Alex Morgan Wins the NWSL Golden Boot

Alex Morgan has won the NWSL Golden Boot, finishing the 2022 regular season as the league's top scorer with 15 goals for expansion side San Diego Wave.

The regular season ended on Sunday, October 2. Morgan's 15 goals in 17 games, five of them penalties, were a career best in the league and one more than Portland's Sophia Smith, according to the final NWSL standings.

Her season included all four goals in a 4-0 win over Gotham FC in May, making her only the third NWSL player to score four in a game. Her goals also carried the Wave to a playoff place, the first time an NWSL expansion team has qualified in its first season (Wikipedia).

It caps a big year for Morgan, who was also named player of the tournament as the USA won the CONCACAF W Championship in July.

Morgan switched to a plant-based diet in 2017, shortly after appearing in a PETA campaign with her rescue dog, Blue. The reason was ethical: it didn't feel fair to her to adore a dog and eat meat all the time. She says she has noticed the benefits on the pitch too, and on the Hurdle podcast she credited her diet with keeping her free of serious injury (Great Vegan Athletes):

I feel better all around, I feel like I have great energy, I feel like I'm sleeping really well, I feel like I'm just more clear-minded and not as reliant on caffeine as before.

This is the latest chapter in a run we've followed closely. Morgan won the 2019 World Cup and the Silver Boot, took Olympic bronze in Tokyo, and was named player of the CONCACAF W Championship in July.

Golden Boot, powered by plants.