Taylor Nicole Smith (born December 1, 1993) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender 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). She also played for the United States national team at both senior and youth levels. Smith helped lead the

UCLA Bruins women's soccer The UCLA Bruins women's soccer team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of the University of California at Los Angeles. The team is a member of the Pac-12 Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The team won its first n ...

team to its first-ever national title in 2013.

Early life

Born and raised in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

, Smith attended

Fort Worth Country Day School Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD) is a JK-12 private, independent, coeducational, nondenominational college-preparatory school located on approximately 100 acres in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It is accredited by the Independent Schools Associa ...

where she captained the varsity soccer team for three years. She also played field hockey and ran track and field. Smith earned conference honors in both soccer and track. She was ranked as the eighth top national college recruit by Top Drawer Soccer and ESPN. Top Drawer Soccer ranked her as the top recruit in the state of Texas and she was twice named Youth All-American by 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 ...

(NSCAA). The

Fort Worth Star-Telegram The ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' is an American daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and Tarrant County, the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company. History In May 1905, Amon G. Carter ...

named Smith to their Super Team twice. Smith played club soccer for Solar Chelsea. She helped the LA Blues win the

USL W-League The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

title in 2014.

UCLA Bruins, 2012–2015

Smith attended

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 ...

where she played for the Bruins from 2012 to 2015. During her freshman season, she played in all 23 games, starting 17. Her three goals ranked eighth in the Pac-12 Conference and 20 points ranked tenth in points. Smith was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Top Drawer Soccer All-Freshman Team. During her sophomore season, her 8 goals ranked second on the team. Her 11 assists and 26 points both ranked third in the Pac-12. Smith started in 25 of the 26 games in which she played. During the NCAA Division 1 quarterfinals, she scored the game-winning golden goal in double overtime to lift the team past North Carolina and into the semifinals. Her three goals during the tournament helped the team clinch its first NCAA Division 1 College Cup title. Smith was named to the All-Pac-12 first team. During her junior season, Smith started in all 24 games. Her nine goals scored and four game-winning goals tied for second on the team. Her 23 points ranked third on the team and eighth in the conference. As a senior, she co-captained the team and was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.

Club career

Western New York Flash/North Carolina Courage, 2016–2017

Smith was named to 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 Pro ...

opening day roster for the 2016 NWSL season. She made twenty appearances for the club and scored two goals. The team's fourth-place finish during the regular season with a record secured the team a berth to the playoffs. After defeating the

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 ...

4–3 in extra time during the semifinal, the Flash faced the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

in the final and won the game in a penalty kick shootout after finishing 2–2 in extra time. Three months after the win, the Western New York Flash was sold to the ownership group of

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

and moved to

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...

where they became the

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 ...

Washington Spirit, 2018

In January 2018, Smith was traded to the

along with teammate Ashley Hatch in exchange for

Crystal Dunn Crystal Alyssia Soubrier (; born July 3, 1992) is an American soccer player for the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division of women's professional soccer in the United States, and the United States ...

's rights. Prior to the start of the season, Smith was added to the allocated player list by U.S. Soccer. She appeared in 23 games for Washington in the 2018 season.

Loan to Newcastle Jets, 2018

In October 2018, after the conclusion NWSL season, Smith signed with the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

on loan 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 became a key player in her first several appearances, earning the team's Player of the Month honors in November. In mid-December, Smith suffered an ACL tear in the 86th minute against Perth Glory after having registered two assists to fellow on-loan American,

Katie Stengel Katherine Nicole Stengel (born February 29, 1992) is an American soccer player who plays for Liverpool of the Barclays Women's Super League. She previously played for the Boston Breakers, Washington Spirit, the Utah Royals and the Houston Dash in ...

Reign FC, 2019–2020

On March 22, 2019,

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, ...

announced that they had signed Smith through the discovery process for former allocated players. Due to the injury she suffered in the W-League, Smith is not expected to play during the 2019 NWSL season.

North Carolina Courage, 2021–2022

On December 7, 2020, Smith was acquired by

in a trade for Ally Watt. She parted ways with the club on June 21, 2022.

NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2022–

On June 24, 2022,

signed Smith off waivers.

International career

In January 2017, Smith was called into training camp for the

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 ...

for the first time by head coach Jill Ellis. She earned her first cap for the team on July 27 when she started in the right back defender position during a match in Seattle against Australia at the

2017 Tournament of Nations The 2017 Tournament of Nations was the inaugural Tournament of Nations, an international women's football tournament, consisting of a series of friendly games. It was held in the United States, from July 27 to August 3, 2017, and featured four t ...

. Smith was named to the U.S roster for 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 ...

, she started two games as the United States won the tournament for the second time.

Personal life

Smith came out publicly as a lesbian in 2017.

Honors

International

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 ...

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 ...

Club

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 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 ...

College

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 ...

References

External links

U.S. Soccer player profile
*
North Carolina Courage player profile

UCLA player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Taylor 1993 births Living people American women's soccer players UCLA Bruins women's soccer players Western New York Flash players National Women's Soccer League players Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas Soccer players from Texas Women's association football forwards United States women's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina Courage players United States women's international soccer players Women's association football defenders American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from Texas Lesbian sportswomen LGBT association football players LGBT African Americans African-American women's soccer players Washington Spirit players Newcastle Jets FC (A-League Women) players OL Reign players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women