Karsen Henderlong (born September 24, 2000) is an American

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

FC Naples FC Naples is a professional American soccer club based in Naples, Florida. Founded in January 2024, the club began play in 2025, as part of USL League One, the third tier of the American soccer pyramid. Their home stadium is at the Paradise Coast ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

. Having played

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 ...

for

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

and

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, he began his professional career with

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

in 2024.

Career

Youth and college

Originally from

Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,884 per the 2023 American Community Survey. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became ...

, Henderlong spent his youth career with Indiana Fire Academy, Chicago Fire's youth soccer club. He played high school soccer at Crown Point High School. Henderlong spent three years at

, where he scored 22 goals in 45 total appearances. Henderlong was a first-team All-Big East selection in 2021 and second-team honoree in 2020 with Xavier. He then played for

for two years, making 46 total appearances and scoring 10 goals. Henderlong scored three goals in the span of two weeks in October 2023 to lead the Hoosiers into the NCAA Tournament. He scored the tying goal in the 73rd minute in a 3–2 second round overtime win against Wake Forest on November 19, 2023.

Professional

Indy Eleven

On February 8, 2024,

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

announced the signing of Henderlong ahead of the

2024 USL Championship season The 2024 USL Championship season was the 14th season of the USL Championship and the seventh season under Division II sanctioning. The 2024 season had 24 teams participating in two conferences during the regular season. Conference realignment mov ...

. He made his professional debut with the

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

-based club in a 2–1 loss away to

Oakland Roots Oakland Roots Sports Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oakland, California. The club competes in the USL Championship (USLC) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018 by Edreece Arghandiwal and Benno Nagel, the c ...

on March 9, 2024. Henderlong was released by the club following the 2024 season, having made 5 total appearances.

FC Naples

On January 10, 2025,

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

announced they had signed Henderlong for the 2025 season. He made his debut in the team's season opener, a 1–1 home draw against Chattanooga Red Wolves on March 8. On March 15, Henderlong scored both goals in a 2–0 victory over

Forward Madison Forward Madison FC is an American professional soccer team based in Madison, Wisconsin. The team was founded in 2018, and played its inaugural season in 2019. The team competes in USL League One, the third division of the United States soccer l ...

. In addition to being the first goals of his professional career, they led to Naples' first-ever competitive victory and won Henderlong a spot on the USL League One Team of the Week. Henderlong scored the opening goal in Naples'

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

win on March 18, defeating

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

team Sarasota Paradise 2–1. He scored again on March 22, in the team's 1–0 away victory over Spokane Velocity FC. Henderlong also scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory over

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

in the

USL Cup The USL Cup is an annual soccer competition in men's domestic American soccer. The USL Cup is currently known as the USL Jägermeister Cup after its title sponsor, Jägermeister. The competition is open to all clubs in USL Championship and US ...

Career statistics

* Indy Eleven statistics
/small> * FC Naples statistics
/small>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderlong, Karsen 2000 births Living people American men's soccer players Xavier Musketeers men's soccer players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Soccer players from Indiana USL Championship players Indy Eleven players 21st-century American sportsmen USL League One players FC Naples players