Kendall Elizabeth Johnson (born April 24, 1991) is an American professional

women's soccer Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...

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 ...

and defender. She played for the

United States U-23 women's national soccer team The U-23 Women’s Youth National Team, operated under the auspices of United States Soccer Federation, U.S. Soccer, plays a pivotal role in bridging the significant gap between college soccer and the development of players for the full Women’ ...

Early life

Kendall was born and raised in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

and attended Lincoln High School where she was a four-year letter-winner. In 2008, she was named ESPN First Team All-America and the Gatorade State Player of the Year. She was a two-time state player of the year in 2007 and 2008 and was a three-time all-state honoree and two-time

Portland Interscholastic League The Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) is a high school athletic conference in Portland, Oregon that is a member of the Oregon School Activities Association The Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) is a non-profit, board-governed or ...

Player of the Year. As a junior in 2007, her high school team went undefeated at 18–0–0 as she scored 12 goals and served 15 assists. Johnson led Lincoln to state titles in 2007 and 2008. The team was ranked third nationally and first regionally in the 2007 NSCAA High School rankings. It was ranked second nationally in 2008. As a senior, Johnson scored 16 goals and provided nine assists as captain of the team. She was also named the team's most valuable player. Johnson played club soccer for FC Portland Sapphire from 2001 to 2009. The team was

USYSA The United States Youth Soccer Association (US Youth Soccer, abbreviated USYS) is the largest youth affiliate and member of the United States Soccer Federation, the governing body for soccer in the United States. US Youth Soccer includes 54 S ...

Region IV finalists in 2007, semifinalists in 2005 as well as three-time state champions in 2005, 2007, 2008.

University of Portland

Johnson attended the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

where she played for the

Pilots An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they are ...

from 2009 to 2012. As a freshman in 2009, she played in 21 games starting 16, scored three goals and provided three assists. She was named to the All-West Coast Conference Second Team and was on the WCC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, she redshirted the season for medical reasons. During her junior year in 2010, she made 15 appearances for the Pilots, starting 13 games. She scored two goals and provided three assists. She assisted on the game's only goal in a 1–0 victory over Santa Clara and scored the game-winning goal against San Francisco. Johnson posted four points with the game-winner and two assists in Portland's 9–0 victory over University of Texas San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. She was named to the All-WCC Second Team and was a WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention. She postponed her senior year in college to play soccer professionally.

Club career

Sky Blue FC

In January 2013, she was drafted in the second round (twelfth pick overall) of the

2013 NWSL College Draft The 2013 NWSL College Draft was the first annual college draft held by the National Women's Soccer League to assign the NWSL rights of college players to the eight NWSL teams. It took place on January 18, 2013 at the National Soccer Coaches Ass ...

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional 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 Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

in 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 ...

Western Sydney Wanderers

On September 19, 2014, Johnson signed for the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

Portland Thorns FC

On January 14, 2015,

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 ...

acquired the rights to Johnson from

in exchange for the 25th and 34th overall selections in the 2015 National Women's Soccer League College Draft.

International career

Johnson has represented the United States at the U-20 and U-23 levels. She was first called into train with the U-20 team in December 2009. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the

2010 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2010 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the fifth edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. The tournament was hosted by Guatemala, and all matches were played at the Estadio Cementos Progreso. The United States were the defending ...

in Guatemala and played at the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who also hosted the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later, from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all si ...

in Germany.

References

External links

Kendall Johnson
profile at

*
US Soccer player profile

Portland player profile

podcast
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kendall 1991 births Living people Portland Pilots women's soccer players Colorado Rush Women players Gotham FC draft picks Gotham FC players Portland Thorns FC players Western Sydney Wanderers FC (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players National Women's Soccer League players American women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate women's soccer players in Australia Soccer players from Portland, Oregon Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon) alumni Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders United States women's under-20 international soccer players United States women's youth international soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen