Kendall Elizabeth Johnson (born April 24, 1991) is an American professional

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known simply as women's football or women's soccer, is a team sport of association football when played by women only. It is played at the women's professional sports, professional level in multiple c ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and defender. She played for the

United States U-23 women's national soccer team The United States U-23 women's national soccer team is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is the development of players in preparation for the full Women's National Team. The team competes in a va ...

Early life

Kendall was born and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and attended Lincoln High School where she was a four-year letter-winner. In 2008, she was named ESPN First Team All-America and the Gatorade State Player of the Year. She was a two-time state player of the year in 2007 and 2008 and was a three-time all-state honoree and two-time

Portland Interscholastic League The Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) is a high school athletic conference in Portland, Oregon that is a member of the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA). It consists of high schools in the Portland Public Schools (Oregon), Portland Pub ...

Player of the Year. As a junior in 2007, her high school team went undefeated at 18–0–0 as she scored 12 goals and served 15 assists. Johnson led Lincoln to state titles in 2007 and 2008. The team was ranked third nationally and first regionally in the 2007 NSCAA High School rankings. It was ranked second nationally in 2008. As a senior, Johnson scored 16 goals and provided nine assists as captain of the team. She was also named the team's most valuable player. Johnson played club soccer for FC Portland Sapphire from 2001 to 2009. The team was

USYSA The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer) is the largest youth affiliate and member of U.S. Soccer, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 State Associations, one per state except fo ...

Region IV finalists in 2007, semifinalists in 2005 as well as three-time state champions in 2005, 2007, 2008.

University of Portland

Johnson attended the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

where she played for the

Pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

from 2009 to 2012. As a freshman in 2009, she played in 21 games starting 16, scored three goals and provided three assists. She was named to the All-West Coast Conference Second Team and was on the WCC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, she redshirted the season for medical reasons. During her junior year in 2010, she made 15 appearances for the Pilots, starting 13 games. She scored two goals and provided three assists. She assisted on the game's only goal in a 1–0 victory over Santa Clara and scored the game-winning goal against San Francisco. Johnson posted four points with the game-winner and two assists in Portland's 9–0 victory over University of Texas San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. She was named to the All-WCC Second Team and was a WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention. She postponed her senior year in college to play soccer professionally.

Club career

Sky Blue FC

In January 2013, she was drafted in the second round (twelfth pick overall) of the

2013 NWSL College Draft The 2013 NWSL College Draft was the first annual college draft held by the National Women's Soccer League to assign the NWSL rights of college players to the eight NWSL teams. It took place on January 18, 2013 at the National Soccer Coaches Asso ...

Sky Blue 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 2013 ...

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 ...

Western Sydney Wanderers

On September 19, 2014, Johnson signed for the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

Portland Thorns FC

On January 14, 2015,

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 ...

acquired the rights to Johnson from

in exchange for the 25th and 34th overall selections in the 2015 National Women's Soccer League College Draft.

International career

Johnson has represented the United States at the U-20 and U-23 levels. She was first called into train with the U-20 team in December 2009. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the

2010 CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship The 2010 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the fifth edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. The tournament was hosted by Guatemala, and all matches were played at the Estadio Cementos Progreso. The United States were the defending ...

in Guatemala and played at 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 ...

in Germany.

References

External links

Kendall Johnson
profile at

*
US Soccer player profile

Portland player profile

podcast
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kendall 1991 births American podcasters Living people Portland Pilots women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players NJ/NY Gotham FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (A-League Women) players American women's soccer players Soccer players from Portland, Oregon Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders NJ/NY Gotham FC draft picks United States women's under-20 international soccer players Portland Thorns FC players American women podcasters