Emily Townsend Menges (born July 28, 1992) 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). She previously played for

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

, with whom she won two

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 ...

s and two

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 ...

Early life

Menges was born in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

and attended Garden City High School. She played for the Albertson Fury '91, winning three consecutive Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) State Open Cups from 2009 to 2011.

Georgetown

Menges attended

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. She finished her college career as one of the most decorated players in program history, earning the

Big East The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Defensive Player of the Year award and

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

First Team All-American honors in 2013, in addition to being a three-time All-Big East selection. She captained the Hoyas' defense to 23 shutouts over her final two seasons, including a school-record 13 clean sheets as a junior in 2012. Menges appeared in 84 games (83 starts), scored two goals, and helped the Georgetown defense post 40 shutouts. She was a

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 the ...

semi-finalist in 2012 and 2013.

Club career

Long Island Fury

Menges played for the Long Island Fury, winning the second-division

Women's Premier Soccer League The Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL) is an amateur women's soccer league in the United States. History The WPSL is the longest-running active women's soccer league as it enters its 25th season in 2023. The WPSL is also the largest women ...

(WPSL) national championship in 2009.

Portland Thorns FC, 2014–2023

selected Menges with the 25th overall pick in the third round of the

2014 NWSL College Draft The 2014 NWSL College Draft was the second annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 17, 2014, at the NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was ope ...

. She made her first appearance with the Thorns on April 12, 2014, helping the team record a shutout in a 1–0 road win against the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

. Menges was a starting centerback for the Thorns when they won the 2016 NWSL Shield and the 2017 NWSL Championship. She has been a favorite of fans, winning the Supporters' Player of the Year award in 2016. She came third in

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 ...

voting in the 2021 season.

Bay FC

She was acquired by

in December 2023.

International career

In December 2013, Menges was called up to participate in training camp with the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team. In November 2016, Menges was called into training camp with the U.S. women's national soccer team.

Personal life

Menges is the vice-president of the I'm Not Done Yet Foundation, an organization started by the Menges family after her brother Bobby's death in 2017. I'm Not Done Yet is dedicated to helping pediatric and young adult patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses.

Honors

Long Island Fury * WPSL national championship: 2009 Portland Thorns FC *

International Champions Cup The International Champions Cup (ICC) was an annual club association football (soccer) official competition staged from 2013 to 2019. COVID-19 resulted in the 2020 edition being cancelled. The tournament was later abolished, but the Women's I ...

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 ...

: 2017,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: 2016 Individual *NWSL Best XI – 2016 *NWSL Second XI – 2017 *Team Most Valuable Player (Portland Thorns) – 2016 *Supporters' Player of the Year (Portland Thorns) – 2016 *First Team All-American ( NCSAA) – 2013 *

semi-finalist – 2012, 2013 *

Defensive Player of the Year – 2013

References

External links

Georgetown player profile

Portland Thorns FC player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menges, Emily 1992 births Living people American women's soccer players Georgetown Hoyas women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players People from Garden City, New York Sportspeople from Hempstead, New York Soccer players from Nassau County, New York Portland Thorns FC draft picks Portland Thorns FC players Women's association football defenders Garden City High School (New York) alumni Bay FC players 21st-century American sportswomen