Bethany Balcer Named NWSL Player of the Month

The National Women’s Soccer League has named OL Reign forward Bethany Balcer the NWSL Player of the Month for September. Balcer played in all three of OL Reign’s matches in September and scored a goal in each match. 

The National Women's Soccer League Player of the Month is a monthly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League. The honor is awarded to the player deemed to have put in the best performances over the past month. 

In September, OL Reign went undefeated, with three wins, zero losses and one tie, counting the Washington Spirit forfeit. In the three games Balcer played in, she scored three of the five total goals scored. 

Balcer’s goal against the Houston Dash on September 1 was the difference maker in the game and secured the 1-0 victory for the Reign. Using a combination of her skills and intellect, Balcer scored her seventh goal of the season in the seventh minute of the match. After Jess Fishlock and Eugénie Le Sommer combined to get a shot off, the shot was blocked. However, Balcer was already waiting for the rebound and tapped the ball into the net to score the game winning goal. 

In OL Reign’s match against Racing Louisville on September 4, Balcer came up big again, scoring Reign’s only goal of the match to secure a draw on the road. Louisville scored first, in the 23rd minute. OL Reign chased the game for 50 minutes before Sofia Huerta got up the field from her position at right back and put a perfectly placed cross into the box. Balcer was there to get her head on the end of it and tie up the match. 

Most recently, Balcer scored the opening goal in OL Reign’s 3-0 win against Orlando Pride on September 26. She set the tone of match, scoring the goal just three minutes in. Huerta played a great cross into the box from the right side and Balcer was there to head it into the back of the net. 

Balcer is in first place in the NWSL Golden Boot race, with nine goals on the season. She has played 999 minutes across 19 games this season and scored five header goals and four with her right foot. 

Sofia Huerta received the second most votes for player of the month in September thanks to her two game-winning assists, making this the second month in a row that the winner and runner up have been OL Reign players. Chicago Red Stars midfielder Morgan Gautrat finished third after appearing in every minute of play throughout September. 

The NWSL Player of the Month is selected each month of the regular season by the NWSL Media Association, a collection of writers that cover the league on a consistent basis. 

Balcer will look to extend her scoring streak to four games when OL Reign play their next match of the season at Cheney Stadium on Sunday, October 10 at 4:00 p.m. PT against the Chicago Red Stars.