Alexa Spaanstra
Alexa Christine Spaanstra is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League. She played college soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers, where she was a five-time All-ACC selection. Internationally, she has played for the [United States women's national association football|soccer team|United States] youth national team, winning CONCACAF tournaments at the under-17 and under-20 levels. She was selected by the Current in the first round of the 2023 NWSL Draft.
Early life
Spaanstra was born and raised in Brighton, Michigan, as the older of two children born to Andrea and Scott Spaanstra. Her father played college basketball for the Northern Michigan Wildcats, and her mother ran track at Aquinas College. Spaanstra played club soccer for the Michigan Hawks of the Elite Clubs National League starting at the under-11 level, helping the team win national ECNL titles in 2014 and 2017 and finish runners-up in the years between. She was also a competitive sprinter, winning a national 200-meter dash at age 10 and lettering in track at Brighton High School. She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the recruit of the class of 2018.College career
Spaanstra was a five-year starter at forward and midfield for the Virginia Cavaliers from 2018 to 2022. She helped Virginia win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title in 2021 and reach the finals of the ACC tournament in [2019 Atlantic Coast Conference|ACC women's soccer tournament|2019] and 2021, earning all-tournament honors in each of her first four seasons. As a freshman in 2018, she recorded nine goals and six assists, both joint team bests, and was named All-ACC third team and ACC All-Freshman.Spaanstra had three goals and a team-best twelve assists as a sophomore in 2019, including four assists in one game and two against Florida State in the ACC semifinals, and was second-team All-ACC. After missing about a month due to injury, she made the All-ACC first team with ten goals as a junior in 2020–21, including four goals in the first two rounds of the 2020 NCAA tournament as the Cavaliers reached the semifinals. She recorded seven goals and nine assists as a senior in 2021, helping Virginia take the ACC regular season title, and was named second-team All-ACC. She finished her fifth season of eligibility with eight goals and was third-team All-ACC in 2022.