Morgan Gautrat
Morgan Paige Gautrat is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League 2 club Newcastle United W.F.C., on loan from the Orlando Pride. She first appeared for the United States national team during a friendly against Korea Republic on June 15, 2013. She has made 88 total appearances for the team and scored eight goals.
Gautrat played collegiate soccer with the University of Virginia Cavaliers from 2011 to 2014. In her four years with the Cavaliers, she scored 41 goals and recorded 43 assists, finishing her collegiate career ranked second in career points, second in career assists, and fifth in career goals. Gautrat won the MAC Hermann Trophy in both 2013 and 2014, becoming the fourth women's player to win the award in consecutive years. Following her collegiate career, Gautrat was selected first overall by the Houston Dash in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Gautrat helped the United States win their titles at the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. At age 22, she was the youngest member of the team at the 2015 World Cup.
Early life
Born in St. Simons Island, Georgia to Vickie and Steve Brian, Morgan was raised with her older sister Jennifer. St. Simon's Island had an immense soccer culture and Gautrat played with girls who were four or five years older than she. Because of her small size among the team, she earned the nickname 'Plankton.' Gautrat eventually went on to play with the Ponte Vedra Storm in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, where she played from U-12 to U-19. However, the team played as the Clay County Soccer Club for their U-19-year. While with the Storm, Gautrat won state championships at the U-17 and U-19 levels. In their U-19-year, as the Clay County Soccer Club, the team won the 2012 United States Youth Soccer National Championship. Gautrat missed the championships, as she was with the United States U-20 women's national team.Gautrat tried out for the Olympic Development Program state team in Florida along with all of her teammates from the Ponte Vedra Storm. She did not make the ODP team that first year; however she used that as motivation to train harder. She eventually made the state, regional, and national ODP teams. Regarding her experience playing in ODP, Gautrat stated that it "was what got recognized in the beginning."
Gautrat attended Frederica Academy in St. Simon's Island from 2007 to 2011, where she played soccer all four years and helped the team win four consecutive state titles. In addition to soccer, Gautrat also played varsity basketball as an eighth-grader, freshman, sophomore, and senior. She received both All-Region and All-State recognition for basketball.
Gautrat ended her high school soccer career with 186 goals and 95 assists. She was a two-time Parade All-American and two-time Gatorade Georgia State Player of the Year. In 2010, she was named an NSCAA High School and Youth All-American and was also the 2010 NSCAA Youth Player of the Year as well as the 2010 Parade National Player of the Year. In 2011, she was named Gatorade National Player of the Year. Gautrat was also the first soccer player to be honored as the Gatorade National Female Athlete of the Year in 2011.
University of Virginia Cavaliers, 2011–2014
Gautrat attended the University of Virginia. As a first year in 2011, she started in 22 games and appeared in 23 of the 24 total matches. As a midfielder, she was the second-leading scorer for the Cavaliers with 11 goals and eight assists. She was named the Soccer America National Freshman of the Year, NSCAA First-Team All-American, Second-Team Soccer America MVP and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy. She was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-ACC.During her second year, Gautrat appeared in 15 games, starting 13, after missing the beginning of the season due to representing the United States at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup where she helped the US take home gold. Gautrat scored four goals and served seven assists for the Cavaliers. She was named NSCAA 1st Team All-Southeast Region, First Team All-ACC, ACC Tournament MVP as well as Second Team Soccer America MVP, Second Team TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Season, and First Team VaSID All-State.
As a third year in 2013, Gautrat started 25 games. She was first in Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring with 46 points on 16 goals and a league-high 14 assists. She scored in all four NCAA Tournament wins to lead Virginia to College Cup. She was named Soccer America Player of the Year, TopDrawerSoccer.com Player of the Year, VaSID State Player of the Year, First-Team NSCAA All-American, First-Team Soccer America MVP and First-Team All-ACC. She was named winner of 2013 Hermann Trophy.
As a fourth year in 2014, Gautrat repeated as the winner of the Hermann Trophy, becoming the fifth woman to win the award twice, after Mia Hamm of North Carolina, Cindy Parlow of North Carolina, Christine Sinclair of Portland and Kerri Hanks.
Club career
Houston Dash, 2015–2017
On January 16, 2015, the Houston Dash selected Gautrat with the first overall pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft for the 2015 season of the National Women's Soccer League. Gautrat made her first appearance for the Dash on April 10, 2015, in a match against the Washington Spirit. Due to commitments with the United States women's national team at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, Gautrat missed almost half of the NWSL season. She returned to the Dash in late-July, appearing in a match against FC Kansas City on July 20. Gautrat made ten appearances for the Dash in the regular season, recording three assists in 810 minutes played. The Dash finished fifth in the league and did not advance to the playoffs.On January 13, 2016, Gautrat was on the official list of United States women's national team allocated players for the 2016, having been assigned to the Houston Dash along with Carli Lloyd. Gautrat made seven appearances for the Dash before joining the national team in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Gautrat returned to Houston for her third season in the NWSL and fifth overall season for the NWSL. Gautrat made her 2017 debut on May 6, 2017, in Chicago during the fourth week of the NWSL historical 5th season. Gautrat sat for the first few weeks due to a MCL injury that she sustained during her 66th appearance for the USWNT during the She Believes Cup against France in early March.
Chicago Red Stars, 2017
On August 30, 2017, the Chicago Red Stars acquired Gautrat from the Dash for Kristie Mewis. In January 2018, Gautrat signed a deal to play in France for Olympique Lyonnais, while Chicago retained her NWSL rights. The Chicago Red Stars announced Gautrat's return to the team on June 19, 2018, as she signed a deal for the remainder of the 2018 season.Olympique Lyonnais, 2018
On January 1, 2018, Olympique Lyonnais Féminin announced they had signed Gautrat to a two-and-a-half-year deal, that would run until June 30, 2020. On May 30, 2018, it was reported that Gautrat was leaving Lyon after only 5 months. This was confirmed on June 19, 2018, as the Chicago Red Stars announced she had signed a deal to return to the NWSL.Chicago Red Stars, 2018–2022
On June 19, 2018, after having spending 5 months with Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, Gautrat made her return to the Chicago Red Stars. Gautrat appeared in 9 regular season games for the team before appearing in her first career NWSL playoff game on September 18. The next season, Gautrat helped lead Chicago to the playoffs again, where the team earned its first playoff win in team history; Gautrat scored her first career NWSL goal in a September 15 game against Sky Blue FC and was named to her first ever NWSL Team of the Month that same month. The Chicago Red Stars announced Gautrat's departure at the end of the 2022 season.Kansas City Current, 2023
Ahead of the 2023 season, Gautrat joined Kansas City Current as a free agent on a two-year contract.Orlando Pride, 2024–present
On January 11, 2024, Orlando Pride traded for Gautrat and $50,000 in allocation money in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot.Newcastle United, 2025
On August 25th, 2025, Gautrat signed with Women's Super League 2 club Newcastle United on loan until December 2025. She scored her first goal for the club, an olympico, on October 5, 2025 in the 98th minute of a 2–2 draw against Crystal Palace.International
Youth national teams
Gautrat was a member of the United States U-17 women's national soccer team that placed third at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica. At age fifteen, she was the youngest member on the squad.Gautrat was a member of the United States U20 squad that won the 2012 CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship and earned a spot at the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Japan. During the qualifying tournament, she played in four games totaling 337 minutes, scored one goal and served one assist. Her goal occurred during the team's 4–0 semi-final victory over Mexico, which earned the squad its berth to the U-20 Women's World Cup. Leading up to the World Cup, she earned 15 U-20 caps and scored three goals.
Gautrat would later help the team win the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Japan; playing all six matches and scoring a goal. Describing Gautrat, head coach Steve Swanson said, "Morgan does everything extremely well, which is rare for any midfielder. She can finish, she makes great runs, she's an excellent passer, she can take players one-on-one and she can head the ball. There are not a lot of things she can't do, but what sets her apart is her brain. She's got an amazing soccer brain for her age and she's still one of the younger players on this team."
Senior national team
Gautrat received her first senior national team call-up in June 2013, when she was named to a 23-player roster for a training camp and a two-game series against the Korea Republic. At 20 years old, Gautrat was the youngest player on the roster. Gautrat earned her first cap on June 15, 2013, during the first match against the Korea Republic, replacing Lauren Holiday in the 77th minute. On September 3, 2013, Gautrat made her second appearance in a match against Mexico at RFK Stadium. She replaced Erika Tymrak in the 70th minute. Two minutes later, Gautrat scored her first goal for the national team off an assist by Abby Wambach. The United States won the match 7–0.In 2014, Gautrat made 16 appearances with the national team while also playing with her college team. She started off the year at a national team training camp from January 8 to 15 at U.S. Soccer's National Training Center in Carson, California. On February 24, Gautrat was named to the 24-player roster for the 2014 Algarve Cup that took place from March 5 to 12. She started in the team's first match of the tournament on March 5 against Japan, a 1–1 draw. She also started in the match against Sweden on March 7, a game that ended the 43-game unbeaten streak for the United States. Gautrat started in the team's final match of the tournament against Korea DPR that secured their seventh-place finish in the tournament.
Gautrat joined the team for a two-game series against China on April 6 and 10. She started in both matches. In late April, Gautrat was named to a 22-player roster for a match against Canada on May 8. She played 68 minutes of the match, which ended in a 1–1 draw. She was then named to the roster for two games against France on June 14 and 19. Gautrat was named to a 19-player roster for a match against Switzerland on August 20 in Sandy, Utah. She made an appearance during the match, coming in for Megan Rapinoe in the 78th minute. The United States went on the win 4–1.
Gautrat joined the national team for a training camp at the end of August in order to prepare for two matches against Mexico in September as well as the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Qualifying tournament in October. She appeared in the first game against Mexico on September 13 and was subsequently named to the roster for the 2014 CONCACAF Women's Championship that served as a qualification for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Gautrat made three appearances in the tournament, starting one. Her first appearance of the tournament came during the team's final group match against Haiti, when she replaced Tobin Heath in the 63rd minute. She also came in during the 67th minute of the semi-final match against Mexico on October 24, helping the United States win 3–0 and qualify for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Her third appearance came during the final against Costa Rica on October 26, helping the United States win the tournament. Following the CONCACAF Qualifying tournament, Gautrat was named to the 24-player roster for the International Tournament of Brasilia in Brazil that took place from December 10 to 21. She came in for Lauren Holiday during the 65th minute of the match against Brazil on December 14. Gautrat made two assists in the match against Argentina on December 18. Gautrat played all 90 minutes in the final against Brazil. The game was a 0–0 draw, but the tournament title was given to Brazil, who had more points from the group stage.FIle:Morgan Brian.jpg|thumb|Gautrat playing for the USWNT, May 2015|left