Alyssa Naeher made it big in women’s soccer, and like many greats, she’s from New England.
Alyssa Naeher was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, about one hour outside of Hartford. She grew up playing soccer with her twin sister, Amanda Naeher. Naeher went on to play Division I soccer at Penn State. In her junior and senior years, she won All-American and Academic All-Big Ten selections.
After college, Naeher came back to New England and played for the Boston Breakers. After that, she played two seasons with Turbine Potsdam in the German Bundesliga. There, she won the Frauen-Bundesliga title in the 2011-2012 season. She then joined the Chicago Red Stars. Naeher has re-signed with the Chicago Red Stars for the 2026 season.
Naeher has also been a part of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT). She became the starting goalkeeper in 2017. She helped lead the team to victory in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, and even though they did not win in 2023, she put on a great performance. She earned a shutout to help the team qualify for the 2023 World Cup. Naeher has been the starting goalkeeper for USWNT in the Summer Olympics and helped lead the team to two Olympics, as well, and they won gold in 2024.
In 2018, Naeher earned her 100th National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) appearance. In 2020, Naeher was one of three finalists for The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper. A few years later, in 2024, she was named Female Player of the Year. All of her achievements led to this moment. However, her outstanding performance in the 2023 Olympic Games had a lot to do with it. She became the first goalkeeper in history to have shutouts in both, FIFA Women’s World Cup and Olympic Gold Medal match. She also earned her 100th cap. Only two other U.S. goalkeepers have reached that feat. She also became the first USWNT goalkeeper to make three saves during penalty shootouts, while stepping up to make her own shots. She became the second goalkeeper to win the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. The only other goalkeeper to achieve this was Hope Solo.
Naeher may be retired from the National stage, but you can still see her play for the Chicago Red Stars. For more information on Naeher, visit Alyssa Naeher | USWNT | U.S. Soccer Official Site.