It’s World Cup time! The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup has started in Australia and New Zealand and there’s never been so much excitement around the women’s game. One very attractive option for promising young female soccer players is the college route in the United States.
There are many good reasons why you would want to play college soccer in the United States, especially the chance to combine developing as a player with getting a university degree. If you’re looking to forge a career in the college game, it can be difficult to choose a team though. There are a total of 348 women’s soccer teams in Division I alone, across 31 conferences.
There are many factors to consider in choosing a team, some of which you as a player can affect more than others. Your type as a player will suit some coaches’ systems better than others, and some programs might offer you better scholarships than others. In D-I women’s soccer, there are 14.0 scholarships for each team, with the average roster size being 28. This means some colleges might offer you a full-ride scholarship, while others might offer only partial financial aid.
In this article, we’ve looked at the best of the best. Here we list the true powerhouses of women’s college soccer, the schools that routinely make it to the NCAA tournament and fight for the College Cup. Check it out and maybe you’ll find the college for you!
North Carolina Tar Heels
The absolute powerhouse of women’s college soccer, the team from the University of North Carolina has been in every single NCAA tournament since the tournament was founded in 1982. They’ve won more than half the tournaments, claiming 21 out of a possible 41 national championships. To put that into perspective, no other team has won more than three. It’s been a bit of a dry spell recently (for North Carolina’s own incredibly high standards) with the last national title coming in 2012, but they were in the final in last year’s tournament.
This amount of success has also brought a lot of popularity and following for the team. In the 2021 season, North Carolina had the second-highest average attendance in women’s college soccer, with an average of 2,351 fans coming to every game.
The Tar Heels are coached by the legendary Anson Dorrance, who has been the team’s head coach since 1979. The team’s current star player Emily Murphy has played in the English Women’s Super League with Chelsea and Birmingham City. Notable former players include Mia Hamm, one of the greatest women’s soccer players of all time; current US national team player Tobin Heath; England internationals Lucy Bronze and Alessia Russo; and current England manager Sarina Wiegman.
Florida State Seminoles
Florida State Seminoles are a reasonably new addition to the women’s college soccer landscape, as the team was only founded in 1995. The first few years were difficult, but they’ve been a powerhouse in the 21st century. They’ve made every NCAA tournament since 2000 and have won the national championship three times, with all wins coming in the last decade. They’ve been in the College Cup (college soccer’s final four) 13 times.
Many notable players have worn a Seminoles shirt. Current Seminole player Heather Payne is in the Ireland squad for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and started their opening game against Australia. Mama Yamaguchi and Jaelin Howell have won the Hermann Trophy for the best college soccer player of the year, with Dagný Brynjarsdóttir and Jenna Nighswonger finishing runners up. Natalia Kuikka and Jaelin Howell have won the Honda Sports Award.
UCLA Bruins
The defending national champions UCLA Bruins have made the NCAA tournament every year since 1997, except 2015. They’ve brought the national title back to Los Angeles twice, in 2013 and 2022. Recently they’ve invested more in the soccer team, moving to the soccer-specific Wallis Annenberg Stadium in 2018. Last season’s rivalry game against the California Golden Bears was attended by over 2,000 fans.
Last season’s title winning team included star players such as Nicaragua international Jackie Gilday. Notable former players include Ashley Sanchez, who is in this year’s World Cup squad for the USA, as well as Lauren Holiday, Sydney Leroux, Mallory Swanson (née Pugh), Abby Dahlkemper and Sam Mewis, all of whom have played more than 70 games for the US national team.
Duke Blue Devils
The Duke Blue Devils women’s soccer team was founded in 1988. Showing admirable consistency, they’ve only had two head coaches since then, with current head coach Robbie Church having been in the position since 2001. The Blue Devils have never won a national championship, but have finished as runners up three times. They’ve been consistently good in the last few years, having made the quarterfinals in the last three NCAA tournaments.
Michelle Cooper won the Hermann Trophy playing for Duke last year. Other notable former players include international footballers Imani Dorsey (USA), Toni Payne (Nigeria) and Natasha Anasi (Iceland).
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
One of the leading women’s soccer programs in the Great Lakes region, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have missed the NCAA tournament only twice since 1993. They’ve been to eight national championship games (second-most behind only North Carolina) and won the trophy three times. They’ve made some steady progress in the last five seasons under head coach Nate Norman, reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals last year, their best performance since the title-winning season of 2010.
Last year’s team included Hermann Trophy finalist Korbin Albert, who has since turned professional with Paris Saint-Germain, and Jamaican international Kiki Van Zanten. Notable former players include Hermann Trophy winners Cindy Daws, Anne Mäkinen and Kerri Hanks, who won the Hermann Trophy twice. Another former Fighting Irish player is US international Kelly Lindsey, who has managed the national teams of Afghanistan and Morocco since retiring as a player.
Penn State Nittany Lions
The Penn State Women’s Club Soccer was created in 1977, but getting varsity status was quite a challenge. The club was so successful that it got national recognition and even made some international tours, but was denied varsity status by Penn State University twice in 1980 and 1981. The club had to file a Title IX complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, and was only given varsity status in 1994 when the Big Ten Conference more or less ordered the university to do so. Since then they’ve not looked back, winning the Big Ten regular season title 20 times, the Big Ten tournament nine times, making the NCAA tournament every year since 1995 and winning the national championship in 2015. The team has been coached by Erica Dambach since 2007, and has made it at least to the sweet sixteen of the NCAA tournament in each of the last six seasons.
The Nittany Lions play their home games at the Jeffrey Field, an impressive, soccer-specific stadium with capacity for 5,000 spectators. The Penn State teams even have their own supporters’ group, the Park Avenue Army.
Olivia Smith and Penelope Hocking turned professional after last season. Smith is also in the Canada squad in the current World Cup. Notable former players include Hermann Trophy winners Christie Welsh and Raquel Rodríguez (who plays for Costa Rica in the World Cup), and former World Cup winners Alyssa Naeher, Ali Krieger and Allie Long. Of this trio, Naeher is in the USA squad for the 2023 World Cup, and is expected to be their starting goalkeeper.
Virginia Cavaliers
Despite having never won the NCAA tournament, the Virginia Cavaliers have only missed the tournament once since 1987, and have been to every tournament since 1994. They’ve made at least the sweet sixteen stage of the tournament every year but one since 2005. In last year’s tournament they made the quarterfinals until they were beaten by eventual champions UCLA in extra time. The Cavaliers have been coached by Steve Swanson since 2000.
Notable former Cavaliers include two-time Hermann Trophy winner and two-time World Cup winner Morgan Gautrat (née Brian), two-time World Cup winner and Olympic champion Becky Sauerbrunn, who has played more than 200 games for the US national team, and World Cup winner Emily Sonnett, who is in the US squad in the current World Cup.
Stanford Cardinal
Stanford University is not just a powerhouse in women’s soccer, it’s also one of the best universities you’ll find. Ranked as the 5th best university in the world in the 2024 QS World University Rankings, combining soccer and a world-class education is easy if you go to Stanford. The soccer is top quality too, with the Cardinal having missed the NCAA tournament only twice since 1990. The team has won three NCAA championships, all of them in the 2010.
One of the Cardinal’s current star players is Amy Sayer who’s played internationally for Australia. No less than five Stanford players have won a combined six Hermann Trophies: Kelley O’Hara, Christen Press, Teresa Loyola, Andi Sullivan, and Catarina Macario, who won it twice. Of these, O’Hara and Sullivan are in the USA squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and O’Hara and Press have previously won a World Cup, with Macario winning a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics.
BYU Cougars
BYU Cougars are another team that started life as a club team before being given varsity status by the Brigham Young University in 1995. Former player Jennifer Rockwood started coaching the club team in 1989 and has been the head coach ever since. The team made its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1997 and has since missed it only three times, with their best result coming in 2021 when they finished as runners up.
The Cougars are a very popular team in their community, garnering the highest average attendance in NCAA women’s soccer in 2021, when an average of 2,513 fans attended every home game at the stylish Stadium at South Field.
Brigham Young is a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) university, and many of its players follow the religion. These include Washington Spirit and US international player Ashley Hatch, Portland Thorns pro Michele Vasconcelos and Aleisha Cramer, a very promising former US international who quit the game at the age of 20 because she didn’t want to play on Sundays. You don’t have to be a Mormon to play for BYU though, as for example Portuguese international Nádia Gomes used to play for the Cougars.
Santa Clara Broncos
Santa Clara University is a smaller, less well-known university than most on this list. With a suburban campus in Santa Clara, California, it has less than 10,000 students. In women’s soccer it’s a big deal though. The Santa Clara Broncos have missed the NCAA tournament only twice since 1989. They’ve won the national championship twice, last in 2020. The team has been coached by Jerry Smith since 1987.
The Broncos have a whole host of notable former players. Izzy D’Aquila turned professional after last season and now plays for Portland Thorns. Two former Broncos, Aly Wagner and Mandy Clemens, have won the Hermann Trophy. Wagner later went on to win two Olympic gold medals as well. Team USA has two Broncos alumni in the 2023 World Cup squad, Julie Ertz and Sofia Huerta. Brandi Chastain, whose penalty kick won USA the World Cup in 1999, is also a former Bronco.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Really? Soccer in Alabama? Believe it or not, some exciting things in the world of soccer are going on at the traditional college football powerhouse. The Crimson Tide have made the NCAA tournament only five times in their history, but have now been there twice in a row, including a semifinal appearance last year. Former MLS professional Wes Hart has been the head coach at Alabama since 2015, and has been achieving some promising results.
Time will tell how good the Crimson Tide are going to get in the next few years, but the achievements so far can’t be argued with. After last year, Reyna Reyes (Portland Thorns), Riley Parker (Racing Louisville) and Riley Tanner (Washington Spirit) all turned professional. Celia Jímenez played for Spain in the 2015 World Cup while she was a Crimson Tide player, and currently plays professionally for Orlando Pride.
Conclusion
There are a huge number of great college soccer programs across the United States. What is the perfect program for one player, might not suit at all to somebody else. When choosing a team, you have to think about the team’s playing style, current roster and the coaching staff, but also things like what majors you can study there and what kind of a scholarship they are offering. At the end of the day, it’s impossible to say what women’s college soccer program is the best, because each situation is unique. In this article we’ve listed some great programs, but at the end of the day, only you and the people close to you know what works best for your situation.
Wherever you end up, you’re going to need to find some student housing. For that you’ve come to the right place, because Student.com offers hundreds of student housing options in dozens of cities across the United States.
