Abigail Lynn Dahlkemper (born May 13, 1993) 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

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Bay FC Bay Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the San Francisco Bay Area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team began play in the NWSL as an expansion team in the 2024 Nat ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. Dahlkemper played collegiately for the

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 Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, where she won the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

in 2013 and received the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

in 2014. She was the third overall pick by the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

in the

2015 NWSL College Draft The 2015 NWSL College Draft was the third annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 16, 2015, at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Format *Dr ...

and won her first

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

with the Flash in 2016. Following the Flash's relocation, Dahlkemper was voted

NWSL Defender of the Year The NWSL Defender of the Year award is presented annually to the best defensive player in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Becky Sauerbrunn won the first three Defender of the Year awards from 2013 to 2015 and added her fourth in 2019 ...

in 2017 and won successive league doubles with the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

in 2018 and 2019.

Early life

Dahlkemper was born in

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster ( ) is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, eighth-most populous ci ...

, and raised in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

. She has two brothers, Andrew (the older) and Joseph (the younger) and is the daughter of Andrew and Susan Dahlkemper. She attended Sacred Heart Preparatory and played on the soccer team. In 2010, she was named Gatorade California Girls Soccer Player of the Year and a Parade All-American.

College career

In 2013, she helped the

win their first ever NCAA national championship. In 2014, Dahlkemper was awarded the

Club career

In 2013, Dahlkemper signed with the

Pali Blues Pali Blues was an American women's soccer team, which played from 2008 to 2014. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and Canada. The team played in the Western ...

in the W-League. The team won the western conference title as well as the national championship in July 2013.

Western New York Flash

In January 2015, Dahlkemper was selected by the

in the

as the third overall pick. She was signed to the team in March and made her debut in April. Dahlkemper won the NWSL Championship with the Flash in 2016.

Adelaide United (loan)

In October 2015, Dahlkemper joined

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

in the Australian W-League on loan for the 2015–16 season.

North Carolina Courage

Dahlkemper became part of the

in 2017 after the Western New York Flash was sold to the owners of North Carolina FC. She played every minute for the Courage in 2017 helping them win the NWSL Shield. Dahlkemper was named to the 2017 NWSL Best XI. Dahlkemper was voted

for the 2017 Season. In 2018 Dahlkemper played 19 regular season games for North Carolina. She was an important part of North Carolina's defense which broke the record for fewest goals conceded and repeated as NWSL Shield winners. She was named to the 2018 NWSL Best XI and was a finalist for Defender of the Year, losing to her Courage teammate Abby Erceg. North Carolina won the 2018 NWSL Championship with a 3–0 win over Portland, and didn't concede any goals in the playoffs.

Manchester City

On January 16, 2021, Dahlkemper joined

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

of the English

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

on a two-and-a-half-year deal, becoming the third American international to sign for the club during the 2020–21 season following

Sam Mewis Samantha June Mewis (born October 9, 1992) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a midfielder. Mewis is the editor-in-chief and podcast host of ''The Women's Game'' from ''Men in Blazers''. Raised i ...

and Rose Lavelle's arrivals in summer. On August 20, 2021,

announced that Dahlkemper had left the club.

Houston Dash

On August 29, 2021, Houston Dash announced that they had acquired Dahlkemper from the North Carolina Courage.

San Diego Wave

On November 22, 2021, Dahlkemper was announced as the first-ever player signing by NWSL expansion club

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

. Dahlkemper was plagued with injuries in 2022, including fracturing a rib in May, and dealing with a back injury causing her to miss games throughout the year. She was ultimately given a Season-Ending Injury designation in October 2022, missing the 2022 NWSL playoffs. Dahlkemper had surgery on her back in November 2022, stating on her social media it was transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) surgery to relieve her sciatic nerve pain. Dahlkemper made her return to the field on August 5, 2023, in a

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

game against Angel City, and was named to NWSL's August Best XI of the Month in her first month back.

Bay FC

On August 26, 2024,

announced that they had acquired Dahlkemper from San Diego Wave FC in exchange for $50,000 in allocation money. Dahlkemper then signed a contract extension through 2026 with an option for 2027. Dahlkemper debuted for her hometown team in a friendly against FC Barcelona, and later that week debuted in a 3-1 away to Portland Thorns in which she scored her first goal for Bay. She became the fifth ever NWSL player to score in back to back regular season matches for different clubs, having scored in the previous week for San Diego Wave in her final match with the club.

International career

In 2013, Dahlkemper represented the United States under-23 women's national soccer team at the 2013 Four Nations Tournament helping the under-23 team win the championship. She played in the 2014 Six Nations Tournament as a member of the under-23 team and helped lead the team to win the championship for a second time. Dahlkemper received her first call-up to the U.S. Women's National Team in October 2016 for a set of friendlies against Switzerland. On October 19 she earned her first cap, as she came in as a second-half substitute. Due to a

sepsis Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage of sepsis is followed by suppression of the immune system. Common signs and s ...

infection contracted at the end of 2016, Dahlkemper was unable to appear for the U.S. WNT until June 2017. Following her recovery from sepsis, Dahlkemper quickly became a mainstay for the United States in central defense. She played her first 90 for the U.S. WNT against Norway on June 11, 2017. Dahlkemper would start 10 of the final 11 games of the year, accumulating 945 minutes in 2017, which was fifth highest on the team. In 2018 Dahlkemper won the

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, 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 t ...

and the

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 tournamen ...

with the U.S. WNT. On September 19, she was named to the final 20 player roster for the

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

. In 2019, Dahlkemper was the starting central defender for the national team beside

Becky Sauerbrunn Rebecca Elizabeth Sauerbrunn (born June 6, 1985) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played as a center back. She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team wi ...

at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

in France, marking her first World Cup appearance. Dahlkemper and goalkeeper

Alyssa Naeher Alyssa Michele Naeher ( ; born April 20, 1988) is an American professional association football, soccer player who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Naeh ...

were the only players to start every match of the tournament for the United States, with Dahlkemper playing every minute of the team's seven games aside from coming off in the 82nd minute against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the group stage. Dahlkemper and the United States defeated the Netherlands 2–0 in the final to win the United States' fourth Women's World Cup title.

Personal life

In 2019, along with USWNT teammates

Crystal Dunn Crystal Alyssia Soubrier (; born July 3, 1992) is an American professional soccer player for Première Ligue club Paris Saint-Germain and the United States national team. A versatile player, she primarily plays as an attacking midfielder or ...

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

, and

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

, Dahlkemper posed for the 2019 ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue in Saint Lucia. She is married to Aaron Schoenfeld. They started dating in May 2019 and announced their engagement in December 2020. They married in a private ceremony on January 5, 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

UCLA * NCAA Women's Soccer Championship:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

;Western New York Flash * NWSL Champions:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

;North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

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 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

San Diego Wave *

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 ...

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

United States *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

* Olympic Bronze Medal:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...

CONCACAF W Gold Cup The CONCACAF W Gold Cup is an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ...

* CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

;Individual *

: 2014 *

*NWSL Best XI:

References

External links

*
archive June 9, 2018

Abby Dahlkemper #2
at

Abby Dahlkemper #13
at

(archived July 21, 2016)
Abby Dahlkemper #8
at

*
archive March 20, 2015
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahlkemper, Abby 1993 births Living people UCLA Bruins women's soccer players American women's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Pali Blues players National Women's Soccer League players Western New York Flash players Adelaide United FC (women) players Soccer players from Lancaster, Pennsylvania People from Menlo Park, California Soccer players from San Mateo County, California Women's association football defenders United States women's international soccer players Western New York Flash draft picks United States women's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina Courage players San Diego Wave FC players Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players FIFA Women's World Cup–winning players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century American sportswomen American expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's footballers in England Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia United States women's youth international soccer players Bay FC players