Maya McCutcheon (born April 12, 2001) 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

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 ...

club

Dallas Trinity FC Dallas Trinity FC is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer club based in Dallas, Texas, that competes in the USL Super League (USLS). History Establishment A team representing the Dallas–Fort Worth metropl ...

. She 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 the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

and the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. The Mountaineers have been a membe ...

Early life and college career

McCutcheon grew up in

Murphy, Texas Murphy is a suburban city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States Census, 2020 census reported the population as 21,013 compared to 3,099 in 2000. Murphy is located northeast of Dallas and has a history ...

, one of three children born to Dadario and Melanie McCutcheon. Her father played college football at Tuskegee, and her sister, Daria, played college basketball at

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – Hig ...

. A captain in

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

's youth program, McCutcheon won the ECNL under-16 national championship in 2017 and conference titles in 2017 and 2018. She played high school soccer at

Plano East Senior High School Plano East Senior High School (commonly known as East, Plano East, or PESH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas, serving grades nine through 12. It is part of the Plano Independent School District. Students at Plano East attended one of ...

and committed to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

as a sophomore. McCutcheon spent two seasons with the

, making 35 appearances (27 starts), and was named to the All-Big 12 freshman team after scoring three goals in 2019. She then transferred to

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

, scoring on her debut against Buffalo in 2021. A co-captain for two years, she started all 62 games for West Virginia over three seasons and won the Big 12 tournament in 2022.

Club career

North Carolina Courage, 2024

After going undrafted in the 2024 NWSL Draft, McCutcheon trained with

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 ...

and the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

in the 2024 preseason and was signed to a one-year injury replacement contract with the Courage. She was waived for a week in August but re-signed as a national team replacement player for the duration of the

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

Wellington Phoenix, 2024–2025

McCutcheon left the Courage to sign with New Zealand club

Wellington Phoenix FC Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under Professional sports league organization#Systems around the world, licenc ...

on September 16, 2024, ahead of the 2024–25 A-League Women season.

Dallas Trinity, 2025–

of the

signed McCutcheon ahead of its second full season of play.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCutcheon, Maya Living people 2001 births Soccer players from Texas American women's soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders United States women's youth international soccer players United States women's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina Courage players National Women's Soccer League players Wellington Phoenix FC (women) players Dallas Trinity FC players USL Super League players