Samantha Martel Johnson (born June 10, 1991) is an American

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 ...

defender. She has previously played for

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 ...

clubs

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

Utah Royals FC Utah Royals FC was an American women's professional soccer club based in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah. Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion club, the Royals played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2018 ...

and for Australian W-League clubs

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

, and Melbourne City.

College career

University of Southern California

Johnson attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

from 2009 and 2012, where she played as a forward. In her freshman season, Johnson appeared in 20 games, starting 19 of them. She was second on the team in goals with four and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team. In 2010 Johnson appeared in all 22 games for the

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

. Johnson started all 20 games of her junior year in 2011 and scored the fasted goal in program history, 14 seconds into the match. In the final match of her senior year, Johnson scored the game-winning goal in a 2–1 win over rivals

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). ...

Club career

Chicago Red Stars (2014–2018)

In March 2014, Johnson joined the

in the

for preseason, after attending their 2014 Open Tryouts. Johnson was named to the team's official roster for 2014 and appeared in twelve games and tallied one assist. She suffered facial lacerations in a game against the

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 Profess ...

on June 18, which ended her rookie season. In 2015 Johnson appeared in 14 games for the Red Stars. Chicago qualified for the play-offs for the first time in 2015, Johnson appeared as second-half substitute in their semi-final match against

FC Kansas City FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champions ...

, Chicago lost 3–0. Johnson started 20 games for Chicago in 2016, as the Red Stars were eliminated in the semi-final for the second consecutive season. In 2017 she was the starting centre-back alongside

Katie Naughton Kathleen Camille Lind (; born February 15, 1994) is an American professional soccer defender who plays for Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played collegiate soccer for the University of Notre Dame. Club career Yo ...

and she appeared in 22 games. Johnson was named to the team of the month for June 2017. On June 16, 2018, Johnson along with teammates

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 the ...

and

Taylor Comeau Taylor Kay Rene Comeau (born July 21, 1993) is an American retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. She played for Portland Thorns FC, Chicago Red Stars, and Houston Dash in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Early life Taylor Co ...

were made unavailable for the Red Stars match due to a pending trade. On June 18 she was traded to the Utah Royals as part of a three team trade.

Loan to Sydney FC

In September 2014, it was announced that Johnson was to be loaned to

in the W-League.

Loan to Melbourne Victory

In October 2016, Johnson was loaned to

for the

2016–17 W-League The 2016–17 W-League season was the ninth season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Transfers Foreign players The following do not fill ...

season. Johnson returned to the Victory for the

2018–19 W-League The 2018–19 W-League season was the eleventh season of the W-League, the Australian national women's association football competition. Clubs Stadia and locations Personnel and kits Managerial changes Transfers Foreign players Th ...

season, she appeared in 12 matches for Melbourne as they won the Premiership as the top team during the regular season. In the W-League semi-final against

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Johnson received two yellow cards and was sent off in extra-time, Melbourne lost to Perth 4–2 (aet).

Utah Royals FC (2018–2019)

After being acquired by the

midseason, Johnson made her debut for the Royals on June 30 in a 3–1 win against

Sky Blue 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 2013 ...

, she started and played all 90 minutes at centre-back. Johnson made six appearances for the Royals in 2018. Johnson appeared in eight games for the Royals in 2019. She announced her retirement from professional soccer on June 28, 2019.

Melbourne City (2020–2021)

In November 2020, Johnson decided to return to the game, signing with Australian W-League club Melbourne City.

Soyaux (2021)

In July 2021, Johnson joined French club

Soyaux Soyaux ( or ) is a commune in the Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Population Notable people * Bruno Périer (born 1966), former professional footballer Sights * Sentier botanique de Soyaux See ...

. She left the club in October 2021 following alleged poor working conditions.

International career

Johnson represented the United States at the U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels. In 2008, Johnson was named to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

roster for the

2008 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship The 2008 CONCACAF Under-17 Women's Championship was the first tournament of this type in Concacaf the tournament was held in Trinidad and Tobago from July 17–27, 2008. The first, second and third placed teams qualified for the 2008 FIFA U ...

, the U.S. won the Championship for the first time. Johnson was named to the roster for the

2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is the first women's football U-17 World Cup in FIFA history. It was held in New Zealand from 28 October to 16 November 2008. It is the officially recognized world championship for women's under-17 national ...

, where the United States finished second after losing in extra time to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

in the Championship game.

Honors

Melbourne Victory * W-League Premiership: 2018–19

References

External links

Chicago Red Stars player profile

Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Samantha 1991 births Living people American women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars players Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Melbourne Victory FC (A-League Women) players National Women's Soccer League players People from Palmdale, California Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Los Angeles County, California Sydney FC (A-League Women) players Melbourne City FC (A-League Women) players ASJ Soyaux-Charente players USC Trojans women's soccer players A-League Women players Women's association football defenders Utah Royals FC players African-American women's soccer players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women