Margaret Melinda "Midge" Williams-Purce (born September 18, 1995) 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

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 ...

of 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) and the

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 ...

. She previously played for

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 ...

and 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 ...

. The

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of Gotham's

2023 NWSL Championship 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, she is known for her strength on the ball and her willingness to defend from the attack. She was first selected to play for the United States at the under-17 level, appearing at the

2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the third edition of the women's football tournament, and was held in Azerbaijan from 22 September to 13 October, following a decision by the executive committee on 19 March 2010. Defending champions Sou ...

and the

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was an international association football tournament and the world championship for women's national teams under the age of 20, presented by Grant Connell, organized by the sport's world governing body FIFA. I ...

. She made her first appearance for the senior national team in 2019, following a strong season with the Thorns. 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 ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2020, she was elected to a seat on the Board of Overseers of

with the support of Harvard Forward, an alumni climate activism group. She is an outspoken advocate for equal pay and is a co-founder and board member of the Black Women's Players Collective.

Early life

Purce is the daughter of James Purce, and has an older brother, JP Purce. She began playing soccer as a child, following in the footsteps of her brother. She attended Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School in Olney, Maryland, near her hometown of

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

where she was named Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012 and an

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

All-American in 2010 and 2011.

College career

Purce scored 42 goals in 69 appearances with the

Harvard Crimson The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the college sports teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate Varsity team, varsity sports teams for women and men at Harva ...

women's soccer team. She was named

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016 and a first-team

All-American in 2016. She majored in psychology at Harvard in pursuit of a career in law.

Club career

Boston Breakers, 2017

After playing for Harvard, Purce was drafted by the

with the 9th pick in the

2017 NWSL College Draft The 2017 NWSL College Draft was the fifth annual meeting of National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) franchises to select eligible college players. It was held on January 12, 2017 at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Convention in ...

. She appeared in 22 games for Boston and scored one goal.

Portland Thorns FC, 2018–2019

After the Breakers folded in January 2018, the league held a

dispersal draft A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when an existing team folds or is merged into another team. Like most other sports drafts, most dispersal drafts are conducted in closed leagues and are in ...

for the Breakers' players; Purce was selected with the 4th pick by the Portland Thorns. Purce made 21 appearances and 16 starts for the Thorns in 2018, playing primarily as a right fullback. During the 2019 NWSL season, Purce moved into wide and central forward positions, and at one point scored 5 goals in a span of 5 games.

Gotham FC, 2020–present

Purce was traded to

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 2020. During the 2021 NWSL season Purce played as a forward and scored nine goals, leading the team. She came in second in the NWSL Golden Boot race and was named to the NWSL Best XI in the 2021 NWSL Awards alongside teammates

Caprice Dydasco Caprice Ka'anohikula Dydasco (born August 19, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right back for Bay FC of the National Women's Soccer League. She previously played for Pali Blues, the Washington Spirit, Newcastle J ...

and

Kailen Sheridan Kailen Mary Iacovoni Sheridan (born July 16, 1995) is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and ...

. Purce was also a finalist for 2021 NWSL MVP following a breakout season. In January 2022, Purce signed a two-year contract extension with NJ/NY Gotham FC. Though sidelined through much of the 2023 NWSL season after tearing her quad, Purce was instrumental in Gotham FC's NWSL playoff run. She assisted both goals in Gotham FC's 1-2 Championship win over

OL Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional Association football, 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 J ...

and was named the Championship MVP. While at Gotham FC, Purce established a reputation as a strong dribbler and a dynamic, attacking player who is willing to take on defensive responsibilities. Purce found her 2024 season curtailed prematurely after injuring her ACL in a match against the

near the beginning of the year. After missing a season, she returned to the field in March 2025 and recorded an assist in her second game back. During her time in recovery, Purce signed a new contract with Gotham FC that kept her for an additional year. In May 2025, Purce scored her first goal since her injury return in the semifinals of the

2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup The 2024–25 CONCACAF W Champions Cup was the first season of the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, the annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF. The winner qualified for both the inaugural 2026 FIFA Women's Champio ...

, drawing and scoring a penalty in a 3–1 win against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

. In the final against Tigres, she again drew a penalty but had it saved by Itzel González. Gotham went on to win 1–0 and become the inaugural winners of the competition.

International career

Youth USWNT (2011–2018)

Purce was called up to the United States women's national under-17, under-20, and under-23 teams. She played in the

, made 4 appearances and 3 starts in the

, and scored goals for the US U20s against France in a friendly and against Mexico in the 2014 CONCACAF U20 Championship.

Senior USWNT (2017–)

Purce received her first call-up to the United States women's national team for the 2017 Tournament of Nations but she did not appear in any of the three games. She received another call-up in June 2018 for a pair of friendlies against China PR, but she sustained an ankle injury in training camp and was ruled out for the two friendlies. In November 2019, Purce received a call-up to

Vlatko Andonovski Vlatko Andonovski (; born 14 September 1976) is a Macedonian-American association football manager and former player who is the head coach and sporting director of the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League. He was the head c ...

's first training camp as the new USWNT head coach. After playing as a right-back and a forward during her professional career, she was called in as a defender. Purce played in her first match for the United States women's national team in their friendly against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on November 10, 2019. She played the full 90 minutes of the game as right back, and had a cross deflected in for a Costa Rica own goal in the U.S. team's 6–0 victory. Purce scored her first senior national team goal against Colombia on January 21, 2021. In November 2021, Purce was called up to her first senior national team camp as a forward. She has appeared in 25 games for the national team, winning the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and

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 ...

editions of the

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by t ...

as well as the

2022 CONCACAF W Championship The 2022 CONCACAF W Championship was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF W Championship, the quadrennial international Women's association football, women's football championship contested by the senior List of women's national association football t ...

with the United States. Following an injury in April 2023, Purce was not selected for the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

squad.

Advocacy

Purce is currently serving a six-year term as a member of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University. She was elected in 2020 with the support of Harvard Forward, an alumni climate activism group. Purce co-founded and currently serves as a board member for the Black Women's Players Collective (BWPC), a nonprofit with the goal of advancing opportunities for black girls in sport and beyond. She was named to the 2023

Forbes 30 under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''Forbes'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sect ...

list in the Sports category for her work with the BWPC. On March 24, 2021, Purce made an appearance at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

with USWNT teammate

Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger. She spent most of her career playing for Seattle Reign FC, OL Reign of the National Wom ...

to raise awareness of the importance of equal pay. In her remarks to introduce First Lady

Jill Biden Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (née Jacobs; born June 3, 1951) is an American educator who served as the first lady of the United States from 2021 to 2025 as the wife of President Joe Biden. She was second lady of the United States from 2009 to 20 ...

, Purce said, "You would never expect a flower to bloom without water, but women in sport who have been denied water, sunlight, and soil are somehow expected to blossom. Invest in women, then let's talk again when you see the return."

Personal life

Purce is the creator of '' The Offseason'', a reality television starring NWSL players in training before the new season, which premiered in 2024.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Purce goal.''

Honors and awards

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 ...

CONCACAF W Champions Cup The CONCACAF W Champions Cup is an annual continental women's football club competition organized by CONCACAF that determines the club champion for the region encompassing North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It is comparable to ...

: 2024–25 United States *

CONCACAF Women's Championship The CONCACAF W Championship is a women's association football competition for national teams organized by the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) that often serves as the qualifying competition ...

CONCACAF W Gold Cup The CONCACAF W Gold Cup is an international women's football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the regional governing body of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

;

Individual *

NWSL Team of the Month The National Women's Soccer League Team of the Month, also called the Best XI of the Month since 2022, is a monthly women's soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Selection This award began in 20 ...

: June 2019, August 2019 *

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 ...

: 2019 week 19, 2021 week 1, 2021 week 21 *

NWSL Goal of the Week The National Women's Soccer League Goal of the Week is a weekly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League. The honor is awarded by popular social media vote to the player deemed to have scored the best goal over ...

: 2019 week 8 *

Portland Thorns Portland Thorns FC is an American professional 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, which received supp ...

Supporters' Player Of The Year: 2019 * NWSL Best XI First Team: 2021 * NWSL Championship Game MVP:

References

Match reports

External links

*
Margaret "Midge" Purce #23
at

Midge Purce #23
at

Margaret Purce #16
at

(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Purce, Midge 1995 births Living people African-American soccer players American women's soccer players Boston Breakers draft picks Boston Breakers players Harvard Crimson women's soccer players National Women's Soccer League players Soccer players from Silver Spring, Maryland Portland Thorns FC players Gotham FC players United States women's under-20 international soccer players United States women's international soccer players Women's association football forwards Women's association football fullbacks 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen United States women's youth international soccer players