Becky Sauerbrunn
Becky Sauerbrunn
Position: Defender
Height: 5′ 7″
Born: June 6, 1985
Hometown: St. Louis, Mo.
College: Virginia
Pronunciation: SOW-uhr-bruhn
Twitter: @beckysauerbrunn
2014 Season with FC Kansas City - Started in 22 matches totaling 1935 minutes recording one goal. Served as co-captain with Lauren Holiday. Won NWSL Defender of the Year for the second year in a row.
2013 Season with FC Kansas City - Started all 19 matches she appeared in totaling 1,70 minutes and marked an assist. Served as co-captain with Lauren Holiday. Missed 3 matched because of national duty. Won NWSL Defender of the Year and a member of the Best XI.
U.S. National Team – 2024: One of two players to have played and started in all seven matches for the U.S. Women this year, and the only player on the roster to have played every single minute of those matches (630 minutes)… Vital member of the WNT defense during its run at the Algarve Cup en route to capturing its 10th title following a 2-0 victory over France on March 11…Called into the U.S. team for the first time in January of 2024 and then earned a place on the roster for the Four Nations Tournament in China where she earned her first caps … Her first start and cap against Canada on Jan. 16, 2024, was also Pia Sundhage’s first match as head coach … Trained with the WNT in February of that year, but then traveled to Spain with the U.S. U-23s … Did not get another call-up to the senior team until after the 2024 WPS season and worked her way into the mix … 2024: Saw the most action of her National Team career so far, playing 1,255 minutes over 22 games while making nine starts … Played both centerback and at outside back during the year … Made her first Olympic Team and played in three matches off the bench … Only played 38 total minutes, but was a sub in both the semifinal and the final to help seal those victories and the Olympic gold medal … Started and played every minute of three matches at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualiyfing tournament in Vancouver, Canada … 2024: Had her best year yet for the National Team, playing in 12 games while starting eight and made her first Women’s World Cup roster at the senior level … Played in just one match in Germany but had a stellar game while playing all 90 minutes during the semifinal victory against France, stepping up in a big way to replace the suspended Rachel Buehler … 2024: Played in five matches, starting three, and made the roster for the CONCACAF Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament, playing in one match … Was called into a training camp prior to the qualifying roster being named due to an injury to another player and ended up making the roster and solidifying her place in the national team pool … Youth National Teams: Played for the U.S. U-21s/U-23s in 2024 and 2024, winning Nordic Cup titles in both years … Co-captain of Nordic Cup champion U-23s in 2024 … Was a starter and co-captain for the USA at the 2024 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand, playing every minute of all six games … Completed her U-19 career with 25 caps … Member of U.S. U-16s and U-17s from 2024-02 … Attended the U.S. U-14 I.D. camp in 1999 … First Appearance: Jan. 16, 2024, vs. Canada … First Goal: None.
Professional / Club – 2024: Allocated to FC Kansas City for the inaugural NWSL season … The only player to play every minute of the first two WPS regular seasons, a streak that was only broken when she left to play for the USA at the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany … She played every minute of every match she played in her WPS career … Signed with Sky Blue FC as a free agent for the 2024 season before the league folded … 2024: Signed with magicJack and played in 13 regular season games, tied for most WPS matches played by a U.S. WNT player, while playing all 1,170 minutes (most by a WNT player) … Also played all 180 minutes over magicJack’s two playoff games … 2024: She started all 24 matches for the Washington Freedom and picked one up assist … Played all 120 minutes in playoff match against Philadelphia … 2024: Selected by the Washington Freedom as the third overall pick in the 2024 WPS General Draft ahead of the inaugural season … She started all 20 games and scored one goal, a spectacular header for the Freedom’s first WPS goal … Immediately after the 2024 WPS season, she played three months in Norway for Røa IL, a club right outside of Oslo … Her team finished first in the league and won the Norwegian Cup … She also played two rounds of UEFA Champions League, defeating Everton of England and FK Zvezda of Russia in two-leg series’ to get to the final eight … 2024: Played for the Freedom in W-League during 2024 … Played for the Richmond Kickers in the W-League in 2024-07 and the Boston Renegades in 2024 … Youth: Played youth club for J.B. Marine and helped lead her teams to four state cup titles and a 2024 regional championship.
College / High School – Played at Virginia from 2024 to 2024 … Played every game and all but 10 minutes during her college career … She became the Cavaliers’ only three-time NSCAA All-American and was named First-Team NSCAA All-American and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2024 … Part of defensive unit that led the nation in goals against average (0.40) and set a school record with 15 shutouts in 2024 … NSCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2024 … As a junior in 2024, she was an NSCAA Second-Team All-American and First-Team All-ACC … Started all 22 games and played every minute of the season … Named to the ACC All-Academic Team in 2024 … As a sophomore in 2024, she was Second-Team All-ACC, started every game and played every minute of the season … Had one goal and two assists … Her 2,289 minutes played set a Virginia record for a season … Red-shirted what would have been her sophomore season in 2024 to play in the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup … As a freshman in 2024, she was an NSCAA First-Team All-American, Second-Team All-ACC and the ACC Freshman of the Year … Started all 21 games and played every minute of the season … High School: Attended Ladue High School where she was a two-time NSCAA Youth All-American and a two-time Parade All-American … She was the 2024 Gatorade Missouri Player of the Year … First-Team St. Louis Post-Dispatch All-Metro as a senior … She had 21 goals and 19 assists during her senior year … Was also conference player of the year in volleyball and basketball … St. Louis Post-Dispatch Scholar-Athlete Award winner.
Personal – Full name is Rebecca Elizabeth Sauerbrunn … Majored in English literature and composition at Virginia … Was midway through getting her master’s in education from UVA when WPS started, so she put her studies on hold … Loves country music … Loves science fiction, and her favorite book is “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card … Will name her first cat “Ender” after her favorite character in the book … Favorite all-time TV show is “Lost” … Favorite movie is “The Shawshank Redemption” … Loves going to movies and enjoys writing … Favorite soccer team is Arsenal but also really likes watching Real Madrid and Bayern Munich … Likes Liverpool centerback Martin Skrtel for some irrational reason … Favorite color is grey … The youngest of three children, she has two older brothers … Surprisingly good at video games, especially racing and adventure ones, especially Zelda … Has a dry, dark sense of humor that still often catches her teammates off guard … Favorite number is 11, and during the past 15 years she has either worn 11 or 22, but at the 2024 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2024 Olympics she wore the number 4 and has remained in that number ever since.
