Casey Nicole Loyd (; born February 23, 1989) 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 ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. She played collegiately for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where she won two national championships. She played professionally for the Los Angeles Sol, Sky Blue FC, and Chicago Red Stars of the WPS and FC Kansas City of the

NWSL 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 ...

. She earned five caps with the United States national team. As a member of the national under-20 team, she played at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship and the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

Early life

Daughter of Victor Nogueira, Casey was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

while her father played for the San Diego Sockers. She began playing soccer when she was five. In 1992, her father moved to the Milwaukee Wave where he played for 12 seasons. Nogueira grew up in nearby Cedarburg, Wisconsin with her mother. Her father coached her on local boys' teams until she entered Cedarburg High School at which point, she played for the girls' soccer team. In 2004, having spent her freshman year in Wisconsin, Nogueira moved to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

with her mother. In North Carolina, Nogueira attended Broughton High School. She was the 2005 Gatorade Player of the Year. She was a 2005 Parade Magazine and NSCAA high school All American and graduated a year early in 2006. The Capitals won one state championship and finished runner up once during her two years with the team. She was the 2005 state championship MVP. In addition to her high school team, Nogueira also played for the CASL Spartan Elite, winning the 2005 regional championship and finishing third at the national U-17 championship.

University of North Carolina

In 2006, Nogueira played for the North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer team. The Tar Heels won the 2006 National Championship. While Nogueira had started only one game that season, she started both the semifinal and final games due to team injuries. Nogueira scored in both games, earning a position on the all tournament team. She led the team in scoring with 21 goals her junior season, capping the year when she scored both goals as UNC won the 2008 NCAA championships, 2–1 over the University of Notre Dame. As a junior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.

Playing career

Club

Carolina RailHawk Women

In 2008, Nogueira signed with the Carolina RailHawks Women, now known as the Cary Lady Clarets, an expansion W-League team.

Los Angeles Sol

Nogueira was drafted 8th overall to the Los Angeles Sol.

Chicago Red Stars

After the Sol folded, Nogueira was drafted to the Chicago Red Stars. Nogueira made her WPS league debut for the Red Stars as a second-half substitute against Sky Blue FC on April 11, 2010, and scored her first league goal for the club against St. Louis Athletica on April 17, 2010.

Sky Blue FC

After Chicago Red Stars announced it would not be part of the Women's Professional Soccer in 2011, Nogueira signed as a free agent with Sky Blue FC on December 23, 2010. She was named Player of the Week on June 30, 2011.

FC Kansas City

WPS folded in January 2012 and rather than pursue top-flight soccer overseas, Nogueira and moved to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

area to be close to her boyfriend and

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

defender Zach Loyd (the two became engaged that February and married in October). After a season with FC Dallas's women's team in the Women's Premier Soccer League, Nogueira –now known as Casey Loyd– was selected during the fourth round (30th overall) of the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft by FC Kansas City.

International

Youth teams

Noguiera entered the national team program in 2004, when she was called into the U-16 Women's National Team. She moved up to the U-17 team the next year. In 2006, she was a member of the U.S. U-20 women's national team which took fourth place at the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Championship. In 2007, the U.S. entered its U-20 team in the

even though the other participating nations sent their full national teams. The U.S. won the silver medal, falling to Brazil in the final. Noguiera scored a goal in each of the three group games.

Senior team

She earned her first cap with the senior team in a 1–1 tie with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

on January 28, 2007. She started, but came off for Lindsay Tarpley at half time. She was called up to the senior team in May 2009 versus Canada but did not play. In February 2010, she was named to the Algarve Cup roster.

Personal life

She married fellow Tar Heel and

defender Zach Loyd on October 13, 2012. In 2012, the couple began coaching Vickery United, a youth soccer team for children of refugees in the North Dallas neighborhood of Vickery Meadow. They have two sons.

References

External links

*
US Soccer player profile

Chicago Red Stars: Casey Nogueira

Sky Blue FC: Casey Nogueira

FC Kansas City player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loyd, Casey 1989 births Living people Needham B. Broughton High School alumni American people of Mozambican descent American people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent American women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars players Gotham FC players United States women's international soccer players North Carolina Tar Heels women's soccer players Women's Professional Soccer players Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games People from Cedarburg, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Soccer players from Wisconsin Soccer players from Raleigh, North Carolina New York Fury players Women's Premier Soccer League Elite players FC Kansas City players Women's association football midfielders National Women's Soccer League players United States women's under-20 international soccer players Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in football Soccer players from North Carolina United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen