Our first in a series of five impact players looking to lead the USWNT to gold at the Summer Games
She’s the last stop between elation and potential misery.
While every member of the U.S. Olympic women’s soccer team is under some degree of pressure, it can be said that no one is under greater pressure than goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.
The good news for the Americans is that this isn’t the first go-around at the Olympic Games for the 36-year-old who was described by teammate Mallory Swanson as an “extremely detailed-oriented person.”
But who is she? And why is she the best choice for the U.S. women in goal? Before the team kicks off Thursday against Zambia (3 p.m. ET, Peacock) here are five things you should know about Naeher, the final line of defense in a quest for U.S. Olympic gold.
You’d suspect it’s because she’s one of the oldest players on the team, but according to her teammates its because she was always willing to come over and help whomever, kinda like your favorite uncle. Why her nickname isn’t “Auntie” is a mystery, but Uncle stuck and Naeher said she grew to “embrace it,” so here we are.
Naeher is one of three girls born to parents, John and Donna Lynn. Her twin sister named Amanda also played soccer in college at Division III Messiah University in Central Pennsylvania, not far from where Naeher played Big Ten soccer as a goalkeeper for Penn State. She also has a youngster sister named Abigail, completing the triple-A Naeher trio.
It was Naeher, who led the U.S. in 2021 to a bronze medal finish at the 2020 Olympics in Toyko. Technically, it was a group effort as Naeher led the Americans to the semifinals after three ridiculous saves in a quarterfinal shootout against the Netherlands but suffered an injury in the semifinal game against Canada, the eventual Gold Medal winners.
Nearly two-thirds of her 106 appearances for the senior women’s national team have ended in clean sheets when Naeher is in goal (64). This stems almost a decade as she got her first shutout in her very first appearance for the U.S., in a win against Argentina in Brazil on Dec. 18, 2014.
Naeher got her start in the professional ranks with the Boston Breakers of the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer in 2010. She was sent to play in the women’s league in Germany and stayed there after the WPSL folded in 2012. She returned to the States to play for the Breakers again — but as part of the new National Women’s Soccer League ahead of the 2014 season. She’s played the last nine years of her career as the goalkeeper for the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars.
