CHICAGO – For the second time in her career, former Santa Clara women's soccer All-American Julie Ertz was voted the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. She also brought home the honor in 2017.

Ertz is the 10th player to win the award multiple times and the first to also have won U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, which she accomplished in 2012 after serving as captain for the U.S. team that won the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup.

During 2019, the former Broncos star started 22 games for her country, which was the most on the team, and played the third most minutes at 1,755. That included six starts and 474 minutes at the 2019 Women's World Cup where she helped her team to a second consecutive title.

The award was bestowed upon Ertz despite the fact that she scored just once, a testament to her work on the U.S.'s defense.

Now with 95 caps, Ertz was also named FIFA FIFPRO World XI earlier this year.

In addition to her national team work, Ertz helped lead the Chicago Red Stars to second place in the National Women's Soccer League standings and their first birth in the title game.

She played every minute of her 14 regular season starts for the Red Stars and every minute of both playoff games when she was once again one of the best players on the field. She was named to the NWSL Best XI as a midfielder, but also played considerable minutes in the center of the defense. She tied with five other U.S. teammates for most regular season minutes played in the NWSL by any 2019 World Cup Team member.

"All of my teammates just had such an amazing year and we all know it takes an entire team to win a World Cup or have a successful club season," Ertz said. "We are all a sum of the people around us, so I want to especially thank (my husband) Zach and my family, all my coaches for the National Team and the Red Stars, and all my teammates for their never-ending support. It's emotional to be recognized in this way and it's a cherry on top of a beautiful 2019. It's incredible."

The U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year has been awarded since 1985, when midfielder Sharon Remer earned the first Female Athlete of the Year honor. Abby Wambach won it six times, the most of any player.

Votes for U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year awards are collected from respective National Team coaches, National Team players who earned a cap in 2019, members of the U.S. Soccer Board of Directors, U.S. Soccer Athletes' Council, National Women's Soccer League head coaches, select media members and former players and administrators. In addition, select college coaches vote for U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year award.

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