Diana Ordóñez is a rookie goalscorer the likes of which the NWSL has not yet seen.
The 20-year-old scored two more times for the North Carolina Courage over the weekend, taking her total for the season to 10 goals.
Ordóñez has already far surpassed the league’s previous rookie scoring record of seven goals in a season, and now the Mexico international has an unlikely Golden Boot bid in her sights.
The 20-year-old has been especially on fire of late, scoring seven times in her last four matches including two in Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars.
After that game, Courage head coach Sean Nahas expressed his admiration for how Ordóñez is learning how to succeed in the league after some early growing paints.
“Sometimes you have to learn by fire, and you have to just fail a little bit,” Nahas told reporters. “But her ability and what she’s doing in those areas, she’s putting herself in scoring [positions] and you can see her confidence growing.”
Make it 🔟 on the year for @diana0rdonez as her stellar rookie season continues and @TheNCCourage put the game out of reach! 💫#NCvCHI | #CourageUnitesUs pic.twitter.com/3J8xRaZO2H
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 21, 2022
On scoring goals, Ordóñez said: “It’s always been a knack of mine since I was little. It’s just what I feel like I was honestly born to do.”
The Mexico international has made the transition from the University of Virginia look easy of late, which is a huge development for a Courage side that lost attacking mainstays Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald before the season.
“We’ve lost massive forwards in the history of this club, and now she’s setting her own history,” Nahas said.
Ordóñez is part of a 2022 NWSL rookie class that might be the best in league history. Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell, Savannah DeMelo, Elyse Bennett and Sam Coffey are among a host of first-year players making a name for themselves.
For Nahas though, there is only one choice for the league’s top rookie.
“I’ll say right now,” Nahas said, “if [Ordóñez] is not Rookie of the Year I don’t know who is.”
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