Maddy Anderson
Madelynn Jewel Anderson is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Première Ligue club Lens. She played college soccer for the Mississippi State Bulldogs, earning second-team All-American honors in 2024.
Early life
Anderson grew up in Broomfield, Colorado, one of two children born to Steven and Kelsie Anderson. She switched from forward to goalkeeper with Broomfield Soccer Club at age 12. Her family moved to Seabrook, Texas, when she was in seventh grade. She attended Clear Falls High School in League City, Texas, where she starred on the soccer team and spent one season as a kicker on the football team. She played ECNL club soccer for Challenge Soccer Club, based in Tomball, Texas, an hour-and-a-half drive away. During one ECNL national training camp in Portland, Oregon, in 2018, she played ten minutes for Paris Saint-Germain in a scrimmage against Manchester City. She committed to play college soccer for Mississippi State over another offer from Auburn when she was a sophomore.College career
Anderson started all but one game for the Mississippi State Bulldogs as a freshman in 2020, a season disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and kept 2 clean sheets in 12 games. She played every minute of her sophomore season in 2021, keeping 4 clean sheets in 16 games. She scored her only college goal in the last game of her sophomore season, doing so off a penalty kick in a 3–2 win against Ole Miss. In her junior season in 2022, she kept 9 clean sheets in 13 games before injuring her hamstring. She returned for the 2022 NCAA tournament, starting both games as Mississippi State won an NCAA tournament match for the first time in program history.Anderson became a team captain and started every game in her senior season in 2023, earning second-team All-SEC honors as she kept 10 clean sheets in 23 games. They finished fourth in the SEC and made the semifinals of the SEC tournament after beating Alabama on penalties. Anderson allowed only two goals during the 2023 NCAA tournament as they reached the round of 16, losing 1–0 to Stanford. She again started every game in her graduate season in 2024, helping lead Mississippi State to their best season in program history.
They went undefeated 10–0 in conference play, allowing only two goals, to win the SEC regular-season title for the first time. With a No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA tournament, they returned to the round of 16, losing to Notre Dame in the first game they conceded at home all season. Anderson finished with 14 clean sheets in 22 games and was named the SEC Goalkeeper of the Year, first-team All-SEC, and second-team All-American.
Club career
Anderson joined the NWSL's Racing Louisville as a non-roster trialist in the 2025 preseason. On March 21, she signed a short-term contract with Louisville through June, but didn't make any appearances as the backup to Katie Lund and Jordyn Bloomer. On July 23, newly promoted Première Ligue club Lens announced that they had signed Anderson to a one-year contract. She began the season as the backup to Lens vice captain Blandine Joly. On September 13, she made her professional debut for Lens in a 1–0 win over Fleury in the inaugural Coupe LFFP group stage. On December 5, she was handed her Première Ligue debut by manager Sarah M'Barek and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 home win over Saint-Étienne, Lens's first-ever top-flight victory.Honors and awards
Mississippi State Bulldogs- Southeastern Conference: 2024
- Second-team All-American: 2024
- SEC Goalkeeper of the Year: 2024
- First-team All-SEC: 2024
- Second-team All-SEC: 2023
- SEC all-freshman team: 2020
- SEC tournament all-tournament team: 2024