Michelle Olivia Cruz (born May 14, 1992) is a Puerto Rican-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 ...

defender who most recently played for

Seattle Reign FC Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

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 ...

. She previously played for

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC (, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship tit ...

in Cyprus.

Early life

Born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, Cruz attended

Thousand Oaks High School Thousand Oaks High School (TOHS) is a high school in Thousand Oaks, California, United States. Established in 1962, it is part of the Conejo Valley Unified School District. It has a suburban campus with one story buildings, connected by external ...

where she was a four-year varsity player. Cruz helped lead the team to three consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2009. During her senior year in 2010, she was named Parade Magazine High School All-American, ESPN Rise Winter All-American and was ranked by TopDrawer Soccer as one of the top 100 high school players in the nation. In 2004, she was on the Jetix Kids Cup championship team in Paris that was televised on ABC Family. Cruz was a member of the Cal South Olympic Development Pool from 2006 to 2007 and won the Region IV Championship. In 2008, she was named to the NSCAA/Adidas Youth Girls All-Region IV team and was an Adidas Elite Soccer Program national selection.

Playing career

Club

Played for Real So Cal (2004–07, 2009), winning multiple championships in 2006: Gothia Cup Youth World Cup, Surf Cup, and Manchester United Premier Cup ... also led Real So Cal to titles at the San Diego Surf Girls Cup (2007), San Diego Surf Cup XXIX (2009), and Fall Far West Regional League Championships (2009) ... played one year for Slammer FC (2008), winning the U17 Premier Championships.

Collegiate

University of Portland Pilots, 2010–2013

Cruz 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 ...

from 2010 to 2013 where she was a four-year starting defender for the

Portland Pilots The Portland Pilots is the nickname for athletics at the University of Portland. The Pilots compete in the West Coast Conference (WCC) at the NCAA Division I level. History The Pilots started to gain attention when Clive Charles began coachi ...

. Following her freshman season in 2010, Cruz earned an All-West Coast Conference (WCC) Honorable Mention. Her performance during the 2011 season earned her Academic All-Region Second Team and WCC All Academic Honorable mention honors. In 2012, she ranked second on the team in assists (6) and points (16). Her five goals ranked third.

Apollon Limassol, 2014

Cruz signed with Apollon Limossol in the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

for the 2014 season. She made five appearances for the club during the

2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 14th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA. The final was played on 14 May 2015 at the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark, Berlin, Germany. Unlike recent ...

before the team was eliminated in the Round of 32.

Seattle Reign FC, 2015–16

In November 2014, it was announced that Cruz had signed with

for the 2015 season of the

. Of her signing, Reign FC head coach

Laura Harvey Laura Kate Harvey (born 15 May 1980) is an English football manager and former player who currently manages Seattle Reign FC of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She holds USSF "A" and UEFA "A" coaching licenses. Harvey previo ...

said, "Michelle was someone we looked at towards the end of last season and felt could benefit our group. Having gained experience playing overseas, we are pleased she has decided to come to the NWSL." Cruz was waived by the team after the 2016 season.

International

Cruz has represented the United States on the under-15 and under-18 national teams. She played for the Puerto Rico under-17 national football team at the

2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2008 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the 4th edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by CONCACAF for the women's under-20 national teams of the North, Central ...

in Trinidad.

References

External links

*
Portland Pilots player profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Michelle 1992 births Living people American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent American women's soccer players Puerto Rican women's footballers Seattle Reign FC players Apollon Ladies F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in Cyprus National Women's Soccer League players Soccer players from California Portland Pilots women's soccer players Parade High School All-Americans (girls' soccer) Women's association football defenders 21st-century American sportswomen