Four finalists selected for 2021 Honda Sport Award for Soccer

Emily Alvarado from Texas Christian University, Florida State University’s Jaelin Howell, Alex Loera from Santa Clara University and Penn State University’s Ally Schlegel are the four finalists for the Class of 2021 Honda Sport Award for Soccer.

Chris Voelz, Executive Director of The Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA), announced the selections on Wednesday.

The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 45 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2021 Honda Cup which will be presented on a telecast on CBS Sports Network, on June 28th, at 9 pm ET.

The soccer finalists were selected by a panel of coaches and experts from the United Soccer Coaches association. The Honda Sport award winner for soccer will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.

Alvarado, a senior goalkeeper from El Paso, Texas, was the 2020-21 Big 12 Player of the Year and a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-American. She posted eight shutouts on the year and is the TCU all-time leader with 21 shutouts. For the 2020-21 season, she posted a 0.54 GAA to rank in the top 25 nationally and a .875 save percentage. She was a member of the 2020 World cup Qualifying team.

Howell is a junior midfielder from Lone Tree, Colo., and was recently named a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist. The ACC Midfielder of the Year earned United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America honors and is a two-time All-ACC first-team performer. She led her team to the 2020-21 National Championship runner-up after falling in penalty kicks and helped her defense record nine shutouts in 14 games.

Loera led her team to the 2020 NCAA National Championship and was named the College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player. The senior defender/midfielder from Thornton, Colo., is a two-time WCC Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time All-WCC first-team honoree. She helped the Broncos post six shutouts and led the defense allowing just nine goals in 12 matches.

Schlegel, a redshirt sophomore forward from Parker, Colo., is a 2020-21 United Soccer Coaches All-America first-team member. She was named the Big 10 Forward of the Year after earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors a year ago. The two-time All-Big 10 first-team member led the conference in goals for the second straight season with 11 goals while adding six assists and 28 points.

The CWSA, celebrating its 45th anniversary year, has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its partnership in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.4 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs.