HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Morgan Andrews floated across Hollywood on Tuesday.

In the land of stars, the U.S. U20 Women’s National Team standout shined the brightest after capturing the 2012-13 Gatorade Athlete of the Year award in a ceremony held at the W Hotel.

Andrews is the second soccer player to win the award after Virginia midfielder Morgan Brian claimed the historic honor in 2011.

“It feels great! I am so thankful for the opportunity to represent the women’s game,” Andrews told TopDrawerSoccer.com on Tuesday night shortly after winning the award. “It is so exciting.”

Earlier in the year, Andrews was awarded the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year for a second straight year. The New Hampshire-native became only the ninth athlete all-time to repeat as the national winner for their sport, joining the likes of LeBron James, Marion Jones, and Candace Parker.

Despite joining that illustrious list, she was still shocked that she came away with the Athlete of the Year title.

“Absolutely not, I had no expectations,” she said. “The competition was great and all of these athletes deserve it just as much as I do.”

U.S. Women’s National Team forward Abby Wambach was on hand to present the award to the budding star.

“I think soccer is making a huge impact in a big way,” Wambach told TopDrawerSoccer.com about what it means that girls soccer players have claimed two of the last three Athlete of the Year honors. “The 2011 World Cup was one of those moments in time where things stopped and people focused only on women’s sports. It has grown our national team. It has grown player’s fame, personally.”

Wambach said that she was blown away by Andrews’ maturity after chatting with the teenager during dinner on Tuesday.

“By the end of the meal, I felt like I was talking to an old friend,” she said.

Of course, the Notre Dame-bound midfielder picked the all-time leading scorer in international soccer’s brain about a number of subjects.

“I mean Abby Wambach is my idol,” Andrews said. “I look up to her and I look up to everyone on the full women’s national team. It is just incredible that I got to sit down and have a full conversation with her.

“One of the biggest things that she told me was to be myself and never forget where I came from.”

Wambach shared some more insight into what she imparted on the wunderkind.

“She obviously has a skill set that is very different than many people. As much as big corporations want to idolize and have kids idolize big stars like LeBron, Kobe, me, Alex [Morgan], whoever it is, I really believe it is more important to find your own vision and your own passion for whatever life you have/want to lead. If you want to live it in a professional soccer way then you have to do it authentically, you cannot replicate everything I did in my life because we are all different.

“She needs to not be like me or be like Mia Hamm. She needs to be better than me and Mia.”

The next step on Andrews’ journey to surpass the pillars of the women’s game will be in South Bend, Indiana where she will don the Fighting Irish colors this fall. Her collegiate aspirations are on par with what Hamm accomplished at North Carolina.

“I am looking forward to playing at Notre Dame and getting better by being surrounded by the coaches and the players there. I am looking forward to trying to accomplish the goal of winning four national championships in four years.”

Hamm took five years to win the four crowns (she sat out one season while preparing for the World Cup).

At the national team level, Andrews will be one of the stalwarts of the U20 WNT squad for the next season in the buildup to the 2014 World Cup. She has featured at center back with the team, which is looking to erase the memory of the 2012 U17 World Cup where the U.S. exited in group play although it never suffered a defeat.

“At some part of every athlete’s career, you have to feel that loss. Even though we did not lose in the tournament, it was a loss that we had to go home. Now that we know that feeling, we have to work even hard in practices, every training, every fitness test, we have to push ourselves to the limit. That is going to help us go further in the tournament and possibly win the World Cup.”

The goals, the accolades, the heralds as the next star of the women’s national team never seem to phase the teenager from tiny Milford, New Hampshire. Graced with a beaming smile, Andrews just meets and exceeds the next challenge ahead of her . . . now carrying a bright, shiny Gatorade Athlete of the Year trophy with her.