Rose Lavelle named NWSL player of the month

Rose Lavelle has been named NWSL’s player of the month for April. Lavelle came first in voting ahead of North Carolina’s Debinha and the Houston Dash’s Kealia Ohai.

Lavelle is, of course, the Boston Breakers’ #1 draft pick and most scrutinized rookie, albeit for good reason. She had a hell of a debut for the United States that she proved over subsequent friendlies wasn’t a fluke. She followed that up with her debut for Boston; as she grew more comfortable in her midfield responsibilities (and as Matt Beard let her shift inside to CM), she drove the Breakers attack forward while also being able to drop deeper with Angela Salem as necessary, helping fulfill Beard’s desire for a box-to-box midfielder.

Lavelle picked up her first assist in Boston’s 1-0 win over Sky Blue FC, then scored herself in their triumphant 3-0 win over the Seattle Reign. If she had any rookie jitters, she didn’t really show them, although certainly she should show improvement as the season progresses just from getting more and more comfortable with her teammates and Beard’s coaching style.

Although the Breakers made a ton of changes to their roster, it’s fair to say they still pinned certain hopes on Lavelle. It’s nice to see they’re paying off right away; touch wood that Lavelle keeps up the pace and Boston cements the turnaround from 2016.