Hal Hershfelt

Katherine Hailey Hershfelt (born October 3, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder for the Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. She played college soccer for the Clemson Tigers and was selected fifth overall by the Spirit in the 2024 NWSL Draft. She was included as an alternate for the United States squad that won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hal Hershfelt

Hershfelt with the Washington Spirit in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Katherine Hailey Hershfelt[1]
Date of birth	(2001-10-03) October 3, 2001 (age 23)[2]
Place of birth	San Diego, California, U.S.
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Washington Spirit
Number	17
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2023	Clemson Tigers	99	(16)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2022	Greenville Liberty	7	(1)
2023	Indy Eleven	8	(1)
2024–	Washington Spirit	28	(2)
International career‡
2024–	United States	3	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of May 23, 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of December 3, 2024

Early life and college career

Hershfelt was born in San Diego, California, in a military family, and has a younger brother.^[3] Her family moved often, living in many states across the South, but she calls Hattiesburg, Mississippi, her hometown.^[3][4] During high school, she moved from Florida to Georgia to play ECNL club soccer for Concorde Fire, which she helped reach the national semifinals in 2017.^[3][5] Shortly after her move, she tore her ACL and meniscus, which limited her college search before she committed to Clemson University as a sophomore.^[3][6] She graduated from Lassiter High School in Marietta.^[7]

Clemson Tigers

Hershfelt was a five-year starter for the Clemson Tigers from 2019 to 2023, making 99 appearances with 16 goals and 12 assists. She earned third-team All-ACC honors as a sophomore, second-team All-ACC as a junior and senior, and first-team All-ACC as a graduate student.^[3][5] In her last year at Clemson in 2024, she helped lead the Tigers to the semifinals of the national championship and was named to the all-tournament team.^[8]

Club career

USL W League

During the summer of 2022, Hershfelt joined the amateur club Greenville Liberty in the inaugural USL W League season.^[9][10] The Liberty placed first in the South Atlantic Division and qualified for the 2022 USL W League national semifinals.

The following summer, Hershfelt joined Indy Eleven's USL W League team for the 2023 USL W League season.^[11] Indy went on to win the league championship.^[12]

Washington Spirit

The Washington Spirit selected Hershfelt with the 5th overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft; the Spirit traded Ashley Sanchez to the North Carolina Courage for the pick and US$250,000 in allocation money on draft night.^[13] She was signed to a three-year contract.^[14] She debuted in the starting lineup of the opening matchday against the Seattle Reign on March 17.^[15] The next week, she scored her first professional goal in a 2–1 home win over Bay FC on March 23.^[16] Hershfelt played the most minutes of her rookie class (23 starts in 25 appearances) and was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team after helping the Spirit finish the regular season in second place.^[17][18] On November 16, she scored the tying goal against NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL semifinals, heading in Makenna Morris's free kick in the 90+3rd minute. The game ended 1–1 before the Spirit advanced on penalties to the final, where they lost 1–0 to the Orlando Pride.^[19][20]

International career

Hershfelt was called into training camp with the United States national team in June 2024, her first national team call-up at any level.^[21] Later that month she was named as an alternate to the national team for the 2024 Summer Olympics in France.^[22] The United States won the gold medal, defeating Brazil 1–0 in the final on a goal from Mallory Swanson;^[23] however, Hershfelt did not receive a medal as an alternate.^[24]

Hershfelt made her debut for the United States in a 3–1 friendly victory over Iceland on October 24, 2024, replacing midfielder Sam Coffey in the 72nd minute.^[25][26]

Style of play

A defensive midfielder, Hershfelt is known for her ability to disrupt play with good anticipation, smart positioning to make interceptions, and hard tackling.^[3][27]

Career statistics

Club

As of May 23, 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup[a]		Playoffs[b]		Total		Ref.
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Greenville Liberty	2022	USL W League	7	1	—		—		7	1	[28]
Indy Eleven	2023		8	1	—		—		8	1	[12]
Washington Spirit	2024	NWSL	25	2	—		2	1	27	3
	2025		3	0	1	0	—		4	0
Career total			43	4	1	0	2	1	46	5

1. Includes the NWSL Challenge Cup
2. Includes NWSL Playoffs

International

As of match played December 3, 2024

National Team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States	2024	3	0
Total		3	0

Honors and awards

Washington Spirit

• NWSL Challenge Cup: 2025^[29]

Individual

• NWSL Best XI Second Team: 2024^[18]
• All-ACC: 2023 (first team); 2021, 2022 (second team); 2020 (third team)
• NCAA tournament all-tournament team: 2023
• ACC all-freshman team: 2019