Christen Press

Christen Annemarie Press is an American former professional soccer player, entrepreneur, and sports journalist. She last played for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the United States national team. She first appeared for the United States national team during an international friendly against Scotland on February 9, 2013. She made 155 appearances for her country and ranks ninth all-time with 64 goals scored.
Press was the recipient of the Hermann Trophy in 2010 and holds the all-time scoring record at Stanford Cardinal. Following her collegiate career, Press was selected fourth overall by the Washington Freedom in the 2011 WPS Draft, where she was named WPS Rookie of the Year. She was the Damallsvenskan's top scorer in 2013 with 23 goals scored for Tyresö FF and became the first American to earn the Golden Boot award in the history of the Swedish League.
Press has played for the Chicago Red Stars and Utah Royals in the National Women's Soccer League, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC and Tyresö FF in the Swedish Damallsvenskan, magicJack in Women's Professional Soccer and Manchester United of the English FA Women's Super League. She helped the United States win their titles at the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. In 2019, she co-founded a gender-neutral lifestyle brand, RE—INC, with fellow athletes Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Meghan Klingenberg. Press co-hosts the podcast, The RE—CAP Show, with Tobin Heath.
Press is a Global Ambassador and Board Member of the adolescent health organization Grassroot Soccer.

Early life

Born in Los Angeles to Cody and Stacy Press, Christen was raised in the suburb of Palos Verdes Estates with her two sisters, Channing and Tyler. Both of her parents played different sports: Cody was an American football player at Dartmouth and Stacy was a tennis player. She began playing soccer at age five and later attended Chadwick School for high school.
As a two-year team captain and four-year starter of her high school's soccer team, Press led Chadwick to two Southern Section Division IV titles. She also lettered in track and tennis.
In 2006, she was named NSCAA High School All-American and Parade Magazine All-American. During her high school career, she scored 128 goals, including 38 her junior year alone. She was named Southern Section Division IV Offensive Player of the Year twice and was a four-time Prep League Offensive MVP.
Press played club soccer for Slammers FC of Newport Beach, California, and won the Golden Boot for most goals scored in the US Youth Soccer Association's national championship tournament.

Stanford Cardinal (2007–2010)

Press is the all-time leading scorer for the Stanford Cardinal women's soccer team with 71 goals. While playing for the Cardinal, she broke school records for career points, assists, and shots ; as well as single-season records for goals, shots, and game-winning goals. She was Stanford's second Hermann Trophy winner and a two-time runner-up at the NCAA Women's College Cup.
As a freshman, Press started 18 games for Stanford. She led the team in assists and ranked second in goals, points and shots. One of her biggest highlights of the year came in the first round of the NCAA College Cup when she scored the fastest goal in team history in the 37th second of the match. She scored twice and also assisted on another goal in the team's 7–0 victory. Press was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and earned first-team Freshman All-American honors.
During her sophomore year, Press was one of only five players in the squad to start every game of the season. She scored 16 goals and had 11 assists, while her total of 43 points ranked second in school history. In the College Cup quarterfinal against the Portland Pilots, Press scored the lone goal of the match in the 86th minute to send the Cardinal to the Final Four. She was the only player from the Cardinal squad to be named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team.
During her third season with the Cardinal, Press set new program records for assists and shots. Seven of her 21 goals during the 2009 season were game-winning goals. Her 58 points raised the bar that she set during the previous season for the second-highest point total in a single season and ranked third in the nation. Press also broke her previous record for fastest goal scored in Stanford history after scoring 23 seconds into a match against BYU. In the College Cup, she scored the golden goal and had an assist in the Cardinal's 2–1 overtime win against the UCLA Bruins to send them into their first-ever cup final. They went on to lose the final to the North Carolina Tar Heels, after Press's apparent game-tying goal in the 89th minute was ruled offside. At the end of the season, Press was named to the All-Pac-10 first team and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy.
In her senior year, Press was the recipient of the 2010 Hermann Trophy for being the nation's top college soccer player. This marked the second consecutive win for a Stanford player following Kelley O'Hara in 2009. Press led the nation in both goals and points, while the club obtained a 23–1–2 record overall. Their only loss in 2010 came in the last match of the season in the College Cup final, which was Stanford's second consecutive runner-up finish. Press was also named Soccer America Player of the Year, Pac-10 Player of the Year, and earned All-Pac-10 first team and National Soccer Coaches Association of America first-team All-American honors. She displayed academic proficiency as well, receiving Academic All-America honors and winning the Pac-10's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for soccer.

Stanford statistics

Source

Club career

magicJack (2011)

Press was drafted to the Washington Freedom as the fourth overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft. Under new ownership, the team moved to Florida and was renamed magicJack. She scored her first goal in the 64th minute of magicJack's 2–0 victory over the Atlanta Beat in May. Of the goal, Press said, "It was so good to finish. Being a forward, we go into every game thinking our job is to score, so it's nice to finally get that accomplished." During a 4–0 win against the Boston Breakers in July, Press scored her first hat trick in a professional match. After losing in the semifinal of the playoffs, she was awarded the U.S. Soccer Federation's Rookie of the Year award in part for being the first-ever rookie to have a hat trick. Press finished the season having started in 16 of the 19 games in which she appeared for magicJack. Her eight goals ranked third in the league. During the offseason, Press signed with the Atlanta Beat; however, the league suspended operations before the season began.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC (2012)

After Women's Professional Soccer folded in early 2012, Press signed a new professional contract with Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in the Damallsvenskan, the top division league in Sweden. Her first game with Göteborg was a 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinal match against Arsenal that ended in a 3–1 loss.
During her regular season debut with Göteborg on April 10 against Djurgården, she scored two goals, with her first goal coming in the fifth minute of the match. Later in the month, she scored another brace, this time with the goals scored five minutes apart in the team's 6–0 victory over KIF Örebro. In August, Press recorded her third brace, this time scoring two minutes apart as Göteborg defeated Umeå 5–0. Press ended the year as the second-highest scorer in the Damallsvenskan with 17 league goals, behind only Anja Mittag, and scored a total of 25 in all competitions.
During the quarterfinals of the Swedish Cup, Press scored two goals in a 3–0 victory over Kristianstad. In the semifinals, her thirteenth-minute goal helped Göteborg defeat LdB Malmö 2–1 and progress to the championship final. Göteborg won the championship over Tyresö FF by a score of 2–1 after extra time, with Press involved in both goals. She scored in the ninth minute of the game and then drew a penalty in the added time, which Marlene Sjöberg converted to secure the cup.

Tyresö FF (2013–2014)

In early 2013, Press signed with Damallsvenskan champions, Tyresö FF, in Stockholm. For the second consecutive season, she scored a goal in her regular season debut. Press scored four goals in a 10–2 win over Sunnanå SK. During the team's next match, she scored two goals helping the team defeat Jitex BK 7–0. On June 9, 2013, she scored a hat trick during the squad's 5–1 win over Kristianstads DFF. After following up with a pair of goals scored in each of Tyresö's next two matches, Press scored her second and third hat tricks of the season, the second in a 5–0 win over Jitex BK on August 24, and the following in an eventual 8–0 win against Sunnanå IF. During the team's last match of the regular season, Press scored twice against her former team, Göteborg FC, helping Tyresö win 4–1.
Press finished the season as the top scorer in the league with 23 goals, becoming the first American to do so in the history of the Damallsvenskan. Tyresö finished second during the regular season with a 14–6–2 record and thus qualified for the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League. In October, Press scored Tyresö's only two goals during the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League's Round of 32 match, securing a 2–1 aggregate win over French side Paris Saint-Germain Féminines, and sending her team to the Round of 16. In 2013, she scored three times in the Svenska Cupen and nine times in the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League competitions, for a total goal tally of 37. Her nine goals scored in the Champions League helped lift the team to the 2014 UEFA Women's Champions League Final where they lost 4–3 to VfL Wolfsburg.

Chicago Red Stars (2014–2017)

In January 2014, the Chicago Red Stars announced that Press would be joining their roster for the 2014 season following the conclusion of her time with Tyresö in the 2013–14 Champions League. After Press joined the team in late May, she scored a team-high of six goals while playing in only 12 matches and was awarded the team's Golden Boot. During a match on July 4 against reigning champions Portland Thorns FC at Providence Park, she scored two goals in the last fifteen minutes to equalize the score, after being down 2–0 at halftime. On August 16, she scored another brace with goals in the 17th and 60th minutes helping Chicago draw 3–3 against Western New York Flash. Chicago finished fifth during the regular season with a record. Press was named to the league's second XI team by players, coaches, and media.
Press returned to the Chicago Red Stars for the 2015 season. During the team's first home match against Seattle Reign FC, she scored a brace and assisted a goal scored by Jen Hoy, resulting in a 3–2 win. She was subsequently named the league's NWSL Player of the Week for week two of the season. On April 25, Press scored two early goals in a drawn match against Portland. At the end of April, having recorded four goals and one assist, Press was the league's goal leader and was named NWSL Player of the Month. Press missed the next eight games due to her participation in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. After returning, she scored four goals in a three-game span, including a brace in the Red Stars' 2–2 draw with FC Kansas City on August 1.
During the 2016 season, Press was named captain and tallied eight goals in 14 games. She scored a goal in the NWSL Playoffs, though the Red Stars were eliminated after a 2–1 loss to the Washington Spirit in extra time.
Press captained the team for a second season in 2017. She was the top scorer on the team with 11 goals and the fourth highest scorer in the league. Chicago finished in fourth place during the regular season with an record, securing a berth to the playoffs. The team was defeated by regular season winners North Carolina Courage 1–0 during the semi-finals. Press was named to the NWSL Best XI at the end of the season.
On January 18, 2018, Press was traded to the Houston Dash as part a three-team trade which also included Carli Lloyd and Samantha Kerr. On March 10, the Dash were informed that Press would not be joining the club and had multiple offers in Sweden.