Washington Spirit midfielder Deborah Abiodun has received praise from head coach Adrian Gonzales as she was named the NWSL Rookie of the Month for September, after breaking into the Spirit lineup and helping lead the club's unbeaten run.
Recalled from her loan spell at Dallas Trinity in the American summer, the 20-year-old made her debut on August 31 against Chicago and earned her first start in a 2-0 win over Seattle the following week.
The Nigeria international went on to start three matches in September, helping Washington to three multi-goal games and three clean sheets. She became the sixth Spirit rookie to claim the monthly award this season.
Head coach Gonzales has been impressed by the Nigerian's seamless integration into his very talented side, telling ESPN: "Everyone has seen Debby's impact on the team.
"I am not surprised because when I first met her in preseason, I saw her potential and I said she is ready to compete.
"At that time we didn't have that spot for her and we thought it would be better for her to get minutes in Dallas, to get experience coming from college. And after that season, you can see the type of player that she is."
Gonzales has deployed the midfielder in multiple roles, including centreback and higher up the pitch. He's had her play right back against San Diego and added that Abiodun's versatility strengthens Washington's balance and offers more options for the team
"It doesn't matter where she plays," he said. "You can see how many balls she is able to win, and on the ball also she is showing performance that you feel like she is very mature.
"Patience on the ball, decision-making also is very good. And when she is on the field she is covering a lot of spaces."
For Gonzales, those skillsets have contributed to allow the Spirit the freedom to play more on the front foot: "Everyone has maybe like two attacking midfielders like Lacey, Croix. She can cover a lot of ground so that helps us to be more aggressive sometimes."
Abiodun, who represented Nigeria at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, was only one of a posse of Spirit players collecting honours in September.
Forward Trinity Rodman was named NWSL Player of the Month after scoring three goals and adding two assists. She netted a brace in the September 7 win over Seattle, scored again in Los Angeles and assisted two of Gift Monday's three goals in a playoff-clinching 3-1 victory over Houston.
Rodman, midfielder Bethune and goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury were also named to the league's Best XI of the Month. Bethune scored once and assisted once, extending her streak of Best XI selections to four months.
Kingsbury posted three shutouts, raising her career total to 45, the fourth-most in league history as Washington outscored opponents 8-2 in September, clinched a postseason berth, and extended their lead to six points at the top of the table with the regular-season games coming to a close.
But there was more. Against San Diego, the Spirit also broke their single-season home attendance record in a 2-1 win, with 181,324 fans across 12 matches at Audi Field. A crowd of 17,422 on Sunday pushed the club past last year's mark of 181,226 across 13 games. Washington are averaging more than 15,000 per game this season.
The Spirit host the Orlando Pride on October 18 to close the regular season before the 2025 NWSL Playoffs.