Kipp Christian Keller (born July 14, 2000) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

club

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

Career

Youth and college

Keller played high school soccer at

The Principia The Principia is an educational institution historically affiliated with Christian Science. It is located on two campuses in the St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area of the United States. Principia School, located in Town and Country, West S ...

in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was named First-team All-State selection, helping to lead them to a state championship his freshman year. Keller also played club soccer with the

Saint Louis FC Saint Louis FC was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded in May 2014, and competed in the USL Championship. The team played their matches at West Community Stadium, a venue inside the World Wide ...

academy, where he helped the U-19 side advance to the

USSDA The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

playoffs in 2018. He signed an academy contract with

in 2019, making a single appearance for the club in the

US Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

on May 29, 2019, against

Forward Madison Forward Madison FC is an American professional soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in 2019. The team competes in USL League One, the third division of the United States soccer l ...

. In 2019, Keller attended

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

. He went on to make 49 appearances for the Billikens, scoring five goals and tallying two assists. He also earned honors such as second-team All-Conference and A-10 All-Rookie team in 2019, second-team All-Conference in 2020, and second-team All-American nod in 2021, as well as

Atlantic-10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the ...

Defensive Player of the Year. He and the 2021 team advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA College Cup. Keller was part of the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

roster for St. Louis Scott Gallagher during their 2021 season, but didn't appear for the club.

Professional

Austin FC

In January 2022, it was announced that Keller had signed a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract with

, and would leave college a year early to enter the

2022 MLS SuperDraft The 2022 MLS SuperDraft was the 23rd edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The SuperDraft is held every January prior to the start of the MLS season and has been conducted via conference calls since 2020. Previously, the S ...

. On January 11, 2022, he was selected 5th overall in the SuperDraft by

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

. He made his professional debut on February 26, 2022, starting against

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

in a 5–0 win. On November 17, 2023, Austin FC announced they would not exercise the 2024 option for Keller.

Austin FC II loan

After a poor showing in the first game of the 2023 season Keller was loaned to the Austin FC second team Austin FC II. Keller appeared in 16 games as a center back for Austin FC II during their 2023 MLS Next Pro Cup season.

Career statistics

Club

Honors

Austin FC II *

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro (MLSNP) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer (MLS). It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and now comprises 27 reserve sides of MLS clu ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

*
Kipp Keller
at Saint Louis Billikens
Kipp Keller
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Kipp 2000 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Austin FC draft picks Austin FC players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Saint Louis FC players Soccer players from Missouri Soccer players from St. Louis Major League Soccer players Austin FC II players MLS Next Pro players FC Cincinnati players FC Cincinnati 2 players Minnesota United FC players 21st-century American sportsmen