Michelle Betos had a great 2015 NWSL season. It was so great that she was named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year on Wednesday. The highlight of her season was becoming the first NWSL goalkeeper to score a goal.
The Portland Thorns goalkeeper set career highs in starts (14), minutes played (1,260), saves (45) and wins (five). Prior to this season, she had appeared in only ten games across two years.
Betos, 27, has competed all over the world and twice competed in the UEFA Women’s Champions League with Apollon Limassol (2012-2014) and Fortuna Hjørring. She led Fortuna Hjørring to the round of 16 in the 2014-2015 addition of the tournament.
On June 19th against FC Kansas City, the Thorns were trailing 1-0 and were down to ten players in stoppage time. In the dying seconds of the match, she came all the way up the field for a corner being taken by Allie Long. The ball was sent in and Betos, in the middle of the box, got contact on the ball with a flying header. The ball hit goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart, deflected off a Kansas City defender and barely crossed the line. She ended up being the number two highlight on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10.
In scoring that goal, Betos accomplished a lot besides being the first NWSL ‘keeper to score. It was the latest goal ever scored in Thorns history (90’+ 5) and it was the first time the Thorns had ever scored a game-tying goal after the 75th minute.
For the season, Betos had a record of 5-7-2 (win-loss-tie). She faced 130 shots, 63 on goal. She made 45 saves and allowed 18 goals which is good for a save percentage of 71%. She finished the season with a goals against average of 1.286. She also had two shutouts and stopped one of the two penalties taken against her this year.
The NWSL awards are voted on by a selection of journalists that cover the league on a consistent basis, club officials, players and fans.