Holiday, Rowland Win NWSL Title
October 02, 2015 | Women's Soccer
UCLA alumnae Lauren Holiday and Katelyn Rowland are national champions, winning the 2015 NWSL Championship with FC Kansas City, the club's second consecutive title. Kansas City defeated Seattle Reign FC, 1-0, in Thursday night's championship match in Portland.
Holiday, along with teammates Amy Rodriguez, Heather O'Reilly and Becky Sauerbrunn, pulled off a historic double championship, capturing the NWSL club title after winning the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup with the U.S. Women's National Team.
For Holiday, who announced her retirement in July, the championship caps a legendary career in which she won a World Cup title, two Olympic gold medals and two NWSL Championships. She was also the NWSL MVP in 2013 and the NWSL Championship MVP in 2014. At UCLA, she became the first and only four-time NSCAA first-team All-American, and she continues to hold school records for career points (173), career goals (71), career game-winning goals (28), single-season points (57 in 2007) and single-season goals (23 in 2007).
Rowland, who was Kansas City's backup goalkeeper behind Nicole Barnhart, wins her second team championship in three years. Rowland was instrumental in the Bruins' 2013 NCAA Championship, saving two penalty kicks in the semifinal and earning a shutout in the championship match. She finished her UCLA career as a two-time All-American and the NCAA record-holder for career shutouts (55) and single-season shutouts (19). Rowland made three starts for Kansas City in her rookie campaign, earning one shutout and a 1-0-2 record.
Lauren Barnes, who was an All-American at UCLA in 2010, played in her second consecutive NWSL final with Seattle. She was selected to the 2015 NWSL Best XI team and was a finalist for the Defender of the Year award. Barnes played every minute of every game for Seattle in 2015.