Natalia Kuikka (born 1 December 1995) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

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 Portland Thorns of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Finland National Team.

College career

Florida State University

Kuikka was recruited by Mark Krikorian to join his Florida State University squad for the 2015 season. In her freshman year, she played in a total of 19 games, all as a midfielder, tallying 6 goals and 5 assists. She scored the first goal of her career versus New Mexico State University on 21 August 2015. In the ACC tournament, her goal and two assists earned her the first of her ACC Tournament MVP Awards. Moving to the central defender role beginning her sophomore season, Kuikka helped solidify a defense that allowed a paltry 0.39 GAA. For the second year in a row, she won the ACC Tournament MVP award for her solid defensive play and two shootout penalty kick conversions. After being selected as a team captain, success as the director of the defensive line continued in her junior year. The Seminoles had eight clean sheets including two in the NCAA Tournament. As a senior and team captain, Kuikka anchored the Seminoles defense and led the team to a school-record 16 shutouts, including four in the NCAA Tournament. The final two being in the College Cup versus defending champion Stanford and in the final versus UNC to claim the NCAA Championship. Her efforts garnered her the 2018-9 Honda Sport Award for the top female athlete in NCAA Division I soccer. Kuikka graduated at the end of Fall Semester 2018 with a bachelor's degree in Criminology.

Club career

Portland Thorns FC

On October 29, 2020,

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 ...

announced that they signed Kuikka to a two-year deal, starting in 2021. On September 20, 2022,

announced that they signed Kuikka to a one-year deal, extending her contract through the 2023 season.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC

In January 2019, Kuikka signed with Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in the

Damallsvenskan The Damallsvenskan, Swedish for ''ladies all-Swedish'' and also known as OBOS Damallsvenskan for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is also referred to as the women's Allsvenskan. The term Allsvenskan ...

in Sweden, joining her former Florida State University teammate and Finnish compatriot, Emma Koivisto.

Santa Clarita Blue Heat

In the summer of 2017, Kuikka joined Santa Clarita Blue Heat in the

United Women's Soccer United Women's Soccer (UWS, also commonly abbreviated UWS) is a second-division pro-am women's soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the WPSL and of the fold ...

league. She helped lead the defense to allow only 5 goals in 8 regular season games. She started in the UWS semi-final and final alongside Florida State teammate,

Deyna Castellanos Deyna Cristina Castellanos Naujenis (born 18 April 1999) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Women's Super League club Manchester City and the Venezuela women's national team. Early life Deyna Cristina Castel ...

Seattle Sounders Women

In the summer of 2016, Kuikka joined

Seattle Sounders Women Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle. The team was founded in 2000 as Sea ...

in the

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States and Canada. It is the top amateur league for women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, below only National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). ...

. Alongside Florida State teammates Kaycie Tillman, Megan Connolly, and

Cassie Miller Carissa Xenia Miller (born April 28, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club NJ/NY Gotham FC. Youth career Miller grew up in Arizona and played youth soccer wit ...

, Kuikka helped the team go undefeated in the regular season to become WPSL NW Division Champions.

International career

Senior national team

Kuikka made her debut for the senior Finland National Team for the

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held in Sweden from 10 to 28 July 2013, became the mos ...

. In 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022, she earned the Finland National Player of the Year award.

Youth national teams

Having been capped for the Finnish U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, and U-20 teams, Kuikka also played in the U-20 Women's World Cup in 2014.

Honors

International

* Finland Female National Player of the Year (2022) * Finland Female National Player of the Year (2021) * Finland Female National Player of the Year (2020) * Finland Female National Player of the Year (2017)

Club

Kopparbergs/Goteborg FC *

Svenska Cupen Svenska Cupen (, ''The Swedish Cup'') is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. Svenska Cupen usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also held. Each year 96 teams compe ...

: 2019 * Damallsvenskan Best Back (2020) *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

* NWSL Community Shield:

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup, currently known as the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tournament organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-tier women's league in the United States soccer league system. T ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football exhibition competition. In 2020, it was abolished due to COVID-19 pandemic. Format The format has changed in each competition. Subsequent tournaments have had diffe ...

NWSL Championship The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games can ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

College

* Honda Collegiate Women's Sport Award Winner for Soccer (2018–19) *

NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's national ...

(2018) * College Cup All-Tournament Team (2018) * United Soccer Coaches All-American Third Team (2018) * United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region First Team (2018) * All-ACC Second Team (2018) * ACC All-Tournament Team (2018) * ACC Defensive Player of the Week (October 23, 2018) * MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List (2018) * Team Captain (2018) * United Soccer Coaches All-East Region Second Team (2017) * All-ACC First Team (2017) * MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List (2017) * Team Captain (2017) * NSCAA All-American Third Team (2016) * NSCAA All-Southeast Region First Team (2016) * All-ACC Second Team (2016) * ACC Tournament MVP (2016) * ACC All-Tournament Team (2016) * ACC All-Freshman Team (2015) * ACC Tournament MVP (2015) * ACC All-Tournament Team (2015) * TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI Second Team (2015) * TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week (11/10/15, 11/24/15)

Personal life

Kuikka's hometown is Kemi, Finland. She is the daughter of Heli Kuikka and Hannu Suhonen.