Mallory Pugh named Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year
CHICAGO (Via Gatorade) — In its 30th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company has announced Mallory Pugh of Mountain Vista High School as its 2014-15 National Girls Soccer Player of the Year.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Pugh as the nation’s best high school girls soccer player.
The 5-foot-4 junior forward had led the Golden Eagles to a 16-2 record and a berth in the Class 5A state semifinals at the time of her selection. Pugh had scored 24 goals and passed for 12 assists through 18 games. A member of the U.S. Soccer Under-20 Women’s National Team, Pugh was the National Soccer Coaches Association of America’s 2014 Youth National Player of the Year for club play. She is rated as the No. 1 recruit in the nation for the Class of 2016 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Pugh has maintained a 3.68 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally as part of multiple community-service initiatives to benefit pediatric care at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Pugh has also donated her time to the Panther Pantry, which serves needy families in Douglas County, as well as the Tennyson Center for Children, a home for abused youth. In addition, she has worked with the US Youth Soccer TOPSoccer program serving young athletes with disabilities.
“Mallory Pugh is the best player in high school soccer I have ever seen,” said Adam Buseck, head coach of Heritage High. “She can do it individually but more importantly she has a high tactical understanding of the game and understands how her movements both with and without the ball can impact her team and her opponent.”
Pugh has made a verbal commitment to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at UCLA beginning in the fall of 2016. The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport.
