To celebrate Washington Spirit’s phenomenal 2025 season, the Hey Spirits team asked fans to weigh in on who should win the 2025 Hey Spirits Awards, including Biggest Surprise, Goal and Assist of the Season, and MVP a.k.a “the Candy Corn Crown.” See all the nominees and how listeners voted in each category below.

Biggest Surprise

In place of a Rookie or Newcomer of the Year Award, Hey Spirits asks, “Who was your biggest surprise this year?” Nominees included rookies, players joining from other leagues, and even a coach stepping into a new permanent role.

The winner by a landslide was Deb Abiodun with 72.8 percent of the fan votes. The rookie midfielder spent the first half of the year on loan with Gainbridge Super League team Dallas Trinity FC and was recalled to Washington after the summer break. Fans were surprised by how dominant she was in midfield from the job, covering massive amounts of space and proving a master at ball recovery.

In second place was Gift Monday, a newcomer from Spain’s Liga F who came in strong and ultimately led the team in goals, earning herself 17.2 percent of the vote. Also nominated were Gabby Carle (5.6 percent), coach Adrián González (2.6 percent), and Rebeca Bernal (1.7 percent).

Big Damn Hero

In our first year, the Big Damn Hero Award honored Aubrey Kingsbury’s game-saving performance in penalty shoot-outs. This year, we asked listeners to nominate and vote on their favorite unsung hero from the 2025 Spirit.

The winner was Gabby Carle, who was quietly vital to the Spirit this year, both pulling out last-minute stops to prevent goals and effectively moving the ball down the wings. Carle led the team in tackles won and was second to Esme Morgan in progressive passes. She also showed increased adaptability, tucking into the midfield more frequently to create options and shifting between outside back and wingback roles as the game called for.

Esme Morgan came in second place, having completed her transition to the NWSL and applied her prodigious passing talents to the Spirit’s game, leading the team in passes into the final third (as a center back). Other nominees were defensive stalwart Rebeca Bernal (9.5 percent), early-season high-scorer Ashley Hatch (6.1 percent), and the frequently-relied on Narumi Miura (2.2 percent)

Defensive Play of the Season

The most hotly-contested award was for Best Defensive Play, an award that this year included both individual plays and full-match head-to-head performances.

Rebeca Bernal‘s goal line clearance in Washington’s quarterfinal match against Racing Louisville won this category with 31.3 percent of the vote. Pulling out two quick blocks in succession, Bernal prevented Racing from pulling ahead, allowing the Spirit to win on penalties.

Just behind that play was Tara McKeown‘s chance-stopping performance against Barbra Banda in the Challenge Cup (27 percent), followed by Hal Hershfelt‘s tackle on Midge Purce in the NWSL Championship match (23.5 percent). Aubrey Kingsbury‘s penalty save against Ary Borges in the Louisville playoff match (12.2 percent), and Gabby Carle‘s elimination of any threat by Emma Sears in an April 12 match (6.1 percent) rounded out the voting.

Assist of the Season

With 29 assists by Spirit players in 2025, there were a lot of strong options to choose from.

Rose Kouassi‘s semifinal assist was the clear winner here at 57.4 percent. Collecting a blocked ball from a Portland free kick, Kouassi outpaced her defenders and ran it all the way down the field. In the goal area, she neatly moved around the goalie and passed the ball across the goal to Gift Monday for an easy goal to put the Spirit ahead.

In second, was Croix Bethune chipping the ball behind her to Trinity Rodman in a move that had the midfielder celebrating even before the final shot (20 percent). Then came Paige Metayer‘s goal-line skimming assist to Sofia Cantore’s back heel goal (10.9 percent), followed by a pass from a forward-charging Tara McKeown to Casey Krueger (7 percent). Deb Abiodun‘s assist to Rose Kouassi wrapped up the group at 4.8 percent.

Goal of the Season

While several Washington Spirit goals were voted Goal of the Week last year, only one could be Goal of the Season.

This one felt inevitable. For Best Goal of the Season, fans selected Trinity Rodman‘s first goal after her return from injury, an emotional strike against Portland that had the star in tears and Audi Field on their feet. Receiving the ball from Croix Bethune, Rodman took just one touch to slam it into the back of the goal and win the game.

In second place (26.3 percent) was Sofia Cantore‘s 31-yard banger against Louisville, her first goal for the team. Another goal from the same match earned third place (19.6 percent), after Rose Kouassi won the ball back from Ary Borges and scored a banger of her own. Leicy Santos‘s perfectly-struck free kick goal from the Challenge cup came next with 11.3 percent of the vote, and Ashley Hatch‘s no-look goal against the Utah Royals finished last with 2.2 percent.

Candy Corn Crown

Finally, Hey Spirits’s MVP award: the Candy Corn Crown. Ella, André, and Annie nominated three players they believed made the biggest impact on the team this year.

Not content with winning NWSL Defender of the Year, Tara McKeown also earned the second annual Candy Corn Crown with a commanding 42.9 percent of the vote. In her third year as a center back, McKeown remained the heart of Washington’s back line, deploying her strength and quickness as one of the best one-on-one defenders in the league, while delighting fans with her ability to drive deep in enemy territory to spark an attack. The numbers back up McKeown’s dominance. She was in the top 10 in the NWSL for blocks, interceptions, clearances, progressive carrying distance, and percentage of successful tackles.

Rose Kouassi, the league’s assist leader in 2025 (including playoffs), received the second most votes at 36.4 percent, while Washington’s leading goal-scorer Gift Monday came in third, with 20.8 percent of the vote.

For more on the 2025 Hey Spirits awards and to hear what the hosts thought, listen to this week’s episode of Hey Spirits.