Courtney Lynn Petersen (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a defender for the Houston Dash 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 ...

(NWSL). She played college soccer for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as ''Wahoos'' or ''Hoos'', are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic C ...

. She was selected by the Orlando Pride in the first round of the 2020 NWSL draft.

Early life

Growing up in

Canton, Michigan Canton, officially the Charter Township of Canton, is a charter township of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population of 98,659. Canton Township is Michigan's second most-populated townshi ...

, Petersen played youth soccer as a midfielder for Michigan Hawks ECNL and was voted to numerous ECNL Top-11 squads. In 2014 she was named as an NSCAA Youth All-American. Coming out of high school, Petersen ranked as the No. 23 recruit in the nation by

TopDrawerSoccer.com TopDrawerSoccer.com (TDS) is an American soccer website that is dedicated to youth soccer in the United States. Specifically, the website focuses on Academy soccer, high school soccer, and college soccer in the United States. The website was laun ...

Virginia Cavaliers

In October 2013, Petersen committed to playing college soccer at the University of Virginia. She played four seasons for the

between 2015 and 2019, sitting out the 2016 season to focus fully on national team duty for the

2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 8th edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tourname ...

. Predominantly a left-sided full-back, Petersen proved to be a versatile player during her collegiate career, also playing in midfield. As a freshman she scored a career-high three goals and added another three assists in 22 appearances, ending the year as an

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

All-Freshman team selection. In her senior year, Petersen was an All-Region First Team selection by United Soccer Coaches, a TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Second Team selection and an All-ACC Second Team selection. In the 2018 and 2019 offseasons, Petersen played with hometown WPSL side Motor City FC.

Professional career

Orlando Pride

Petersen was selected in the first round (7th overall) of the

2020 NWSL College Draft The 2020 NWSL College Draft was the eighth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select newly eligible college players for the 2020 NWSL season. It was held on January 16, 2020 in conjunction with the United Soc ...

by Orlando Pride. She signed with the team in March but with the season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, was unable to make her debut until September 19, 2020 in the first Fall Series match, starting in a 0–0 draw with North Carolina Courage. She appeared in all four Fall Series matches, playing the full 90 minutes in each.

Houston Dash

Petersen had a contract offer extended to her by Orlando at the end of the 2022 season but in February 2023, the club agreed to trade her rights to Houston Dash along with a natural third-round pick in the

2024 NWSL Draft The 2024 NWSL Draft presented by Ally will be the twelfth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaini ...

in exchange for $65,000 in allocation money plus an additional $25,000, pending conditions met.

International career

Petersen has represented the United States at under-14, under-15, under-17 and

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

levels, mainly playing as a midfielder. In 2016, Petersen competed at the

, playing two games as the team finished fourth.

Career statistics

College

Club

References

External links

Virginia profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petersen, Courtney 1997 births Living people American women's soccer players Virginia Cavaliers women's soccer players Orlando Pride draft picks Orlando Pride players Women's Premier Soccer League players National Women's Soccer League players Soccer players from Michigan People from Canton, Michigan Sportspeople from Wayne County, Michigan Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders United States women's under-20 international soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players