Melissa Moore (; born July 17, 1975) is a retired American soccer player who played for the

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History ...

as a goalkeeper. Widely recognized as one of the league's top goalkeepers, Moore played professionally for the Charge during the

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

's entire three-year run. During her college career, she started in 68 games for the

University of New Mexico Lobos The New Mexico Lobos are the athletic teams that represent the University of New Mexico, located in Albuquerque. The university participates in the NCAA Division I in the Mountain West Conference (MW) since 1999, after leaving the Western Athle ...

Early life and education

Born Melissa Liston in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

, she attended

Bonita High School Bonita High School is a high school located in the city of La Verne, California in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Opened in 1903, it was the first high school in the Bonita Unified School District. It moved to its current campus in 19 ...

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomares ...

. She initially joined the Bonita varsity soccer team as a freshman midfielder, but switched to goalkeeper from her sophomore year onward. In February 1993, she was named to ''

PARADE A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'''s All-America High School Girls Soccer Team. In addition to soccer, she played volleyball, swam, ran track, and played badminton. She graduated from the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

with a degree in psychology, and earned a master's degree in athletic administration at

Illinois State University Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

. At Illinois State, she worked as a graduate assistant coach for the women's soccer team.

College career

In 1993, Liston signed with the

women's soccer team as its first varsity recruit. She was recruited by head coach Amy Allmann, a former player with the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...

(USWNT). During UNM's first season, Liston was named a Far West All-American. At the end of their second season, she was named to the All-West Region second team, finishing second in the region with 130 saves, and a goals-against average of 1.64. In 1995, she was named to the UNM Athletics Hall of Honor as Female Athlete of the Year. By the time she graduated, she had set school records for total number of saves (438) and

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

s (18).

Professional career

After completing her master's degree, Moore contacted the

San Diego Spirit The San Diego Spirit was a professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Torero Stadium on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. The team began play in 2001. The l ...

to inquire about a possible administrative position with the club which was starting in the new

(WUSA) league, but was invited to a local tryout instead. In February 2001, she was invited to join the preseason roster as a walk-on player, making her one of three goalkeepers with the San Diego Spirit, including two international players: Ulrika Karlsson from Sweden and

Jaime Pagliarulo Jaime Pagliarulo (born July 20, 1976) is an American former soccer player who played as a goalkeeper, making three appearances for the United States women's national team. Career Pagliarulo played for the Hershey Trojans in high school, and wa ...

from the USA. During the WUSA spring training tournament, Moore impressed Philadelphia Charge coach

Mark Krikorian Mark Krikorian has been the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration think-tank in Washington, D. C., since 1995. Krikorian is a regular contributor to the conservative publication ''National Re ...

, who signed her after she was waived. ''Soccer Digest'' later referred to Moore as "one of Krikorian's shrewdest acquisitions". On April 22, 2001, Moore started in goal for the

, playing against the San Diego Spirit their inaugural match. She proceeded to shut out her former teammates 2–0 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,155 at

Torero Stadium Torero Stadium is a 6,000-seat multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, located on the campus of the University of San Diego in San Diego, California. Opened in 1961, it serves as the home of the school's football and soccer ...

, in what ''

The San Diego Union Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' called the WUSA's "first fairy tale". She pulled off a second shutout against the Spirit when the two teams met again later that season. Moore started in 9 matches that year with a 5–3–1 record, allowing only 1.01 goals per game, but was sidelined for part of the season due to injury. Her performance during the playoffs was said to be "shaky". During her second season, Moore was widely recognized as one of the top goalkeepers in the league, leading what ''Soccer Digest'' called "a nearly impenetrable defense". Moore started in all but one game, with a record of 11–3–6, bringing the Philadelphia Charge within one game of securing the top position within the WUSA during the regular season, and helping them secure a place in the playoffs. She had the best goals-against average in the league (1.0), had the second highest save percentage (78.18%), and made the third most saves (86). Ahead of the WUSA's third and final season, the Philadelphia Charge's top draft pick was

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

goalkeeper

Hope Solo Hope Amelia Stevens (; born July 30, 1981) is an American former soccer goalkeeper. She was a goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team from 2000 to 2016, and is a World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Aft ...

; ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' commented that the Charge had " etup an interesting situation for the starting spot." While competition between Moore and Solo was intense, Moore remained the Charge's "usual" starting goalkeeper for most of the season.

International career

Moore trained with the

in 1996.

Personal life

As of July 2001, Moore was one of only two Philadelphia Charge players who was married. She was featured along with midfielder Michelle Demko in ''The Makeover Story'', which premiered on

The Learning Channel TLC is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. First established in 1980 as The Learning Channel, it initially focused on educational and instructional programming. By the late 1990s, after an acquisition by the own ...

in October 2001.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Melissa Living people American women's soccer players Women's United Soccer Association players Philadelphia Charge players Women's association football goalkeepers 1975 births New Mexico Lobos women's soccer players