Lauren Landy Mertz (born July 19, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

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 ...

for the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage is a professional women's soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina. It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acquired National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchise rights from the Western New York ...

of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the

Dayton Flyers The Dayton Flyers are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Dayton of Dayton, Ohio. All Flyers intercollegiate sports teams participate at the NCAA Division I level. The football team competes in the Division I FCS non-schola ...

and

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

. She was selected by the Courage in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Early life

Mertz grew up in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, the youngest of four children born to Kelly () and Rob Mertz. Her father played college soccer for

Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-profession ...

; her brother

Robbie Robbie or Robby is a surname. It is usually encountered as a nickname or a shortened form of Robert, Rob or Robin. The name experienced a significant rise in popularity in Northern Ireland in 2003. People Given name Robbie * Robbie Amell (born ...

has played professionally for the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

and

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional ...

; and her brother Ryan played in college for

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

. Mertz recorded 56 goals and 30 assists in her high school career at

Upper St. Clair High School Upper St. Clair High School (USCHS) is a public secondary school in Upper St. Clair Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania and the sole high school within Upper St. Clair School District, the township's namesake ...

. As a freshman in 2015, she helped the Panthers win the PIAA championship and was named the team's Rookie of the Year. She was the team's most valuable player as a sophomore, then captained the team in her last two seasons, though she missed much of her junior year with an ankle injury. In her senior year in 2018, she scored 20 goals and had 15 assists, leading the team to reach the

WPIAL The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Int ...

semifinals, and was named the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

'' Girls' Soccer Player of the Year and All-American by the

United Soccer Coaches 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 ...

. She played club soccer for Century FC and the Riverhounds Academy, with which she won the

US Club Soccer US Club Soccer is a national organization and member of the United States Soccer Federation that works to develop and support soccer clubs in the United States. It was founded in 2001 as the National Association of Competitive Soccer Clubs (N ...

National Cup in 2015.

College career

Mertz played one season at the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...

in 2019, scoring three goals and adding two assists, and was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference's All-Rookie Team. After that season, she transferred to her hometown

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

; coach

Randy Waldrum Randy Marlon Waldrum (born September 25, 1956) is an American former professional soccer player, the current head coach of University of Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team and is the current head coach of the Nigeria women's national team ...

said the program wanted to recruit Mertz earlier, but she had already committed to Dayton. She scored three goals in two appearances in 2020–21, then led the Panthers with seven assists in fifteen games in 2021. She helped Pittsburgh qualify for their first NCAA tournament in 2022, where they lost to

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

in the third round, and set a program record with 14 wins. The next year, Pittsburgh reached the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, again losing to Florida State, who also beat them in the ACC tournament semifinals. The team surpassed last year's record with 17 wins, and Mertz set a program record with 14 assists on the season. She was named to the All-ACC third team in her last two seasons.

Club career

The

drafted Mertz with the 52nd overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NWSL Draft. She signed a three-year contract with the team in March 2024.

References

External links

Landy Mertz
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mertz, Landy Living people 2000 births Soccer players from Pittsburgh American women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders Dayton Flyers women's soccer players Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer players North Carolina Courage draft picks North Carolina Courage players 21st-century American sportswomen