CHICAGO (Oct. 29, 2020) — Defender Casey Short has been named the Chicago Red Stars 2020 Defender of the year, as voted on by Red Stars fans online. Short was nominated alongside teammates Julie Ertz, Sarah Gorden, Tierna Davidson, and Zoey Goralski.  

This is the second consecutive year Short has won the award, having won following a historic 2019 where she became the first player in NWSL history to be featured on every NWSL Team of the Month for the entire season. She continued her stellar play in the 2020 Challenge Cup, earning a place in the tournament’s Best XI squad.  

In four games played throughout the Challenge Cup, Short was dominant with an 87.5% tackle success rate and an average 27.5 passes per game. She once again delivered offensively as well, scoring arguably Chicago’s most important goal of the season in the final group stage game against the Utah Royals. With the game scoreless entering the final minutes of regulation, Short connected on a header that found the back of the net to give Chicago a 1-0 win. The victory propelled the Red Stars to sixth in the Challenge Cup standings and set them up for their tournament run that saw them reach their second consecutive Championship game.