Samantha June Mewis (born October 9, 1992) 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

Kansas City Current Kansas City Current is an American professional women's soccer team based in Kansas City, Kansas. It began play as an expansion team in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2021. History Establishment Kansas City last had an NWSL t ...

of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. She played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

. Her club career started in 2013 when she signed with

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's association football, soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team pl ...

of the W-League and she has since won three NWSL Championship titles with

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Pro ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Weymouth, Massachusetts ("To Work Is to Conquer") , image_map = Norfolk County Massachusetts incorporated and unincorporated areas Weymouth highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in Norfolk County in Massa ...

, to Robert and Melissa Mewis, Samantha grew up in Hanson, Massachusetts, where she attended Whitman-Hanson Regional High School and played on the soccer team, tallying 77 goals and 34 assists during her time there. She grew up with her older sister Kristie, playing soccer for numerous youth teams, including club team, Scorpions SC, as well as the under-17 and under-20 United States national teams. Mewis earned Parade All-American honors twice during her high school years and was named the

National Soccer Coaches Association of America 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 3 ...

national player of the year in 2010. In 2011, she was named Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the second time after receiving the accolade previously for 2009–10. The same year, she was named ESPN RISE All-American after scoring 30 goals and serving 8 assists during her senior year.

UCLA Bruins

In her first year, Mewis was second on the team in scoring with six goals and seven assists, only bested by current

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

member

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 ...

and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Due to national team commitments, Sam missed the first six games of her second season, but finished the year with three goals and three assists in 16 games. In her junior year, Mewis helped

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

win the Pac-12 championship on the way to its first

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

. In December 2014, she was named the winner of the 2015 Honda Award for soccer by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA).

Club career

Pali Blues

In 2013, Mewis signed with the

in the W-League. The team won the western conference title as well as the national championship in July 2013.

Western New York Flash, 2015–2016

Mewis was selected fourth overall by the

in the 2015 National Women's Soccer League entry draft. She started all 20 regular-season games for the Flash, scoring 4 goals and providing 4 assists to share the top of the team scoring leaderboard with Lynn Williams. On September 9, 2015, the NWSL announced that Mewis was selected as a finalist for the NWSL Rookie of the Year Award for the 2015 season, along with

Sofia Huerta Sofia Christine Huerta (born December 14, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right back for OL Reign in the National Women's Soccer League and the U.S. women's national soccer team. Huerta played collegiately for t ...

and the eventual winner, Danielle Colaprico. In the 2016 season, Mewis missed several games as she was away training with the U.S. WNT in preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Western New York Flash finished fourth in the standings and qualified for the play-offs. In the semi-final, Mewis scored a goal in the 16th minute helping the Western New York Flash to upset the Shield winning Portland Thorns. In the NWSL Championship game Mewis once again scored a goal. The Championship game went to penalties, Mewis missed her penalty but the flash went on to win the Championship, winning the penalty shootout 3–2.

North Carolina Courage, 2017–2020

It was announced on January 9, 2017, that the Western New York Flash was officially sold to new ownership, moved to North Carolina, and rebranded as the

. Mewis had a very successful 2017 season, as she appeared in every game for the Courage, tallying 6 goals and 3 assists. She was named to the NWSL Best XI and was a finalist for the NWSL Most Valuable Player Award. Mewis missed the beginning of the 2018 season as she was recovering from a knee injury. She appeared in 17 regular season games, as the Courage won their second consecutive NWSL Shield. In the play-offs, Mewis was in the starting line-up for the semi-final match against the

Chicago Red Stars The Chicago Red Stars are a professional women's soccer club based in Bridgeview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league, they have played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) sin ...

and scored a goal in the 86th minute. North Carolina won 2–0 and advanced to their second straight championship game. She played all 90 minutes in the NWSL Championship game as the Courage defeated the Portland Thorns 3–0. Mewis has now won two NWSL Championships. Due to her participation in the 2019 World Cup, Mewis only appeared in 12 regular season games for the Courage in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. North Carolina won the NWSL Shield for the third consecutive season. They advanced to the final after defeating

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, ...

in the semi-final. Mewis scored a goal in the championship game as North Carolina defeated the

4–0 to win their second consecutive NWSL Championship. With the 2020 season affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Mewis took part in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, making five appearances and scoring one goal as North Carolina topped the standings in the preliminary round but were eliminated in the first knockout round by #8 seed

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 ...

Manchester City, 2020–2021

On August 10, 2020, Mewis signed with Manchester City of the English FA WSL ahead of the 2020–21 season. She made her competitive debut for the club at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

on August 29 as a 68th minute substitute during a 2–0 defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the 2020 Women's FA Community Shield. In total, Mewis made 32 appearances and scored 16 goals including the winner against Arsenal in the semi-final of the delayed

2019–20 Women's FA Cup The 2019–20 Women's FA Cup was the 50th staging of the Women's FA Cup, a knockout cup competition for women's football teams in England. Manchester City were the defending champions, having beaten West Ham United 3–0 in the previous final. Th ...

and again in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

as Manchester City beat Everton 3–1 in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

to defend their title. City finished second in the league for the fourth consecutive season, this time losing out to

. Mewis was named to the FA WSL PFA Team of the Year at the end of the season.

North Carolina Courage, 2021

On May 17, 2021, Mewis rejoined

Kansas City Current, 2022–present

On November 30, 2021, Mewis was traded to

in exchange for Kiki Pickett and the No. 3 overall pick in the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the Nationa ...

International career

Mewis was a member of the United States under-17 team that was runner-up at the 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in New Zealand. As her sister Kristie was also a member of the team, they were the first sisters to represent the United States at a Women's World Cup. They also played together at the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from al ...

. At the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Mewis helped the team win the championship after defeating

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

1–0 in the final. On January 24, 2014, Mewis was named for the first time to the senior national team roster for friendlies against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. She made her debut for the team at the

2014 Algarve Cup The 2014 Algarve Cup was the 21st edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It took place between 5–12 March 2014. Format The twelve invited teams are split into three groups that played ...

during the team's second match of the tournament, a 1–0 loss to Sweden. After a spell out of the team, Mewis was invited back to the senior team following their success at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

. She continued to get regular playing time, scoring four goals in 2016 including the winning goal against Germany in the 2016 She Believes Cup that won the United States the trophy. Mewis was named as an alternate for the U.S. WNT for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2017 Mewis was one of three players to appear in every game for the U.S. WNT., she played 1,242 minutes which was second highest on the team. She scored three goals and was a finalist for 2017 U.S Female Player of the Year. Mewis suffered a knee injury in a November 2017 game against Canada, which would sideline her for the beginning of 2018, forcing her to miss the

2018 SheBelieves Cup The 2018 SheBelieves Cup was the third edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's soccer tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Germany, England, France, and hosts United States, it began on March 1 and en ...

. Mewis returned to the field for the U.S. in June 2018 in a friendly against China. In September 2018 she was named to the final 20 player roster of the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship. In May 2019, Mewis was named to the final 23-player roster for the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. I ...

. She played in 6 out of 7 matches, including the

, and scored two goals, both as part of a 13–0 group stage victory over

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. The United States won the 2019 World Cup after defeating the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2–0. In 2020, Mewis played in 8 of the 9 matches for the USA, started 6 matches, and scored 4 goals. In December 2020, Mewis was named the 2020 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year for the first time. She is the 17th player to win the award. On January 18, 2021, Mewis scored her first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

for either club or country in a 4–0 friendly win against Colombia. Her sister Kristie scored the only other goal.

Personal life

Mewis' sister, Kristie, also plays for the

and plays professionally 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 ...

. In late December 2018, Mewis married longtime boyfriend Pat Johnson in Boston, Massachusetts. Following the United States' win at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, Mewis and her teammates were honored with a

Ticker tape parade A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker ta ...

in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio. After winning the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, Mewis revealed that while she was young, her father, Bob Mewis, would pick up side jobs to be able to afford her and her sister's soccer expenses.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Mewis goal.''

Honors

UCLA * NCAA Women's Soccer Championship:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Western New York Flash * NWSL Champions:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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 ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Manchester City *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup Competition is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup and now Women's FA Cup (Vitality Women's FA Cup for sponsorship rea ...

: 2019–20 United States U20 * FIFA U20 Women's World Cup:

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 gat ...

CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship is an association football competition for women's national under-20 teams in the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. It serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's ...

United States * FIFA Women's World Cup:

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship (previously known as the CONCACAF Women's Championship, CONCACAF Women's Invitational Tournament, CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup and CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying) is a football competition organized by the Confede ...

CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament The CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament was an international football (soccer) event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, and was the qualification tournament for the Olympic Games. Women's football tourname ...

;

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 ...

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

;

*Tournament of Nations:

* Olympic Bronze Medal:

Individual * U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year: 2020 *NWSL Best XI:

*ESPN FC Women's Rank: #1 on the 2021 list of 50 best women's soccer players * FA WSL PFA Team of the Year: 2020–21 * Honda Sports Award 2015

References

;Match reports

External links

*
US Soccer player profile

North Carolina Courage player profile

UCLA player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mewis, Samantha 1992 births Living people United States women's international soccer players UCLA Bruins women's soccer players American women's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Soccer players from Massachusetts Pali Blues players National Women's Soccer League players Western New York Flash players Sportspeople from Weymouth, Massachusetts Women's association football midfielders Western New York Flash draft picks United States women's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina Courage players Whitman-Hanson Regional High School alumni 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Manchester City W.F.C. players Women's Super League players American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Kansas City Current players