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Meagan McClelland
American soccer player (born 2000) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Meagan Erin McClelland (born August 5, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Super League club Carolina Ascent. She played college soccer for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, where she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten four times.
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Early life and college career
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McClelland grew up in Kearny, New Jersey, one of three children born to Coleen and Patrick McClelland.[1] She began playing soccer when she was three and joined Mike O'Neill's PDA academy at age eight. She played multiple outfield positions before turning to goalkeeper when she received goalkeeping gloves as a Christmas present in third grade.[2][3] She also played basketball growing up and starred in both sports at Kearny High School. She kept 20 clean sheets in one-and-a-half seasons with the soccer team, and she scored 1,348 points in 91 games for the basketball team.[4] She committed to Rutgers as a sophomore.[5]
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
McClelland succeeded Casey Murphy as the starting goalkeeper for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.[5] In her freshman season in 2018, she played all 20 games and kept 8 clean sheets, leading the Big Ten Conference in goals against average. Rutgers placed second in the conference and qualified for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments, losing in both first rounds. McClelland was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and third-team All-Big Ten.[1][6] In her sophomore season, she kept 12 clean sheets in 21 games, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors and helping Rutgers repeat as Big Ten regular-season runners-up. They made the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament.[1][7] She became team captain in her junior season, which was pushed back to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She kept 7 clean sheets in 16 games, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors, as Rutgers made the Big Ten tournament semifinals and the second round of the NCAA tournament.[1]
McClelland and Rutgers had a banner year in her senior season in 2021. She made a career-high 83 saves and kept a career-high 13 clean sheets in 25 games, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors. Rutgers went 10–0 in conference play to claim the program's first Big Ten regular-season title, and they did not concede in the Big Ten tournament until the final where they lost to Michigan. In the NCAA tournament, McClelland saved three penalty kicks and made one herself in a third-round shootout win against TCU, then saved one kick and converted another in a quarterfinal shootout win against Arkansas. The No. 1 seed Scarlet Knights reached their second-ever national semifinal where they fell to eventual champions No. 1 Florida State.[1][8] McClelland returned to use her fifth year of eligibility, granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. She kept 8.5 clean sheets in 20 games as Rutgers finished seventh in the conference in 2022.[1][9] She left college with the second-most minutes played in NCAA history behind McKinley Crone.[10]
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Club career
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NWSL beginnings
McClelland was not selected in the 2023 NWSL Draft but was invited to preseason training with the Chicago Red Stars, who signed her to a short-term national team replacement contract on April 7, 2023.[11][12] She signed further short-team deals later that year with San Diego Wave FC in July and NJ/NY Gotham FC in September. She signed a permanent contract with Gotham in November as they finished the season as NWSL Champions.[13][14]
Odense
McClelland returned to Gotham for the 2024 preseason before going overseas to join Danish Women's 1st Division club Odense Boldklub Q on February 26, 2024.[15][16] She made her professional debut in a 1–1 playoff draw against B.93 on March 16. She ended up making 9 playoff starts and kept 6 clean sheets, helping Odense secure promotion to the top division, before returning to the United States after her last game on June 8.[17][18]
Carolina Ascent
USL Super League club Carolina Ascent FC announced on June 6, 2024, that they had signed McClelland ahead of the league's inaugural 2024–25 season.[14] She started in the league's first-ever game, a 1–0 victory over DC Power FC on August 17.[19] She kept 6 clean sheets in her first 11 games and went on to be the only goalkeeper in the league to start every game in the fall series.[20][21] During the winter break, Carolina signed former North Carolina Tar Heels goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak Murphy. Leshnak Murphy won the starting job during the spring and led the Ascent to finish the regular season as Players' Shield winners.[20][22]
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International career
She was called into the United States national under-17 team shortly before the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and made the tournament roster as a bench player.[23] She later appeared in friendlies at the under-19, under-20, and under-23 levels.[17]
Honors and awards
Carolina Ascent
NJ/NY Gotham FC
Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Big Ten regular-season champions: 2021
Individual
- USL Super League Team of the Month: September 2024[24]
- All-Big Ten: 2019, 2020 (second team); 2018, 2021 (third team)
- Big Ten Freshman of the Year: 2018
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
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