Tatumn Marie Milazzo (born April 17, 1998) 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 defender for

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 ...

club

Utah Royals The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...

Early life

Born in

Orland Park Orland Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, with a small portion in Will County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, Orland Park had a population of 58,703. Located 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Chicago, Or ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Milazzo attended Victor J. Andrew High School. She played her youth club soccer for Chicago Eclipse Select under eventual Chicago Red Stars head coach

Rory Dames Rory Dames Jr. (born February 10, 1973) is an American soccer coach who most recently was the head coach of the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He is the owner and former president of Chicago Eclipse Select, a y ...

. With the Eclipse, she helped the team win the 2013 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship and the Illinois State Cup in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

College career

Milazzo enrolled at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

and 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

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

. During her time with the Gamecocks from 2016 through 2019, Milazzo played 80 matches, scoring 3 goals. She also was part of the Gamecocks side that won three

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

titles, in 2016, 2017, and 2019. In 2017, she helped the Gamecocks qualify for their first

Women's College Cup The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship, sometimes known as the Women's College Cup, is an American College soccer in the United States, college soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and dete ...

appearance, where they were defeated by

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

in the semi-finals. Near the end of her senior year with the Gamecocks, Milazzo tore her ACL, but she elected to continue playing soccer despite her knee injury.

Club career

Chicago Red Stars, 2021–2024

On February 1, 2021, Milazzo was announced as part of the pre-season squad for

club

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

. On April 5, 2021, Milazzo joined the Chicago Red Stars as a supplemental roster player. She made her professional debut for the club on April 9, 2021, against the

Houston Dash The Houston Dash are an American professional soccer team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Dash began play in the 2014 season. The team plays its home games at Shell Energy Stadium. His ...

in the

NWSL Challenge Cup The NWSL Challenge Cup is an annual supercup competition organized by the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a division 1 women's league in the United States soccer league system. The current (2025) cup holder is the Washington Spirit, who ...

, coming on as an 87th-minute substitute as the Red Stars drew 0–0. Milazzo netted her first professional goal on October 10, 2021, scoring from outside the box in a 3–2 defeat at the hands of the

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 ...

. Later in the season, the Chicago Red Stars progressed to the

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 ...

game, which Milazzo played in. She completed her rookie season with 14 appearances and 936 minutes played for the Red Stars. In 2022, Milazzo starred in 23 games and scored 2 goals, one against

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 ...

and the other against the

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 ...

. In June, she was named to the 2022 June Best XI of the Month. She was a starter in the Red Stars' playoff game, which the team lost 2–1 in

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

. For her performances throughout the season, Milazzo was later named to the

NWSL Best XI Second Team NWSL Best XI and Second XI are annual awards presented to the best and second-best eleven players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). the teams of the season awards are voted on by players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), ...

. She also extended her contract with the Red Stars through the

2024 NWSL Season The 2024 National Women's Soccer League season was the twelfth season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ...

, with an additional one-year option in the deal. During the 2023 season, Milazzo played 21 games and tallied 1 goal, which was scored in a 1–1 draw with 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 ...

on August 27, 2023. In 2024, Milazzo started her season off with a bang, making goal-line clearances in two consecutive games. Both of Milazzo's clearances won

NWSL Save of the Week The National Women's Soccer League Save of the Week is a weekly soccer award given to individual players in the National Women's Soccer League since 2016. The honor is awarded by popular social media vote to the player deemed to have scored the be ...

honors, marking the second-ever time a NWSL field player won the award in back-to-back weeks.

Utah Royals, 2025–

On January 13, 2025, the

announced they had signed Milazzo to a two year contract.

Career statistics

Honors

South Carolina Gamecocks *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual *

NWSL Best XI NWSL Best XI and Second XI are annual awards presented to the best and second-best eleven players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). the teams of the season awards are voted on by players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), ...

second team:

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 ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milazzo, Tatumn 1998 births Living people Soccer players from Cook County, Illinois Sportspeople from Will County, Illinois American women's soccer players Women's association football defenders South Carolina Gamecocks women's soccer players Chicago Red Stars players National Women's Soccer League players Sportspeople from Orland Park, Illinois American LGBTQ soccer players 21st-century American sportswomen Utah Royals players