Adrianna Nichole Franch (born November 12, 1990) 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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

who currently plays for

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She is a member of 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 ...

Early life

Adrianna Franch, nicknamed "AD", grew up in

Salina, Kansas Salina is a city in, and the county seat of, Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,889. In the early 1800s, the Kanza tribal land reached eastward from the middle of the Kansas Territory. In 1 ...

. She attended Salina South High School and was the starting goalkeeper for three seasons, but did not play her senior season due to an injury suffered playing basketball. She earned All-State, All-Southwest Region and All-League honors, as well as league MVP during her time at South. Franch was also a star basketball player earning first-team All-County and All-League honors as well as an honorable mention All-State performer. Franch was a three-year member of the Kansas Olympic Development Program (ODP) team. She played on the Region II ODP team and was an ODP National Pool player in 2006. She led her club team, the KC Comets Select, to a Kansas state championship in 2006 and to the Kansas state finals in 2007 and 2008. As a child, Franch's favorite goalkeeper was women's national team keeper,

Briana Scurry Briana Collette Scurry (born September 7, 1971) is an American retired soccer goalkeeper, and assistant coach of the Washington Spirit . Scurry was the starting goalkeeper for the United States women's national soccer team at the 1995 World Cu ...

, and people used to call her the "next Bri Scurry."

Oklahoma State University

Franch was the starting goalkeeper for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

as a freshman in 2009, playing in 24 games and allowing just 14 goals for a 0.61 GAA. She went 15–6–2 with 11 shutouts and was named First-Team All-Big 12. Franch played a key role in the Cowgirls winning the Big 12 tournament for their second time ever. Franch is considered one of the most decorated players in

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

and Oklahoma State University soccer history. She is a two-time All-American and a two-time MAC

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

semifinalist. During each of her four seasons with Oklahoma State, she was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, the seventh player in Big 12 Conference history to achieve that distinction. Franch holds the OSU career record for shutouts with 38 and led the Big 12 in the same category in three of her four seasons. She finished her career with 325 saves ranking second the program's history. Franch's 38 shutouts rank sixth all time in NCAA history, and her 8,064:02 minutes in goal rank ninth on the NCAA list. As a junior, she ranked second in the

NCAA 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 ...

in goals against average (0.348) and third in save percentage (0.92). She also set OSU's single-season record with 12 shutouts. In 2010, Franch became the first Oklahoma State soccer player to play for a United States national team when she was called up to the United States U-20 team.

Club career

2013-07-04 Redstars v Flash AdriannaFranch corner

Western New York Flash, 2013–2014

On January 18, 2013, Franch was the sixth pick during the first round of the 2013 college draft of

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 Federati ...

; the first goalkeeper picked by any team and the first player picked by

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 ...

. Franch said of the Flash, "They are a very strong team that plays together and knows how to win. It's an environment that I'm really excited to be around because they have a lot of drive and heart." During the team's first regular season match 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 ...

, Franch made six saves. Although the Flash lost 1–0 due to an own goal, Franch was heralded as a tremendous force in the goal and a future prospect 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 ...

. Franch missed the

2014 National Women's Soccer League season The 2014 National Women's Soccer League season is the second season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer (20 ...

due to a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formati ...

Avaldsnes IL, 2015

After rehabilitating her injury, Franch joined

Avaldsnes IL Avaldsnes Idrettslag is a Norwegian sports club from Avaldsnes, Karmøy, Rogaland. It was founded on 16 June 1937. The club has sections for football and handball. Women's football The women's team began play in 1989, winning the 1st Division of ...

, a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

club competing in the Toppserien, in 2015. She started 12 matches and played 1080 minutes for the team, recording 4 shutouts. The team finished the

2015 Toppserien The 2015 Toppserien is the twenty-nine season of top-tier women's football in Norway since its establishment in 1987. A total of 12 teams contested for the league, eleven returning from the 2014 season and the one teams promoted from the First ...

in second place.

Portland Thorns FC, 2016–2021

On December 10, 2015, Franch signed with the National Women's Soccer League club, Portland Thorns FC, after rights to her were traded from the expansion

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride is a professional women's soccer team based in Orlando, Florida. The team joined the National Women's Soccer League, the top level of women's soccer in the US, for the 2016 season. It became the tenth team to be added to th ...

. As a back-up keeper to

Michelle Betos Michelle Jenny Betos (born February 20, 1988) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for NJ/NY Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Betos previously played for Vålerenga, Apollon Limassol, Portla ...

she helped the Thorns win the

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 m ...

in the 2016 season, recording three shutouts in six appearances. As starting keeper in

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 ...

, she set a league record with 11 shutouts in the regular season, helped the Thorns win the NWSL Championship in a 1–0 shutout over 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 ...

, and was named NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year. After starting the first 3 games of the 2018 season, Franch missed the next 9 games after undergoing surgery to repair a slight meniscus tear in her knee. She returned to the field on June 22 against the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash is a professional women's soccer team based in Houston, Texas. It joined the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2014 season, and is affiliated with the MLS team Houston Dynamo FC. History Establishment On November ...

. Franch was named Player of the Week, for week 14 after recording 11 saves during the Thorns two games that week. Franch was named to the 2018 NWSL Best XI and was awarded NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight year, becoming the first player to win the award twice. On August 17, 2021, it was announced Franch would be traded to

Kansas City NWSL 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 ...

in exchange for goalkeeper Abby Smith and $150,000 in allocation money.

International career

Franch has played for the United States U-20, U-23, and senior USWNT teams. Her first ever call-up to the U.S. youth national teams came at the end of 2009 when she was called to U-20 camp in Sunrise, Florida. Her first international caps came at the La Manga Tournament in Spain in March 2010, where she played against Norway and Germany, earning a win and a tie. In May 2012, Franch was called up to train with the

in preparation for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

by coach,

Pia Sundhage Pia Mariane Sundhage (, born 13 February 1960) is a Swedish football manager and former professional player. She is the head coach of the Brazil women's national team. As a player, Sundhage played most of her career as a forward and retired as ...

. In March 2013, she was named to the senior team roster by US WNT coach,

Tom Sermanni Thomas Dorby Sermanni (born 1 July 1954) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player, who mostly works in women's football. He has previously managed the Australia women's national team, the United States women's national team ...

for upcoming exhibition matches against

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 betwee ...

and

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 ...

. Franch was called into the

January 2016 training camp by coach

Jill Ellis Jillian Anne Ellis (born 6 September 1966) is an English-American soccer coach and executive who is currently the president of San Diego Wave FC. Ellis coached the United States women's national soccer team from 2014 to October 2019 and won two ...

. and again for the June 2016 friendlies against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

. She was called to training camp in November 2016 but unable to attend the camp. In January 2018 Franch received a call-up to USWNT annual January training camp. She was also named to the roster for the

2018 Tournament of Nations The 2018 Tournament of Nations was the second 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 26 to August 2, 2018, and featured the same ...

, the United States won the tournament but Franch did not see any playing time as USWNT number one keeper

Alyssa Naeher Alyssa Michele Naeher (born April 20, 1988) is an American soccer goalkeeper for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. She was on the 23-player roster for the United States at t ...

played all three games. Franch was called into camp for a set of friendlies against Chile in August 2018, but once again she did not see any playing time. Franch was named to the preliminary 35 person roster for the

2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship The 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship was the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women's Championship (also known as the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup or the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying Tournament), the quadrennial international football champion ...

but wasn't named to the final 20 person roster, but it was announced that she would still join the team to assist in preparation. Franch was called up to the senior national team for friendlies in Portugal and Scotland in November 2018. In January 2019, she participated in the USWNT's annual January training camp, held in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

region of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

. Franch remained with the national team for subsequent matches against France and Spain, but was not awarded any playing time. In February 2019, U.S. Soccer announced that Franch would be on the WNT roster for the

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 ...

. Franch played the entirety of the USWNT's second match of the tournament, a 2–2 draw against England. This marked her first-ever start and cap with the senior national team.

International appearances

Olympic appearances

Honors

Club

Western New York Flash *

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 ...

Portland Thorns * 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 ...

International

Tournament of Nations The Tournament of Nations was a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's soccer in non-World Cup and non-Olympic years hosted by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) in several American cities. The inaugural tournament ...

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 United ...

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bod ...

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 ...

Olympic Bronze Medal An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold medal, gold, silver medal, silver, and bronze medal, bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respect ...

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 ...

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 ...

Individual

*NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year:

*NWSL Best XI:

*NWSL Second XI:

*CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Year:

Personal life

Franch grew up in

with her mom and two siblings. When she was ten, her family purchased a home through

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

which she and her mom helped build. Franch married her wife Emily Boscacci on December 21, 2019. For the second match of the 2019 SheBelieves Cup, Franch replaced her own name on her game jersey with that of former national team goalkeeper

, whom she had met as a child.

References

External links

Western New York Flash player profile

US Soccer profile
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Franch, Adrianna Living people 1990 births Sportspeople from Salina, Kansas American women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Western New York Flash players Soccer players from Kansas Oklahoma State Cowgirls soccer players Women's association football goalkeepers Avaldsnes IL players Portland Thorns FC players Western New York Flash draft picks United States women's under-20 international soccer players American LGBT sportspeople LGBT people from Kansas LGBT association football players African-American women's soccer players LGBT African Americans United States women's international soccer players Women's Olympic soccer players of the United States 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics FIFA Women's World Cup-winning players Lesbian sportswomen American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Norway Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Association footballers' wives and girlfriends Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 21st-century LGBT people Kansas City Current players