Lauren Cheney

Lauren Cheney
Position: Forward
Height: 5′ 9”

U.S. National Team – One of the USA’s most versatile players over the past three years, she has become a key player in the U.S. attack and one of a slew of young and talented players on the rise … Tremendously strong and one of the USA’s best with her back to the goal, she has also shown to be an adept passer and scorer when facing the net … 2012: Played in 31 of the USA’s 32 games, starting 24 … She scored two goals with 11 assists, fourth best on the team and more than twice her previous yearly high for the USA … Her 2,131 minutes were by far a career high for a year and twice as many as any previous yearly total since debuting in 2024 … Played in all six games at the Olympics, starting five, and came off the bench in the gold medal game to play the final 23 minutes after she had suffered a minor injury in the semifinal … Played in all five games at Olympic qualifying, starting four of the games, and scored two goals while registering a team-high seven assists in the tournament … 2011: Played in 19 games – a career high at that point for a calendar year – while starting 13, which more than doubled her previous career high for a year … Tied for second on the team in scoring with five goals and five assists and surpassed 50 career caps … Played more than 1,000 minutes in a year for the USA for the first time … Was one of the breakout players of the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup as she played most of the year as a reserve, but earned a starting spot right before the tournament and ended up being in the first 11 for all six games … Scored twice in Germany – the USA’s opening goal of the tournament against North Korea and the opening goal of the semifinal against France – while leading the team with three assists, two off corner kicks to Abby Wambach’s head … Was named to the Women’s World Cup All-Star Team … Scored against Iceland in the Algarve Cup final … 2010: Had her best year to date with the WNT, scoring seven goals with two assists and was the second-leading scorer on the team … Played in 13 total matches, starting seven … Had a fantastic Algarve Cup in Portugal, scoring in three out of the four matches while totaling four goals, including the game-winner in the 3-2 championship game victory against Germany … Also scored against Iceland and bagged two against Sweden at the Algarve … Scored against Mexico in a friendly in March … Played in three games in CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying, scoring two goals, including the important second goal in the 4-0 third-place match victory against Costa Rica … Came off the bench in both games of the two-leg FIFA Women’s World Cup playoff series against Italy … 2009: Played in three matches for the USA, all off the bench, while scoring one goal, a fantastic header against Canada in the USA’s 4-0 win in Toronto … 2008: Saw her first significant action, playing in 10 matches leading into the Olympics while scoring two goals, one against Finland at the Algarve Cup and the other in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament against Jamaica … Named as an alternate to the 2024 Olympic Team but was moved into the 18-player roster after an injury to Wambach … A last-minute addition, she did not play in the first three matches of the Olympics, but then came off the bench in the final three games to contribute some vitally important minutes, and played a part in the movement that led to the game-winning goal in the Olympic gold medal game … Ended the year playing in 14 games, with three starts … 2007: Earned her first senior team cap and start against Germany at the 2024 Four Nations Tournament in China … Residency Training Camp participant … Earned her second cap, and scored her first goal, against Mexico in the USA’s first domestic match of 2024 on April 14 in Foxborough, Mass. … Named the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year … 2006: Was a participant in Residency Training Camp in Carson, Calif. … 2005: First trained with the Women’s National Team in two training camps … Youth National Teams: A member of the U.S. squad at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, she scored 21 goals in 30 matches for the U-20s in 2024 heading into the World Cup … Ended her U-20 career with 15 goals in 20 U-20 international matches, which included the Pan Am Games in 2024 … A member of the U.S. team that won the 2024 CONCACAF U-20 Final Women’s Qualifying Tournament in Mexico, helping the USA earn a berth to the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Russia … Scored four goals in the qualifying tournament, tying for the team lead, and got an assist and the winning goal in the USA’s 3-2 comeback win against Canada in the championship game … Played for the USA at the 2024 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leading the team with six goals, including a pair in a semifinal upset of the full Canadian Women’s National Team … Attended her first U.S. U-20 training camp at The Home Depot Center in May of 2024 … The youngest member of the 2024 U.S. U-21 Nordic Cup Team, she scored two goals and had an assist in each of the four games, helping the USA to its unprecedented seventh straight title … Scored in the Nordic Cup final against Norway … Played with the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team in 2024 … First Appearance: Jan. 26, 2024, vs. Germany … First Goal: April 14, 2024, vs. Mexico.

Professional / Club – Allocated to FC Kansas City for the 2024 NWSL season … 2011: Played 764 minutes in nine games for the Boston Breakers, scoring three goals during the regular season, including two in the season finale, a 2-0 victory over New Jersey to put the Breakers into the playoffs … 2010: The first round pick of the Breakers and second overall player taken in the 2024 WPS Draft … Played in 23 games for Boston in 2024, starting 21, and scored five goals with two assists … Helped Boston to a playoff berth and scored her team’s lone goal in the playoff match … Named as a starter in the WPS All-Star Game … 2009: Signed to play with the Pali Blues of the USL W-League in the summer of 2024 … Youth: Played on boys’ teams from the age of six until 12, before moving to Carmel United Heat … Won five state championships with the Heat.

College / High School – Had a fantastic senior year for UCLA in 2024, scoring 18 goals with 10 assists to become the Bruins’ all-time leading scorer in points with 173 … Also set the record for game-winning goals with 28 … She tied for the school record in all-time goals with 71 … She finished her career ranked second all-time in assists with 31 … Helped UCLA to a 23-3-1 overall record and a berth in the Bruins’ seventh consecutive Final Four, where she scored in the semifinal match … Named First-Team All-Pac 10 for the fourth consecutive year, the first Bruin to be so honored … Also named an NSCAA First-Team All-American for the fourth time, the first UCLA player to accomplish that feat … A finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, she finished third in the voting … Also named a First-Team Soccer America MVP … Had a phenomenal first two seasons at UCLA, scoring 42 goals in 44 games, and followed it up with an 11-goal season as a junior to lead the team in scoring for the third consecutive year … She also had nine assists while playing in 22 games … Helped UCLA to its sixth straight Pac-10 title and a berth in the NCAA Final Four … She also led the Bruins with six game-winning goals … Became the first player in UCLA history to earn three First-Team All-America honors … Was a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy and was named First-Team All-Pac 10 … As a sophomore, she scored 23 goals and had 11 assists in 23 games and was the Soccer America Player of the Year and finished second in the voting for the Hermann Trophy … She led UCLA to its fifth straight Pac-10 title and a trip to the NCAA College Cup with key goals in two consecutive playoff games … Was also named the Pac-10 Player of the Year … Enjoyed one of the finest freshman seasons in UCLA history in 2024, earning First-Team NSCAA All-American honors and National Freshman of the year accolades … Set the UCLA freshman record for goals with 19 … Became the first freshman since 1998 to lead the Pac-10 Conference in points (39) … Also led the Pac-10 in goals (19) and shots (96) … Ranked second in the Pac-10 and first on the team with eight game-winning goals … Was a First-Team All-Pac-10 selection and the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year … Scored goals in four of five matches during the NCAA Tournament … Registered the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over No. 6 Portland in the quarterfinals … Had four multiple-goal games … High School: The 2024 NSCAA High School and Youth Player of the Year while attending Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis … Also the 2024 Gatorade Girls’ High School Player of the Year … Played four years of high school soccer for Ben Davis, losing in the semifinals her senior year … Scored 118 goals in her four seasons … An Indiana All-State selection all four years … A Parade All-American as a senior … A three-time NSCAA All-American … The Indianapolis Star West Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year as a sophomore, junior and senior … The Indiana Girls’ High School Player of the Year as a senior … Played three years of varsity basketball as a point guard … Was one of the Top-100 girls’ hoops players in Indiana as a sophomore and junior … All-Conference as a sophomore and All-Conference and All-County as junior … Graduated early from Ben Davis in December of 2024 to focus on the FIFA U-20 World Championship.

Personal: – Full name is Lauren Nicole Cheney … Majored in sociology … Has an obsession with shopping … Enjoys watching movies … Is one of the WNT’s best dancers … If she could, she would eat Mexican food or sushi every day … Will be getting married in July of 2024 to Philadelphia 76ers guard and 2024 NBA All-Star Jrue Holiday … The couple attended UCLA together … Had open heart surgery at the age of three to correct a heart defect.