Emily Townsend Menges (born July 28, 1992) 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 in 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) for

Portland Thorns FC The Portland Thorns FC is an American professional women's soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), which receives support from the Uni ...

, with whom she won the 2016 and 2021

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

and also the 2017 and 2022

NWSL Championship The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games cann ...

s. She also plays for

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 ...

in the Australian W-League. She previously played for the

Long Island Fury Long Island Fury is an American women’s soccer team, founded in 2005. The team is a member of the Women's Premier Soccer League, the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States and Canada. The team plays in the Mid-Atlantic Division of ...

in the second-division

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). T ...

, with whom she won the 2009 national championship.

Early life

Menges was born in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

and attended Garden City High School. She played for the Albertson Fury '91, winning three consecutive Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) State Open Cups from 2009 to 2011.

Georgetown

Menges attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. She finished her college career as one of the most decorated players in program history, earning the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Defensive Player of the Year award and

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...

First Team All-American honors in 2013, in addition to being a three-time All-Big East selection. She captained the Hoyas' defense to 23 shutouts over her final two seasons, including a school-record 13 clean sheets as a junior in 2012. Menges appeared in 84 games (83 starts), scored two goals, and helped the Georgetown defense post 40 shutouts. She was a

MAC Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

semi-finalist in 2012 and 2013.

Playing career

Club

Long Island Fury

Menges played for the

, winning the second-division

(WPSL) national championship in 2009.

Portland Thorns FC, 2014–

selected Menges with the 25th overall pick in the third round of 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 ...

. She made her first appearance with the Thorns on April 12, 2014, helping the team record a shutout in a 1–0 road win against 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 ...

. Menges was a starting centerback for the Thorns when they won the 2016 NWSL Shield and the 2017 NWSL Championship. She has been a favorite of fans, winning the Supporters' Player of the Year award in 2016.

International

In December 2013, Menges was called up to participate in training camp with the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team. In November 2016, Menges was called into training camp with the

U.S. women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles (1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

Awards

Team

Portland Thorns FC *

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football exhibition competition. In 2020, it was abolished due to COVID-19 pandemic. Format The format has changed in each competition. Subsequent tournaments have had diffe ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

: 2017,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

: 2016

* WPSL national championship: 2009

Personal

Professional

NWSL Best XI – 2016 NWSL Second XI – 2017 Team Most Valuable Player (Portland Thorns) – 2016 Supporters' Player of the Year (Portland Thorns) – 2016

College

First Team All-American (

NCSAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of United States, American soccer Coach (sport), coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization i ...

) – 2013

semi-finalist – 2012, 2013

Defensive Player of the Year – 2013

Personal life

Menges is the vice-president of the I'm Not Done Yet Foundation, an organization started by the Menges family after her brother Bobby's death in 2017. I'm Not Done Yet is dedicated to helping pediatric and young adult patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses.

References

External links

Georgetown player profile

Portland Thorns FC player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menges, Emily 1992 births Living people American women's soccer players Georgetown Hoyas women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players People from Garden City, New York Portland Thorns FC draft picks Portland Thorns FC players Soccer players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York Women's association football defenders Garden City High School (New York) alumni