A look back on soccer star Kristine Lilly’s career.
Kristine Lilly is a legend in women’s soccer. She has helped lead many of the teams she played for to a championship. While she was born in New York City, she lived in and attended high school in Wilton, Connecticut.
While in high school, Lilly’s team won three state championships. While attending the University of North Carolina from 1989 to 1992, she led her soccer team to four straight NCAA Championships. During Lilly’s college years in 1991, she was a part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the U.S National Team. That year, they won their first World Cup.
During Lilly’s professional career, she played for multiple teams. In 1994, the first team she played for was Tyresö FF, a football club in Sweden, and she was with them for one season. Lilly then went on to play for the Continental Indoor Soccer League, playing for the Washington Wizards. She was only the second woman to ever play in the league. After playing there for one season, she went on to play for the Delaware Genies.
In 2001, the Women’s United Soccer Association had its first season. Lilly was one of the founders of the Boston Breakers. She was the team captain and played in all of the games for the inaugural season. In 2003, the WUSA ended. Following the end of the league in 2005, Lilly went back to play in Sweden, this time for KIF Örebro DFF. She played there for just one season.
In 2009, the Boston Breakers made their return, but now in a new league called Women’s Professional Soccer. Lilly played with them until the league’s final season in 2011.
Lily had many great accomplishments while playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team in both the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. In three Olympic appearances, she won two gold medals and one silver. Along with the 1991 World Cup win, the U.S. team won again in the year 1999. The USWNT also won three bronze medals while Lilly was on the team in 1995, 2003, and 2007.