Alexandra Elizabeth Sahlen (born September 25, 1982) is an American former 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 and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

. She played for 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 ...

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 was also the club's president.

Early life

Sahlen was born and raised in

Williamsville, New York Williamsville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 5,423 at the 2020 census. The village is named after Jonas Williams, an early settler. It is part of the Buffalo- ...

, a small suburb of

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

Niagara University

Sahlen attended

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in the census-designated place Niagara University, New York, in the town of Lewiston near Niagara Falls. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and ...

from 2000 to 2003 where she played for the Purple Eagles. She started 55 matches and completed her collegiate career with six goals and 10 assists, ranking 20th on the school's all-time scoring list. Sahlen helped guide the Purple Eagles to their first MAAC Championship appearance in 2003.

Playing career

Club

Rochester Ravens

Sahlen played with W-League club Rochester Ravens from 2005 until 2008, when a stress fracture in the first game of the season ruled her out of contention.

Western New York Flash

Along with husband Aaran Lines, Sahlen then founded a new professional W-League club, Buffalo Flash, in time for the 2009 season. Sahlen played for the Flash as they won the 2010 W-League championship and remained on the playing roster when the team changed its name to Western New York Flash and entered

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

, claiming the 2011 WPS Championship. Sahlen missed the 2014 NWSL season due to being pregnant and was not on the Flash roster for the 2015 season.

Coaching career

Sahlen was assistant coach for the women's soccer team at her alma mater, Niagara University from 2004 to 2011.

References

External links

Western New York Flash player profile

WPS player profile

All White Kit: An Interview with WNY Flash Team President Alex Sahlen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sahlen, Alexandra 1987 births Living people American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen National Women's Soccer League players Niagara Purple Eagles women's soccer players Sportspeople from Williamsville, New York Soccer players from New York (state) Western New York Flash players Women's association football defenders Women's Professional Soccer players 21st-century American women