Jenna Gray Nighswonger ( ; born November 28, 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

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Women's Super League 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 ...

club

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and the United States women's national team. She played college soccer for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

, winning the 2021 national championship, before being drafted fourth overall by

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

in 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 ...

. She was named the

NWSL Rookie of the Year The NWSL Rookie of the Year award is presented annually to the best rookie in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Erika Tymrak (2013), an alumna of the Florida Gators women's soccer, Florida Gators, won the first Rookie of the Year award ...

and lifted the

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 ...

trophy with Gotham in her first season. Nighswonger debuted for the United States senior national team in 2023. She won the gold medal with the United States at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life and college career

Nighswonger played youth soccer for Slammers FC, winning a U14

ECNL The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) is a national youth soccer developmental league in the United States. It was founded in 2009 as a girls' league and added a boys' league in 2017. Competition format The ECNL is divided by age groups from U- ...

National Championship. She also participated in the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program. Nighswonger graduated from

Huntington Beach High School Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) is a public high school in Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1 ...

in December 2018. She played soccer for the school until her junior year, when she instead opted to play for a

United States Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league featured youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club.

Florida State Seminoles

In May 2017, Nighswonger committed to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. In 2019, she played for

United Women's Soccer United Women's Soccer (UWS) is a national pro-am Women's association football, women's Association football, soccer league in the United States. The league was founded in 2015 as a response to the dual problems of disorganization in the Women's ...

club

LA Galaxy OC LA Galaxy OC was an American soccer club based in Irvine, California that played in United Women's Soccer. The team played its home games at the Championship Soccer Stadium in the Orange County Great Park The Great Park is a public park in ...

and played in the league's national championship, which LA Galaxy OC won in a 1–0 victory over

Calgary Foothills WFC Calgary Foothills WFC is a Canadian soccer club based in Calgary, Alberta that currently plays in United Women's Soccer and League1 Alberta. The club was founded as a youth club in 1972 and in 2017 as a UWS franchise. The team is the women's te ...

. She played at Florida State from 2019 to 2022. Nighswonger made her Florida State debut on August 22, 2019, against

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

. She scored her first collegiate goal on September 1, 2019, against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. She recorded her first

brace Brace (formerly known as ''Brace For War'') was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Brace was founded in 2005 by Kya Pate. In an interview with MMA Kanvas Kya Pate detailed what it is like to be the promoter of Australian MMA. Si ...

on September 12, 2019, against

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. The Seminoles reached the finals of the 2020 NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament, drawing in regulation against

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

1–1 on Nighswonger's 63rd-minute goal before losing in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

, and won the 2021 tournament. Nighswonger was especially noted for scoring Olympico goals directly from her left-footed

corner kick A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...

s, including an equalizing Olympico goal in the 2022 ACC championship match, a

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

forced by an Olympico goal attempt in the 2021 NCAA Division I tournament quarterfinals, and two Olympico goals scored in separate September 2022 matches against

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, the latter of which was featured on ''

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

''. The

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

named Nighswonger the most valuable player of the

2022 ACC women's soccer tournament The 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference women's soccer tournament was the 35th edition of the ACC Women's Soccer Tournament, which decided the Atlantic Coast Conference champion. Florida State was the defending champion. The first round was played ...

. Nighswonger was also voted as one of three finalists for the 2022

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 ...

recognizing the nation's best collegiate players.

Club career

NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2023–2025

In November 2022, Nighswonger said she was eschewing the fifth year of

NCAA eligibility The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and 1 in Canada. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps ...

granted by the association due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and considering playing for a European club after finishing her career at Florida State. Nighswonger was among the final registrants for the

and was considered by draft analysts as a top prospect as a midfielder. On January 13, 2023, NWSL club

selected Nighswonger with the 4th overall pick in the draft. Nighswonger signed a three-year contract with Gotham FC on March 17, 2023. She made her NWSL regular-season debut with Gotham FC, substituting for an injured

Ali Krieger Alexandra Blaire Krieger (born July 28, 1984) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a right back or center back. She made more than 100 appearances for the United States women's national soccer team ...

during the club's 2023 NWSL season opener at Angel City. Though she primarily played as an attacker during her college career, head coach

Juan Carlos Amorós Juan Carlos Amorós López (born 3 June 1984) is a Spanish Manager (association football), football manager who is currently the head coach of Gotham FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He previously managed NWSL club Houst ...

played her at outside-back during her first professional season. She played in 20 league games, starting in 17. She scored three goals and played over 1,500 minutes during the regular season. The NWSL named Nighswonger its Rookie of the Month in May and July, making her the only player to earn the award twice. She was named Rookie of the Year on November 8, 2023. Nighswonger played in every game of the NWSL postseason, helping Gotham FC lift the

trophy on November 11, 2023.

Arsenal, 2025–present

On January 30, 2025, Nighswonger signed for

club

. She made her debut for Arsenal in their

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

match against

London City Lionesses London City Lionesses is a professional women's association football club based in Hayes, Bromley, England. The team competes in the Women's Super League the first tier of English women's football. The club was founded in May 2019, as an indep ...

on February 9, participating in their 2–0 victory.

International career

Nighswonger attended training camp with the United States under-14 team in 2014. Nighswonger represented the United States under-20 team at the

2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the 10th edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth association football, football championship organized by CONCACAF for the women's under-20 national teams ...

. She also appeared for the under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-23 teams. She was called into her first full women's national team camp November 20, 2023 and made her first appearance on December 2, 2023, in a 3–0 win against

China PR China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the second-most populous country after India, representing 17.4% of the world population. China spans the e ...

. Though she was called up as a midfielder, Nighswonger played in her first national team games as an outside-back. Nighswonger earned her first start on December 5, 2023, against China PR. She scored her first goal on February 20, 2024, when she converted a penalty against the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

during the

2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup The 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup was the inaugural edition of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup, an international women's soccer competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF. The tournament was contested b ...

. Nighswonger was selected to the 18-player roster for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in France. Nighswonger played in the first five matches, coming on as substitute, and was on the bench during the gold medal match against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, which the United States won 1–0 on a goal from

Mallory Swanson Mallory Diane Swanson (; born April 29, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT). Aft ...

Personal life

Nighswonger has an older sister with whom she played recreational soccer as a child. In 2022, Nighswonger donated $1,000 to the

Breast Cancer Research Foundation The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) is an independent, not-for-profit organization which has raised $569.4 million to support clinical and translational research on breast cancer at medical institutions in the United States and abroad. B ...

, using money from her

name, image, and likeness In college athletics in the United States, a student-athlete who participates in a varsity sport on any and all levels is eligible to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Historically, the National Association of Intercollegiate At ...

deal with Garnet & Gold.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nighswonger goal.''

Honors

Florida State Seminoles *

NCAA Division I women's soccer tournament The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I women's natio ...

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 ...

NJ/NY Gotham FC *

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 ...

Arsenal *

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

: 2024–25 United States U20 *

CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Women's Under-20 Championship is an association football competition for women's national under-20 teams in the North America, Central America and Caribbean region. It serves as the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 Women's ...

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 ...

United States *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

Gold Medal:

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 ...

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. ...

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 ...

Individual * ACC women's soccer tournament MVP:

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 ...

finalist: 2022 *

NWSL Rookie of the Month The National Women's Soccer League Rookie of the Month is a monthly women's association football, women's soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) participating in their first season as a professional. ...

: May 2023, July 2023 *

NWSL Best XI Second Team NWSL Best XI and Second XI are annual awards presented to the best and second-best eleven players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). the teams of the season awards are voted on by players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), ...

: 2023

References

Match reports

External links

*
Jenna Nighswonger #32
at

Jenna Nighswonger
at

(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nighswonger, Jenna 2000 births Living people Soccer players from Huntington Beach, California American women's soccer players United States women's international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players Florida State Seminoles women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Gotham FC draft picks Gotham FC players Women's Super League players Arsenal W.F.C. players Women's association football midfielders United Women's Soccer players Huntington Beach High School alumni Florida State University alumni United States women's youth international soccer players Women's association football defenders 21st-century American sportswomen Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in soccer Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics