Allison Mariana Schlegel (born February 7, 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Chicago Stars FC Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chica ...

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). She played college soccer for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

and was selected by the Red Stars in the second round of the

2023 NWSL Draft The 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally was the eleventh annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select amateur players above the age of 18 playing in the United States who exhausted, lost, or renounced any remaining ...

Early life

Schlegel was born in

Englewood, Colorado The City of Englewood is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 33,659 at the 2020 United States census. Englewood is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan S ...

and grew up in

Parker, Colorado Parker is a home rule municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "town" under the home rule statutes, Parker is the second most populous town in the county; Castle Rock is the most populous (the community of Hig ...

, with her parents Mike and Angela Schlegel. When Schlegel was 10, she and her teammates received pink headbands at a soccer tournament. Schlegel continues to wear a pink headband as a personal brand while playing professionally. She attended Chaparral High School, but only played on its soccer team during her

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

year.

College career

Schlegel played four years for the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

from 2018 to 2022, scoring 47 goals and 20 assists in 85 appearances. She earned a first-team All-American selection in 2020 and was a two-time

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 ...

semi-finalist. Schlegel served as team captain in 2021 and 2022. In her final season in 2022, she led the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

in goals.

Club career

With the 11th pick of the second round in the

, the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

(later named Chicago Stars FC) drafted Schlegel. On April 22, 2023, she scored her first professional goal against

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since J ...

. For the 2024 NWSL season, the Red Stars hired

Lorne Donaldson Lorne Garfield Donaldson is a Jamaican football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Playing career Donaldson attended and played soccer at Kingston Col ...

as coach. The move reunited him with Schlegel, whom Donaldson had worked with at an youth soccer organization in Colorado.

International career

Schlegel played on the USWNT U-14, U-15, U-16, U-18, and U-23 teams.

Personal life

Schlegel enjoys

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is in ...

Career statistics

Honors

Individual *

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

Forward of the Year:

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlegel, Ally 2000 births Living people Penn State Nittany Lions women's soccer players American women's soccer players Sportspeople from Parker, Colorado United States women's youth international soccer players Chicago Red Stars players Chicago Stars FC players Soccer players from Colorado Chicago Red Stars draft picks National Women's Soccer League players 21st-century American sportswomen