Michelle Jenny Betos (born February 20, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

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 ...

for

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 ...

of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Betos previously played for Vålerenga, Apollon Limassol,

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 ...

New York Fury New York Fury was a semi-professional American women’s soccer club playing in the Women's Premier Soccer League Elite, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States in 2012. It was part of the Fury Soccer Organization which also supports ...

OL Reign OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

, and

Racing Louisville FC Racing Louisville Football Club is a National Women's Soccer League team based in Louisville, Kentucky. It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team is owned by Soccer Holdings LLC, which also owns Louisville City FC of the USL Cham ...

. In 2015, while playing for Portland, Betos won the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year award.

Early life

Born in

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

to parents Luke and Susan Betos, Michelle began playing soccer at age five. She attended St. Francis Preparatory School in the

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

borough of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

. She was a two-year captain on the soccer team and was named 2005 Most Valuable Player. She played for the Albertson Fury '87 from 2004 to 2006 and was a member of the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team in 2006. In 2005, she was named an ENYSSA State Team player and participated in the Super Y-League Olympic Development Program (ODP) National Camp.

University of Georgia

Betos attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. She finished her college career with a total of 316 saves, ranking third all-time at Georgia and second in shutout count (26) and win totals (48). During her senior year, she started all 22 games, logging 1,929 minutes and earned eight shutouts and a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.12 per game. Her junior year, she appeared in all 23 games making 22 starts. She recorded seven shutouts and a 1.19 GAA, finishing the season with 117 saves. Betos was named SEC All-Tournament Team and SEC Defensive Player of the Week on October 21, 2008. In 2007, she started all 24 games, finishing with 18 wins, eight shutouts and a 0.79 GAA. She recorded a save percentage of .816, making 84 saves and allowing 19 goals. She was named the team's Defensive Most Valuable Player. During her freshman year, Betos appeared in 12 games in goal, making eight starts. She led Georgia in GAA (1.18), save percentage (.732), fewest goals allowed (11), wins (5), shutouts (3) and saves (30). She was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team the same year.

Club career

Atlanta Silverbacks

Betos played for the Atlanta Silverbacks of the W-League during the 2009 season. She was named W-League Goalkeeper of the Year after leading the Atlanta Silverbacks to the regular season Southeast Division title. She finished the season with a 9–1–1 record and the team finished 10–1–1. She ranked second in the league for her 0.188 goals-against average, nine wins and nine shutouts.

New York Fury

Betos signed with the

in the

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 ...

for the 2012 season.

Apollon Limassol

Betos signed with Apollon Limassol in the

UEFA Women's Champions League 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. The ...

for the 2012–2013 season. She recorded five appearances for the team for a total of 450 minutes.

Seattle Reign FC

Betos was selected by the

Seattle Reign FC OL Reign is an American professional women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). In 2020, ...

during the

2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft The 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft took place on February 7, 2013. Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 See also * List of NWSL drafts * List of foreign NWSL players References External links NWSL Supplemental Draft to Comme ...

as their fifth pick (34th pick overall). She was the starting goalkeeper for seven of the club's matches during the beginning of the 2013 season before Hope Solo returned from wrist surgery recovery. Betos made 34 saves and registered a 2.0 goals against average.

Portland Thorns FC

In the 2013–14 offseason, Seattle traded Betos and

Kristie Mewis Kristen Anne Mewis (born February 25, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. Early life Mewis grew up in Hans ...

to the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

for

Sydney Leroux Sydney Rae Leroux (; born May 7, 1990) is a professional soccer player and Olympic gold medalist who currently plays as a forward for Angel City FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in Canada to a Canadian mother and an Americ ...

. Boston soon traded Betos to Portland for the thirty-fourth pick in the 2014 NWSL College Draft. Initially serving as a backup to Nadine Angerer, Betos made 14 starts during the 2015 season. On June 19, 2015, Betos scored the equalizing goal for 10-man Portland in the 95th minute against FC Kansas City. This was the first ever goal scored by a goalkeeper in the NWSL. Her goal was featured on

ESPN SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is a daily sports news television program that serves as the flagship program and brand of American cable and satellite television network ESPN. The show covers various sports teams and athletes from around the world and ...

as the #2 play during the show's Top 10 feature. She was subsequently named

NWSL Player of the Week The National Women's Soccer League Player of the Week is a weekly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League. The honor is awarded to the player deemed to have put in the best performances over the past week by ...

. Following the season, she was named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year. Betos was part of the 2016 Thorns team that won the

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

Sydney FC

In September 2015, Betos joined Sydney FC on loan for the 2015–16 season.

Vålerenga

Betos signed with Norwegian

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

side

Vålerenga Fotball Damer Vålerenga Fotball Damer is the women's football branch of Vålerenga Fotball. Based in Oslo, the team plays in Norway's top league, Toppserien. The team first won promotion to Toppserien in 2011 after earning promotion from the First Divi ...

in 2017.

Return to Seattle Reign FC

On January 30, 2018,

announced that Betos would be returning to the club for the 2018 National Women's Soccer League season.

Racing Louisville FC

On November 12, 2020, Betos was selected by

in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft.

NJ/NY Gotham FC

Betos returned to the New York metro area by signing with

on January 11, 2022.

References

External links

*
Georgia player profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Betos, Michelle Living people 1988 births Sportspeople from Queens, New York Soccer players from New York City American women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players OL Reign players New York Fury players Portland Thorns FC players Fortuna Hjørring players Sydney FC (A-League Women) players Racing Louisville FC players Georgia Bulldogs women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate women's footballers in Denmark Expatriate women's footballers in Argentina Apollon Ladies F.C. players Women's association football goalkeepers Atlanta Silverbacks Women players Vålerenga Fotball Damer players Boston Aztec (WPSL) players Women's Premier Soccer League players Club Atlético River Plate (women) players OL Reign draft picks American expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus American expatriate sportspeople in Denmark American expatriate sportspeople in Argentina NJ/NY Gotham FC players