Kristen Nicole Edmonds (born May 22, 1987) 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. She previously played for

Stjarnan Ungmennafélagið Stjarnan (, ), commonly known as Stjarnan (), is an Icelandic multi-sports club specialising in handball, football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics located in Garðabær. Basketball Men's basketball As of the 2017–2 ...

in Iceland,

WFC Rossiyanka WFC Rossiyanka was a Russian women's football club from Khimki. History The team was founded in 1990 as Nadezhda Krasnoarmeysk, being initially a futsal club. Futsal was played until 1998, when the club left it to concentrate in association foo ...

in Russia, and the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

, and

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

, and

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

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).

College career

Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 2005–2008

Edmonds attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

from 2005 to 2008 where she played for the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

. During her freshman season, she became the first rookie to lead the team in scoring since

Carli Lloyd Carli Anne Hollins (; born July 16, 1982) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. She is a two-time Olympic Games, Olympic gold medalist (2008 and 2012), two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion (2015 and 2019) ...

. Edmonds scored six goals and recorded six assists. She was named the SoccerBuzz All-Region Freshman First Team. The following season, she scored two goals and recorded one assist in the 16 games in which she played. During her senior year, she was a starter in all 22 games, scored five goals and registered six assists.

Club career

After her collegiate career, Edmonds attended tryouts for

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 ...

twice but failed to make the roster.

New Jersey Wildcats, 2005–2006

Edmonds played for

USL W-League USL W-League may refer to: * USL W League * USL W-League (1995–2015) The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...

team

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women's soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League (1995–2015), W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and C ...

in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and 2006 USL W-League seasons. The team won the W-League double as regular-season and post-season champions in 2015, and Edmonds made four appearances during the season, scoring two goals and registering an assist.

Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues, 2009–2010

Edmonds played for newly formed USL W-League team Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues for two years under coach Jesse Kolmel. Edmonds registered an assist in the team's first-ever match in May 2009. The team won two regular-season championships with Edmonds, in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, and reached the semi-finals both seasons.

Stjarnan, 2011

In 2011, Edmonds signed with Icelandic team,

and helped the team win the league championship and Icelandic Women's Cup. She played with undiagnosed ligament tears in one of her ankles, which required surgery and rehabilitation after returning to the United States.

WFC Rossiyanka, 2012–2013

Edmonds joined

of the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

for the 2012–13 season. She made 13 appearances, scored two goals, and recorded seven assists. Rossiyanka finished in first place during the regular season with a record. She made two appearances with the club in the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was p ...

. During the 2013 season, Edmonds made 13 starts in 13 games and scored one goal. Rossiyanka finished in fourth place during the regular season with a record. She made four appearances for the club in the

2013–14 UEFA Champions League The 2013–14 UEFA Champions League was the 59th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 22nd season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was ...

Western New York Flash, 2014–15

Edmonds signed with the

in the

(NWSL) for the 2014 season. She started in 19 of the 22 games and recorded one assist while playing as a defender. The Flash finished the regular season in seventh place with a record. After returning for the 2015 season, Edmonds 10 starts in her 11 appearances for the club and recorded one assist. The club finished in seventh place with a record.

Orlando Pride, 2016–2020

In December 2015, Edmonds was traded to expansion team

. Edmonds started in all of the 19 games in which she played and scored six goals from the midfield. The team finished in ninth place with a record during its inaugural season. She was named

NWSL Player of the Week The National Women's Soccer League Player of the Week was a weekly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) from 2013 to 2023. The honor was awarded by popular social media vote to the player deemed to ...

for Week 12 after scoring a brace against the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

to lead the Pride to a 2–1 win.

Kansas City Current, 2021–2022

On January 30, 2021, the Pride traded Edmonds to

with the natural second-round pick in the

2022 NWSL Draft The 2022 NWSL Draft was the 10th annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on December 18, 2021, and hosted remotely by CBS Sports. Format * All 12 teams of the National ...

in exchange for

Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir Gunnhildur Yrsa Jónsdóttir (born 28 September 1988) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Halifax Tides FC of the Northern Super League. She was a member of the Iceland national team from 2011 to 2023. Early ...

and the playing rights to

Erika Tymrak Erika Leigh Tymrak (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Tampa Bay Sun FC of the USL Super League. She previously played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) for FC Kansas City, the ...

. After an altercation during an April 9, 2021, match with

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 ...

forward Morgan Weaver, Edmonds was suspended for two games in the

2021 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup was a league cup tournament that took place during the 2021 National Women's Soccer League season. It began on April 9 and ended May 8, one week before the start of the regular season. It was the second iteration of th ...

. Kansas City re-signed edmonds to a new contract on January 18, 2022. Edmonds played for Kansas City in the 2022 NWSL Championship match against Portland, where the Current lost 2–0.

NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2022–2024

On December 1, 2022, Edmonds signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with

. She cited being closer to family and her home as factors in the move from Kansas City. She left the club by mutual agreement on August 9, 2024, to pursue an opportunity with Tampa Bay Sun FC of the

USL Super League The USL Super League (USLS), officially known as the Gainbridge Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional women's soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system, alongside the National Women's Socce ...

Tampa Bay Sun FC, 2024

Edmonds was announced as a member of the Tampa Bay Sun on August 14, 2024, ahead of the inaugural

season. Edmonds played all 13 matches in the 2024 Fall Season before departing the club in January 2025.

International career

On October 27, 2016, Edmonds was called up to

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

training camp for the first time.

Career statistics

Honors

;with Stjarnan *

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

winner: 2011 ;with Rossiyanka *

Russian Women's Football Championship The Russian Women's Football Championship (), also known as the Top Division and the Women's Football League, is the highest professional women's association football, football league in Russia. The Top Division was founded in 1992. Prior to the ...

runners-up: 2012–13 ;with Orlando Pride *

: 2016 (week 12) NJ/NY Gotham FC *

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 ...

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 ...

References

External links

* *
Kristen Edmonds #12
at

Kristen Edmonds #12
at

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Edmonds, Kristen 1987 births Living people People from Metuchen, New Jersey Soccer players from Middlesex County, New Jersey 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen African-American soccer players American women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders Women's association football defenders Rutgers Scarlet Knights women's soccer players New Jersey Wildcats players Stjarnan women's football players WFC Rossiyanka players Western New York Flash players Orlando Pride players Kansas City Current players Gotham FC players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Kristen Edmonds National Women's Soccer League players American expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Russia American expatriate sportspeople in Russia Tampa Bay Sun FC players