Tyler Lussi

Tyler Tompkins Lussi (born January 26, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Princeton Tigers before being drafted by the Portland Thorns in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. She has also played for Angel City FC for which she mostly played at right back.

Tyler Lussi

Lussi with the North Carolina Courage in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Tyler Tompkins Lussi[1]
Date of birth	(1995-01-26) January 26, 1995 (age 30)
Place of birth	Gibson Island, Maryland, United States
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s)	Forward, right back
Team information
Current team	North Carolina Courage
Number	14
Youth career
	Bethesda Soccer Club
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	Princeton Tigers	68	(53)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2021	Portland Thorns	42	(5)
2022	Angel City	20	(0)
2023–	North Carolina Courage	20	(6)
International career‡
2017	United States U23	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of January 13, 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 9, 2021

College career

Lussi played for Princeton Tigers from 2013 to 2016, while majoring in history. In her first season she won the Ivy League Rookie of the Week award three times, becoming the first player to do so in one season, and won Ivy Player of the Week in her first week. She scored 10 goals in 17 games, making her the highest-scoring freshman in 31 years.

In her second season she scored 18 goals in 16 games, and twice won the Ivy League Player of the Week award At the end of the season was selected for the first-team All-Ivy League, first-team All-ECAC, second-team NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region and was picked as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year.

In her third season she scored 15 goals in 19 games, winning Ivy League Player of the Week four times. She was picked a second consecutive time as the Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, and was selected again for the first-team All-Ivy League and for the NSCAA second-team All-America.

In her fourth and final season, she scored 10 goals in 16 games and twice won the Ivy League Player of the Week. At the end of the season she was selected a third consecutive time for the first-team All-Ivy League and also for the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region first team.^[2] During her four-year collegiate career, Lussi established new records with her 53 career goals and 122 career points.^[3]

Club career

Portland Thorns FC

Lussi playing for Portland Thorns FC in 2017

Lussi was drafted in the third round of the 2017 NWSL College Draft with the 21st overall pick by the Portland Thorns FC. On July 1, 2017, after a two-week trial, was signed by the club.^[4] She made her professional debut a week later, being substituted for Mana Shim in a 1–1 draw against the Houston Dash.^[5] On August 5, 2017, she scored her first professional goal in a 2–1 victory over the Houston Dash.^[6] She finished her rookie season with 5 appearances and 3 starts and was an unused substitute as the Thorns won the NWSL Championship 1–0 against the North Carolina Courage.^[7] The following season, she made 15 appearances with 3 starts and was unused as the Thorns lost their championship game rematch with the Courage.^[7]

Lussi never made more than 3 regular-season starts for the Thorns in a season.^[7] On July 14, 2019, she scored in the 90+4th minute in a 4–3 win over the Orlando Pride.^[8] She finished her five years in Portland with 5 goals and 4 assists in 42 regular-season appearances.^[7]

Angel City FC

On December 8, 2021, Lussi was traded to expansion team Angel City FC along with forward Simone Charley.^[9] She featuring in the starting lineup of Angel City's first-ever game on March 19, 2022, drawing 1–1 to the San Diego Wave in the Challenge Cup group stage.^[10] A week later, she scored her first club goal in a 3–1 loss to OL Reign in the Challenge Cup on March 26.^[7] However, due to positional need including an injury to Jasmyne Spencer, Lussi spent most the season as Angel City's starting right back despite not having previously played as a defender.^[11][12]

North Carolina Courage

On January 20, 2023, Lussi was traded to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for defender Merritt Mathias.^[13] She signed a new contract to the end of the next year with an option to extend further to 2025, which was agreed to.^[14][15] Lussi debuted for the Courage on the opening matchday on March 25, 2023, starting in a 1–0 win over the Kansas City Current. On April 28, she scored her first club goal in a 1–0 win over the Houston Dash which was not played in full due to weather.^[7][16] She finished the season with 6 goals (second on the team to MVP Kerolin) of which 5 came as the game winners in 1–0 victories.^[7][15]

Lussi scored and assisted in a 2–0 win over the Portland Thorns on April 13, 2024, the first of her three games in a row with goals, also scoring against Angel City and the Seattle Reign.^[7][17] She played one game at right back on June 15, a 0–0 draw to the Orlando Pride.^[7] She finished the season with 4 goals which was second on the team after Ashley Sanchez.^[7]

International career

In February 2017, Lussi was called up to the United States under-23 squad for the 2017 La Manga Tournament in Spain.^[18] In the tournament she came on as a substitute in the matches against Japan^[19] and against England,^[20] and started the match against Norway assisting Morgan Andrews for the only goal of the match.^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played October 22, 2023^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	League	Season	League		Playoffs		Cup[a]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Portland Thorns FC	NWSL
		2017	5	1	0	0	—		5	1
		2018	15	1	0	0	—		15	1
		2019	12	2	0	0	—		12	2
		2020	—				10	0	10	0
		2021	10	1	0	0	4	1	14	2
	Total		42	5	0	0	14	2	56	6
Angel City FC	NWSL	2022	20	0	0	0	6	1	26	1
North Carolina Courage		2023	20	6	1	0	8	0	29	6
Career total			82	11	1	0	28	2	111	13

1. Includes NWSL Challenge Cup and NWSL Fall Series

Honors

Portland Thorns

• NWSL Championship: 2017^[23]
• NWSL Shield: 2021^[24]
• NWSL Challenge Cup: 2021^[25]

North Carolina Courage

• NWSL Challenge Cup: 2023^[26]

References

1. "Bachelor Degrees – Bachelor of Arts: Degree Awarded 6 June 2017". Princeton University: The Two Hundred Seventieth Commencement (PDF). Princeton University. June 6, 2017. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 13, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
2. "Tyler Lussi". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
3. Duke, JJ (January 26, 2017). "Tyler Lussi: From the Ivy League to the Pacific Northwest". Women's Soccer Zone.
4. Goldberg, Jamie (July 1, 2017). "Portland Thorns sign forward Tyler Lussi". The Oregonian.
5. "NWSL MATCH RECAP – Houston Dash 1, Portland Thorns FC 1". Portland Thorns FC. July 8, 2017. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
6. Murray, Caitlin (August 6, 2017). "Tyler Lussi's goal helps Portland Thorns top Houston Dash in front of big crowd at Providence Park". The Oregonian.
7. Tyler Lussi at FBref.com
8. Denney, Jarrid (July 14, 2019). "Message received! Tyler Lussi's stoppage-time goal gives Thorns dramatic win as Portland, Orlando treat national audience to thriller". The Oregonian. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
9. "ACFC Acquires Rights to Charley, Lussi, Haračić, Roccaro". Angel City FC. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
10. Calhoun, Damian (June 24, 2024). "Angel City FC opens NWSL Challenge Cup with draw against San Diego Wave". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
11. Calhoun, Damian (June 30, 2022). "Tyler Lussi's versatility plays a key role for Angel City FC". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
12. Hunt, Oliver (September 4, 2023). "Hard Work and Happiness: Talking with Tyler Lussi about her stellar season with the Courage". Women's Sports Exchange. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
13. "Angel City Trades Forward Tyler Lussi for Defender Merritt Mathias". Angel City. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
14. "Courage and Tyler Lussi agree to multi-year extension". NC Courage. March 22, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
15. "Stay Flexing: Courage and Tyler Lussi agree to contract extension". North Carolina Courage. February 8, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
16. "Recap: Houston Dash 0-1 Courage". North Carolina Courage. April 29, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2024.
17. Rodriguez, Alicia (May 1, 2024). "North Carolina Courage's Tyler Lussi emerges as reliable scorer". The Equalizer. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
18. Yang, Stephanie (February 24, 2017). "WNT youth teams descend on La Manga for spring tournaments". Stars and Stripes. SB Nation.
19. "U-23 WNT Defeats Japan 2–0 in La Manga, Spain, with Goals from McCaskill and Purce". U.S. Soccer. March 2, 2017.
20. "U.S. U-23 WNT Falls to England 2–0 in La Manga, Spain". U.S. Soccer. March 4, 2017.
21. "Andrews Scores as U.S. U-23 Finishes Trip to La Manga, Spain with 1–0 Win vs. Norway". U.S. Soccer. March 6, 2017.
22. "Tyler Lussi". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
23. "Portland Thorns FC tops NC Courage 1-0 in NWSL Championship". SoccerWire (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. October 15, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
24. "Portland Thorns FC clinches 2021 NWSL Shield". SoccerWire (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. October 18, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
25. "Portland Thorns FC captures 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship". SoccerWire (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. May 9, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2023.
26. "North Carolina Courage capture second straight NWSL Challenge Cup title". SoccerWire (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. September 10, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.

External links

• Tyler Lussi at Soccerway.com
• Tyler Lussi at FBref.com