It took Cassidy Davis 128 appearances and 10 seasons to score her first A-League goal.
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In her 11th campaign, the Newcastle Jets' unbreakable home-grown captain notched two more.
The first, a stunning, stoppage-time volley into the top left corner of Western Sydney's net from the edge of the 18-yard box at McDonald Jones Stadium in round three, was awarded A-League Women's goal of the year.
The 2023-24 A-League Women's awards were announced at half-time of the grand final in Melbourne on Saturday night, but Davis would have traded the accolade in a heartbreak to be playing for the trophy.
"There were a lot of good goals up for goal of the season, so I didn't think I was going to win it," Davis told the Newcastle Herald from Melbourne on Sunday.
"It's obviously a pretty cool moment, and I don't really score goals. It's good for the club and good for the team.
"Obviously, it was an individual goal but I just put it down to the group that I was playing with and the confidence that the coaching staff gave me to be in that position to score the goals.
"I would rather be in that grand final yesterday on the field, winning those trophies.
"It's nice to win individual ones but I've always said my goal is to win a club trophy, so hopefully we can build on this season and get to that point next year. Hopefully we can re-sign all the girls and go again."
The Jets broke a six-year drought to make finals this campaign. They produced an historic 4-2 win over Western United in an epic, extra-time elimination final but succumbed 6-0 to premiers Melbourne City across the two-legged semi-final.
Davis holds the record for the most consecutive A-League appearances, men or women, and has played more games for the Jets than any other female with 153 games across 11 seasons.
She is yet to have talks with the club regarding next season but hopes to be lining up for another campaign in Jets colours.
For now, the hard-working midfielder turns her focus to NPLW NNSW with New Lambton.
Western Sydney Wanderers striker Sophie Harding, who started her A-League career in Newcastle, was the Julie Dolan Medal recipient for 2023-24 and Central Coast mentor Emily Husband was named coach of the year.
Canberra's Michelle Heyman earned the Golden Boot accolade and Melbourne City's Daniela Galic was recognised as young footballer of the year.
