris Richards of Crystal Palace in the English Premier League, and Malik Tillman of Bayer Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga. Both those players earned spots in the Concacaf Gold Cup Best XI this summer and played pivotal roles for the USMNT as they reached the final against Mexico.
Freese might not earn more votes than either European-based player, but he really broke onto the scene and secured a place in Pochettino's preferred USMNT Starting XI like no other player from Major League Soccer, not even fellow nominees, defenders Max Arfsten of Columbus Crew or Alex Freeman of Orlando City SC.
Matthew Mangam
Gotham greats get their flowers
Rose Lavelle didn't make her first competitive appearance of 2025 until June due to a lengthy recovery from an ankle injury, but she packed lots of production into her half-year. She scored three goals and added three assists with the United States women's national team in six appearances, all in friendlies, this year.
Lavelle delivered at club level, too, scoring the championship-winning goal for Gotham as they beat the Washington Spirit to become NWSL Champions for a second time in three seasons.
Megha Gupta
Her abbreviated season still included six goals and two assists in 20 appearances in all competitions for the Bats, enough for her to earn a Player of the Year nom alongside defender Emily Fox (Arsenal FC/WSL), midfielder Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns/NWSL), and forwards Alyssa Thompson (Chelsea FC/WSL) and Catarina Macario (Chelsea FC/WSL).
Lavelle is a veteran of the USWNT who has played in some of the biggest games possible, so her nomination is more a return to form than the nomination received by her young Gotham teammate, Lilly Reale.
Reale, 22, broke out with Gotham and the United States and now tries to win Young Female Player of the Year over her fellow nominees, defenders Jordyn Bugg (Seattle Reign/NWSL) and Pearl Cecil (University of Virginia), plus forwards Micayla Johnson (Chicago Stars/NWSL) and Riley Tiernan (Angel City/NWSL).
The Gotham fullback had one goal and two assists in 31 appearances in all competitions at club level this season, then added one assist in five USWNT appearances, getting that lone national-team goal contribution in her debut against the Republic of Ireland on June 26.
One final reminder: You have the power to make all three of Freese, Lavelle, and Reale winners in this Player of the Year voting. The ballot boxes remain open until December 12, so you really should go here and cast a vote for three big stars of the New York/New Jersey soccer scene in 2025.
