Nigeria Players Abroad
Jennifer Echegini wins American’s Honda Sports Award after FSU graduation
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
Nigeria midfielder Jennifer Onyi Echegini has won one of the top awards in American women’s soccer as she was named the Honda Sport Award winner.
Echegini is just the third women’s football player from Florida State University (FSU) to win the award.
She joined Natalia Kuikka (2018) and Jaelin Howell (2021) who were Seminoles players to have previously won the award.
Echegini was chosen by a vote of administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools.
Finalists included Jasmine Aikey (Stanford), Hannah Anderson (Texas Tech) and Brecken Mozingo (BYU).
The Super Falcons player had another spectacular season for the season as she posted a career-high and ACC-leading 16 goals for the 2023 National Championship.
Her 16 goals were tied for the eighth-most in school history and the most goals since Deyna Castellanos in 2017.
“It is truly an honor to receive this award. To be mentioned among some of the greatest college soccer players in sports history is something I’ll never take for granted,” Echegini said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without my coaches, teammates, family, and friends who have supported me throughout this journey.”
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually for the past 48 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”.
The winner of the sports award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2024 Honda Cup, which will be presented on Monday, June 24, 2024, from its new home in New York City.
Echegini was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year and was the ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP).
She achieved the above after being part of the Nigeria senior women’s national team squad that reached the Round of 16 at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
After a wonderful year for Echegini where she graduated from FSU, she is expected to join Italian top flight side, Juventus with the conclusion of her studies in the United States of America (USA).
