Bianca Henninger Moreno (born 22 October 1990) is an American-born Mexican former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

and the

Mexico women's national football team The Mexico women's national football team represents Mexico on the international stage. The squad is governed by the Mexican Football Federation and competes within CONCACAF, the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associatio ...

Early life

Henninger attended

Archbishop Mitty High School Archbishop Mitty High School (commonly known as Mitty) is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, United States. The school is named for the late John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the ...

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

where she was an NSCAA All-American in 2006 and 2007. She was named a Parade Magazine All-American in 2007 and 2008. Henninger played U-13 to U-18 for the De Anza Strykers, a four-time state cup finalist. She played U- 6 through U-11 with the Central Valley Mercury.

Santa Clara University

Henninger attended

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

. As a freshman in 2008, she played in seven matches for the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed or either gender of horse with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for rod ...

, starting three. As a sophomore in 2009, she started 17 of 19 matches and earned six shutouts. She had one assist on a long punt. Henninger suffered a concussion in the first

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

game of the year and missed four conference games. She earned her first career NCAA Tournament shutout in a 1–0 victory over Michigan State in the first round. During the second round of the NCAA tournament in a match against Oklahoma State, she saved two penalty kicks and scored one in a 6–5 shootout victory. She started 21 games as a junior and 18 games as a senior and was 1st team all-WCC both years.

Club career

Philadelphia Independence

Henninger was selected by the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played its home games at West ...

in the third round (14th overall) of the

2012 WPS Draft The 2012 WPS College Draft took place on January 13, 2012. It was the fourth college draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of college players to the American-based teams. FormatWPS folded in early 2012, Henninger signed with the

New York Fury New York Fury was a semi-professional American women’s soccer club playing in the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States in 2012. It was part of the Fury Soccer Organization which also supports ...

in the

WPSL Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profess ...

FC Kansas City

On 7 February 2013, Henninger was drafted by

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

for the inaugural season of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

Houston Dash

On 13 January 2014, Henninger was traded to the

in exchange for the first pick of the third round (19th overall) in the

2014 NWSL College Draft The 2014 NWSL College Draft was the second annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 17, 2014, at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was ope ...

. Henninger was named Player of the Week for week 7 of the

2015 NWSL season The 2015 National Women's Soccer League season was the third season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (2 ...

after recording eight saves in a 1–0 Houston win over Portland. On January 26, 2020, Henninger announced her retirement from professional soccer.

Loan to Melbourne Victory

In October 2016, Henninger was loaned to

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

for the

2016–17 W-League The 2016–17 W-League season was the ninth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Transfers Foreign players The following do not fill ...

season.

International career

Born in the United States, Henninger was a member of the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all ...

U.S. squad that was eliminated in the quarterfinals. She played in all four games and allowed only two goals. She also played in all 5 games for the Gold Medal-winning U.S. team in the 2010 Concacaf U20 World Cup qualifying tournament in Guatemala, during which she surrendered 2 goals. She played for various U.S. youth teams before 2010, and the U-23's in 2011 and 2012. She attended training camp with the full national team in 2011. Henninger did not play in any senior-level games with the U.S. team, leaving her eligibility open to play with the

, as her mother was born in Mexico. In November 2015, Henninger began training with the Mexico national team. She was called up by the Mexico team in 2016 for the Four Nations Tournament in China. She made her senior debut for Mexico on 4 February 2017 in a 3–2 friendly loss against Canada. Henninger has 4 caps with the national team, sharing goalkeeping duties with teammate

Cecilia Santiago Aurora Cecilia Santiago Cisneros (born 19 October 1994) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Tigres UANL (women) and the Mexico women's national team. By playing in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany at ...

Honors and awards

Henninger received the adidas Golden Glove award while representing the United States with the United States U-20 women's national soccer team at the

in Germany. Henninger received the US Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year award in 2010. NSCAA/Performance Subaru First-Team All-American in 2010 and Third-Team in 2011. Henninger was WCC 1st team All Conference in 2010 and in 2011 was WCC 1st team All Conference in addition to being the conference Goalkeeper of the Year.

Personal life

Henninger is openly lesbian. Proud dog mother to a cute lil pup named Rafa.

References

External links

Bianca Henninger
profile at

*
US Soccer player profile

FC Kansas City player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henninger, Bianca 1990 births Living people Citizens of Mexico through descent Mexican women's footballers Women's association football goalkeepers Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Santa Clara Broncos women's soccer players Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players New York Fury players National Women's Soccer League players FC Kansas City players Houston Dash players A-League Women players Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players Mexico women's international footballers Mexican expatriate women's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Mexican people of American descent Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players Mexican LGBT sportspeople People from Los Gatos, California American women's soccer players Soccer players from San Jose, California United States women's under-20 international soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Australia American sportspeople of Mexican descent LGBT people from California American LGBT sportspeople 21st-century LGBT people