Gina Loren Lewandowski (born April 13, 1985) is an American former soccer player.

University career

Lewandowski played her collegial soccer at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...

, where she was named Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year (2004, 2005) and Patriot League Rookie of the Year (2003), she was led all scorers in League 2004 year with eight goals and 16 points. She finished her college career with 36 goals and 8 assists in 70 games. Then played 2006 for Northampton Laurels.

Professional career

Following university Lewandowski tried outs for two teams in Germany, heading overseas on May 22, 2007. Her desire to play lead her to "... go over and see where it takes me," Lewandowski said, "It's just a leap of faith."

1. FFC Frankfurt

Following a successful trial, the four-time All- Patriot League moved to

1. FFC Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt. Eintracht have won sev ...

with fellow American Alexandra Krieger on July 30, 2007. While at Frankfurt Lewandowski won the treble in 2007–08 (Bundesliga-Pokal-Champions League). She helped Frankfurt win the Pokal again in 2011. Lewandowski also went on to another Champion's League final in 2011–12, losing to

Olympique Lyon Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, ...

Western New York Flash

Lewandowski left Frankfurt to play one season in the

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS) league in the summer of 2011. She appeared 8 times for the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

and helped the club win both the league and the

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. The WPS folded in the following off-season.

Bayern Munich

Lewandowski returned to Germany following the WPS, this time with Bayern Munich. From 2012 to 2019, she appeared in 119 times for the club in regular season games, scoring 18 times. Along with Bayern she won the Frauen-

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

two more times in 2015 and 2016.

NJ/NY Gotham FC

Lewandowski signed with

NJ/NY Gotham FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 201 ...

, a National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team based in New Jersey, 90 minutes from where she grew up, on May 7, 2019. In January 2020, she signed a new one-year contract. On May 30, 2022, she announced her plans to retire in July 2022.

International career

May 9, 2012, Lewandowski called up for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

match against China. On October 25, 2015, at age 30, Lewandowski earned her only cap for the

in an international friendly (Victory Tour) match against Brazil, coming off the bench in the 74th minute to play left wingback.

Personal

Lewandowski, who was born in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, was raised in nearby

Coopersburg, Pennsylvania Coopersburg is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The population of Coopersburg was 2,447 as of the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Allentown and is located miles southeast of Allentown, north of Philadelphia, and west of New York City ...

and graduated from

Allentown Central Catholic High School Allentown Central Catholic High School (ACCHS) is a private, parochial school located at 301 North Fourth Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown, ACCHS predominantly serves students from the Lehigh ...

. She received a degree in biology at

. Gina has Polish ancestry and shares her surname with

Robert Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski (; born 21 August 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Barcelona and captains the Poland national team. Recognised for his positioning, technique and finishing, Lewandowski is co ...

, a star for Bayern Munich men's team during the same period, although the two are not known to be related.

Honors and awards

Club

1. FFC Frankfurt *

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. T ...

(1): Winner 2007–08 *

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considere ...

(2): Winner 2007–08,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

(1): Winner 2007–08 Bayern München *

(2): Winner 2014–15, 2015–16

Individual

*2003: Patriot League Rookie of the Year *2004: Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year *2005: Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year

References

External links

*
Offizielle Homepage des 1.FFC FrankfurtGina Lewandowski at LehighGina Lewandowski Official blog on Women's Soccer United
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewandowski, Gina 1985 births Living people Allentown Central Catholic High School alumni FC Bayern Munich (women) players Lehigh Mountain Hawks women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players 1. FFC Frankfurt players Western New York Flash players American expatriate soccer players in Germany American women's soccer players Frauen-Bundesliga players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders American people of Polish descent NJ/NY Gotham FC players National Women's Soccer League players American expatriate women's soccer players Women's Professional Soccer players Sportspeople from Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Charlotte Lady Eagles players USL W-League (1995–2015) players