USWNT player of the week

Hey! My name is Grace, and I think it would be fun to start a USWNST player of the week. Let me know if you like these ideas! 

Anywho, this week's player is… Alyssa Naeher!!!!!

Naeher is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for the National Women’s League Soccer club Chicago Red Stars and the United States Women’s National Team. She was on the 23-player roster for the United States at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. at the 2019 FIFA World Cup which was held in France. She has also played for the Boston Breakers and Turbine Potsdam. While playing for the Breakers, she won the 2014 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award. 

Naeher went to Penn State from 2006 to 2009, she started 74 games during that time with a record of 50-19-5 with 24 shutouts. She was a First Team All-American in 2007 and 2008 and was named the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year in 2007. 

Naeher was also a member of the United States U-20 national team that played at the 2007 Pan-American Games, where they finished runners-up to the full Brazillian national team. 

In 2008, Naeher was the starting goalkeeper for the U-20 squad that won the 2008 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile. She started and played in every game but one in that tournament. She only conceded one goal throughout the World Cup, which was to North Korea in the last few minutes of the championship game. She was awarded the Golden Glove Award as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. 

In December 2014, Naeher made her first appearance and started for the United States Women’s National Team in a 7-0 win against Argentina in the International Tournament of Brazil. She played the whole game and earned her first career shutout. GO NAEHER!!!!!

Naeher was on the roster for the 2015 World Cup in Canada as a backup for Hope Solo but did not play because Solo played every minute in goal as the United States won the 2015 World Cup.

In July 2016, Neaher was named to the United States Women’s Soccer Team roster for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil. 

Since the United States’ loss at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Naeher has become the USWNT’s number one goalkeeper taking Solo’s spot that has been held for years. 

Naeher was the number one goalkeeper for the United States at the 2018 CONCACAF Championship; she played in four out of the five matches and earned four shutouts. The U.S. won their second consecutive CONCACAF Championship with a 2-0 win over Canada. 

On May 2, 2019, Naeher was named to the United States roster for the 2019 World Cup; this was her second World Cup. Naeher entered the tournament as the U.S.'s number one goalkeeper. When Naeher started the team's first group game on June 11, it was the first time in over two decades that neither Hope Solo nor Briana Scurry was in goal for the U.S. at a World Cup. Naeher recorded three consecutive shutouts in the group stage as the U.S. won, 13–0, over Thailand, 3–0 over Chile and 2–0 against Sweden.

 In the knockout round, Naeher made four saves against France in the quarterfinals to help the team preserve a 2–1 victory over the host nation. In the semifinals, Naeher had three saves and stopped Steph Houghton's penalty kick in the 83rd minute to help the United States to a 2–1 victory over England. In Sunday's final, Naeher posted one save to culminate in a shutout over the Netherlands in the U.S.'s 2–0 victory, resulting in the team repeating as World Cup champions. Naeher played every minute of the United States' successful 2019 World Cup run.

On June 23, 2021, she was nominated for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Naeher brought her team into the semi-finals with three saved penalties in the quarter-finals against European champions Netherlands: a save in the 81st minute and two additional saves in the penalty shootout. She was in goal until the 30th minute of the semi-final against Canada and then had to be replaced by Adrianna Franch due to injury. Her team won the bronze medal.

Naeher was named to the United States roster for the 2023 World Cup, making it her third World Cup. In the Round of 16 match against Sweden, Naeher saved one penalty kick and almost saved Lina Hurtig's shot, but the ball crossed the goal line by millimeters and knocked the United States out of the World Cup. She was the first goalkeeper ever to take a penalty at a World Cup (women's or men's), and the first to both score from the penalty spot and save a penalty.

That’s it for this week! I hope you found this interesting, or at least entertaining. Catch you later, Skater! - Grace Ippolito

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Hi again! This is week two of the USWNT Player of the Week! If you have any player suggestions, I’d love to hear them. 

This week's player goes to… Crystal Dunn!!!

Crystal Dunn is a soccer player for the U.S. Women’s National Team and Portland Thorns F.C. of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women’s professional soccer in the United States.

Dunn played collegiate soccer with the North Carolina Tar Heels from 2010 to 2013. She was a team member that won the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan and received the 2012 Hermann Trophy. 

After her college career, Dunn was selected first overall by the Washington Spirit in the 2014 NWSL College Draft that took place on January 17, 2014. In 2015, she won the NWSL Most Valuable Player and the Golden Boots Award, becoming the youngest player to win both awards, at age 23. Dunn Represented the United States at the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament in 2019, where the U.S. defeated the Netherlands in the final.

Dunn founded the NWSL’s Black Women’s Collective in 2020 to create a space for all the black women in the NWSL to vent and speak on things they’ve experienced. Their initiatives include voter education and highlighting the pay disparities between women and men’s soccer. 

That’s it for this week! I hope this was fun to read! See you later alligator! - Grace Ippolito

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