Michele Kathryn Dalton (born November 5, 1988) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, who currently plays for Apollon Ladies of the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

Early life

Dalton was three-time all-conference, all-area and all-sectional selection at

John Hersey High School John Hersey High School (also referred to as Hersey or JHHS) is a four-year public high school located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago in the United States. It enrolls students from Arlington Heights as well as parts ...

. She played her youth club soccer for

Chicago Eclipse Select The Eclipse Select Soccer Club or just Eclipse, is an American soccer club for boys and girls in the Chicago metropolitan area. Founded in 1996, Eclipse has teams in local, regional, and national competitions, including the Elite Clubs National Le ...

during the 2006–2008 seasons. Prior to that, she played for a small, local club Mount Prospect Green and White S.C. from 1993 to 2006.

University of Wisconsin

Michele Dalton attended

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

between 2007 and 2011. As a starter between 2009 and 2011, she recorded 5528 minutes in 58 matches, with 54 goals against at an average of 0.879 per match, 29 wins and 13 ties. Dalton was 2011 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year, 1st Team All-Conference, NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region 2nd Team and two time team MVP. In 2008, Dalton was Academic All-Big Ten.

Records (Wisconsin).

Saves/game: 7th all-time (12 saves – September 20, 2009), 10th all-time (11 saves – October 7, 2011) Saves/season: 3rd all-time (98 saves – 2011) and 5th all-time (95 saves – 2009) GAA/season: 4th all-time (0.470 – 2010) and 9th all-time (0.960 – 2011) Shutouts/season: 5th all-time (11 shutouts – 2010) and 11th all-time (7 shutouts – 2009) Saves/career: 5th all-time – 273 saves, Saves/game in career: 2nd all-time – 4.707, GAA/career: 6th all-time – .879, Shutouts/career: 5th all-time – 24

Records (Big Ten Conference)

Season Shutouts: 11 (2010) Season Fewest Goals Allowed: 9 (2010) Season GAA: 0.47 (2010)

Amateur career

San Diego United

During the 2009 and 2010 summer's, Dalton played for San Diego United of the WPSL where she was 2009 Goalkeeper of the Year and 2009 All-Pacific Team. Dalton United

Madison 56ers

In the summer of 2011, Dalton played for the

Madison 56ers Madison 56ers is an American soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 2005, the team plays in the United Premier Soccer League. Prior to the 2009 season the team was known as the Princeton 56ers. Since their inception t ...

of the WPSL.

Philadelphia Fever

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Dalton played for Philadelphia Fever in

Women's Premier Soccer League Elite The Women's Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL Elite) was a women's semi-professional soccer league created by the Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) to support the sport in the United States, both from continued interest by WPSL teams in profess ...

Professional career

UMF Selfoss

In 2013 Dalton played for

UMF Selfoss Ungmennafélag Selfoss, commonly known as Selfoss or UMF Selfoss, is an Icelandic multisport club, located in the town of Selfoss in the Southern Region. In May 2019, the Selfoss men's handball team won the national handball championship for ...

in the Icelandic top division. Dalton posted five shutouts in 17 matches and helped the side finish sixth in a ten team league. She was voted team MVP for her efforts.

Kvarnsvedens IK

In 2014 Dalton played for

Kvarnsvedens IK Kvarnsvedens IK is a Swedish football club located in Borlänge in Dalarna County. Background Football was first played in 1907 under the name Kvarnsvedens GOIF and this continued until 1935 when operations were shut down for financial reasons. ...

in Swedish second division, with 7 shutouts, 1.19 goal against average, and helped the team to fifth-place among 14 teams.

Chicago Red Stars

On April 16, 2015 Chicago Red Stars announced the signing of Michele Dalton for 2015 season in

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 ...

. Concluding the regular season, Dalton led the league in GAA (0.917), finished second overall in shutouts (5), and led the Chicago Red Stars to a franchise best 2nd-place finish.

North Carolina Courage

On May 18, 2018

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 F ...

announced the signing of Michele Dalton as a Goalkeeper replacement for injured Goalkeeper

Sabrina D'Angelo Sabrina Victoria D'Angelo (born May 11, 1993) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Canada national team. D'Angelo was selected 21st overall in the 2015 NWSL College Dra ...

Apollon LFC

During the 2018/2019 season, Dalton played for Apollon LFC in Cypriot first division. Appearing in 17 matches, Dalton led Apollon to a league championship and a UEFA Women's Champions League qualification.

Personal

Michele Dalton grew up in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, attended

and calls Mount Prospect her hometown. While at

Michele was not only successful in the class-room and on the soccer-field, she also created a campus-wide food drive called the "Red and White Hunger Fight". RWHF Dalton

Honors and awards

Michele is a four time recipient of the Community Service Award presented to student athletes at the

. Dalton is also a six time Big Ten Player of the Week: September 28, 2009, September 20, 2009, September 27, 2009, October 4, 2010, October 10, 2011, and October 24, 2011. Michele Dalton was a Wooden Cup honorable mention in 2009 and a

Student Athlete of the Year Nominee in 2011. In January 2016, Dalton was named a finalist for the CONCACAF Female Goalkeeper of the Year award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton, Michele 1988 births American women's soccer players Living people National Women's Soccer League players Chicago Red Stars players Women's association football goalkeepers Wisconsin Badgers women's soccer players People from Mount Prospect, Illinois Soccer players from Cook County, Illinois Philadelphia Fever (WPSL) players