Christen Press

Christen Press

240px Press at the 2015 Algarve Cup
Personal information
Full name	Christen Annemarie Press
Date of birth	(1988-12-29) December 29, 1988
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Chicago Red Stars
Number	23
Youth career
	Slammers FC
2003–2007	Chadwick Dolphins
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2010	Stanford Cardinal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2010	Pali Blues	10	(4)
2011	magicJack	19	(8)
2012	Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC	21	(17)
2013–2014	Tyresö FF	26	(25)
2014–	Chicago Red Stars	27	(19)
International career‡
2008	United States U-20	0	(0)
2009–2010	United States U-23	6	(4)
2013–	United States	66	(33)
Medal record FIFA Women's World Cup 2015 Canada Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 7, 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of April 10, 2016

Christen Annemarie Press (born December 29, 1988) is an American soccer forward and World Cup champion. She plays for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League and the United States women's national soccer team. Press has played for magicJack of Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), and for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC and Tyresö FF of the Swedish Damallsvenskan. In 2011, she was named the WPS Rookie of the Year. In 2013, Press was the top scorer in the Damallsvenskan with 23 goals and became the first American to receive the Golden Boot award in the history of the league. She was a 2010 Hermann Trophy recipient and holds the all-time scoring record at Stanford University. In 2015, she represented the United States at the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Early life

File:Christen Press in San Jose.jpg

Press in 2015

Born in Los Angeles, California to Cody and Stacy Press, Christen was raised in the South Bay city of Palos Verdes along with her two sisters, Channing and Tyler. She began playing soccer at age five and later attended Chadwick School. As a two-year team captain and four-year starter of the high school's soccer team, she helped lead the Dolphins to two Southern Section Division IV titles. She also lettered in track and tennis. In 2006, she was named NSCAA High School All-American and Parade Magazine All-American. During her high school career, she scored a total of 128 goals, including 38 her junior year alone (a school-record). She was a two-time Southern Section Division IV Offensive Player of the Year and four-time Prep League Offensive MVP.

Press played club soccer for the Slammers FC of Newport Beach, California and won the Golden Boot for most goals scored in the US Youth Soccer Association national championship tournament.

Stanford Cardinal, 2007–2010

Press is the all-time leading scorer for the Stanford University women's soccer team with 71 goals. While playing for the Cardinal, she also broke school records for career points (183), assists (41), and shots (500) as well as single-season records for shots (180) and game-winning goals (10). The 26 goals she scored during her senior year alone tied for the most in a single season throughout the team's history.

As a freshman, Press was on the starting lineup for the Cardinal in 18 of the 21 games in which she played. She led the team in assists (6) and ranked second in goals (8), points (22) and shots (60). She set a new school record for fastest goal scored in a match after scoring in the 37th second of the team's 7–0 defeat of Sacramento State University in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament. She scored two goals and served an assist during the same match. She was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and earned first-team Freshman All-American honors. During her sophomore season, Press scored 16 goals and served 11 assists and was one of only five players on the squad that started every game. Her 43 points tallied in a single season ranked second in school history. After scoring the game-winning goal during the 86th minute of the NCAA Division I Tournament quarterfinal against the Portland Pilots, Press' lone goal helped launch the Cardinal to the Final Four. She was the only player from the Cardinal squad to be named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament Team.

During her third season with the Cardinal, Press set new program records for assists (16) and shots (143). Seven of her 21 goals during the 2009 season were game-winning goals. Her 58 points raised the bar that she set during the previous season for the second-highest point total in a single season and ranked third in the nation. Press broke her previous record for fastest goal scored in Stanford history after scoring 23 seconds into a match against Brigham Young University. She scored a golden goal and made an assist against the UCLA Bruins during the Cardinal's 2–1 win securing the Cardinal into its first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament final. During the NCAA College Cup final loss against the North Carolina Tar Heels, an apparent tying goal by Press in the 89th minute was ruled offside. During the postseason, she was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team for the second time, Soccer America's MVPs first team and Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Season. She was named to the All-Pac-10 first team and was a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy.

In her senior year Press led the nation in scoring and points and was the recipient of the 2010 Hermann Trophy, marking the second consecutive win for a Stanford player following Kelley O'Hara in 2009. Press was named Soccer America Player of the Year, Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year, and earned All-Pac-10 first team and NSCAA first-team All-American honors. She displayed academic proficiency as well, receiving Academic All-America honors and winning the Pac-10's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for soccer.

Stanford summary

Year	Apps	Starts	Gls	Asts
2007	21	18	8	6
2008	25	25	16	11
2009	26	26	21	16
2010	26	26	26	8
Totals	98	95	71	41

Source

Club career

magicJack, 2011

File:MagicJack at midfield.jpg

Press (far right) with her MagicJack teammates during a match against the Boston Breakers on August 6, 2011. From left to right: Sauerbrunn, Rampone, Dalmy, Huffman, Wambach, Boxx, Press

Press was drafted to the Washington Freedom as the fourth overall pick in the 2011 WPS Draft. Under new ownership, the team moved to Florida and was renamed magicJack. She scored her first goal in the 64th minute of magicJack's 2–0 defeat of the Atlanta Beat in May 2011. Of the goal, Press said, "It was so good to finish. Being a forward, we go into every game thinking our job is to score, so it’s nice to finally get that accomplished." During a 4–0 win against the Boston Breakers in July 2011, Press scored a hat trick improving the team's league record to 6–6–2 overall. She was awarded the US Soccer Federation's Rookie of the Year award for the first-ever hat trick scored by a rookie. Press finished the 2011 season having started in 16 of the 19 games in which she appeared for magicJack. Her eight goals ranked third in the league. During the postseason, Press signed with the Atlanta Beat; however, the league suspended operations before the season began.

Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC, 2012

When Women's Professional Soccer folded in early 2012, Press inked a professional deal with Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC in the Damallsvenskan, the top division in Sweden. Her first game with Göteborg occurred during a 2012-13 UEFA Women's Champions League quarterfinal match against Arsenal L.F.C. in which Göteborg lost 3–0.

During her regular season debut with Göteborg on April 10, 2012, she scored two goals——her first coming during the fifth minute of the match. During the team's 6–0 defeat of KIF Örebro later that month, she scored another pair of goals within five minutes of each other. On August 25, 2012, she scored two goals again—this time within two minutes of each other in the 61st and 63rd minutes—helping Göteborg defeat Umeå 5–0. Press was the second-highest scorer in the Damallsvenskan with 17 league goals and scored a total of 25 in all 2012 competitions.

During the quarter-finals of the Swedish Cup, she scored two goals for Göteborg in the 41st and 59th minutes helping the squad defeat Kristianstad 3–0. During the semi-finals in August 2012, she scored in the thirteenth minute helping her squad defeat LdB Malmö 2–1 and progress to the championship final. Göteborg won the championship in a 2–1 win over Tyresö FF with Press scoring a goal in the ninth minute of the game.

File:Christen Press Supercupen 2013.jpg

Press playing for Tyresö FF at the Svenska Supercupen, 2013

Tyresö FF, 2013–2014

In early 2013, Press signed with Swedish Damallsvenskan champions, Tyresö FF, located in Stockholm. During her regular season debut for the team, she scored a goal in the 14th minute helping Tyresö defeat Vittsjö GIK 2–0. During a 10–2 win over Sunnanå SK, Press scored four goals. During the team's next match, she scored two goals helping the team defeat Jitex BK 7–0. On June 9, 2013, she scored a hat trick during the squad's 5–1 win over Kristianstads DFF. After following up with a pair of goals scored in each of Tyresö's next two matches, Press scored her second hat trick of the season during a 5–0 win over Jitex IK on August 24, 2013. Her third hat trick occurred the following game during an 8–0 win against Sunnanå IF. During the team's last match of the regular season, Press scored twice against her former team, Göteborg FC, helping Tyresö win 4–1.

Press finished the 2013 season as the top scorer in the league with 23 goals becoming the first American to do so in the history of the Damallsvenskan. Tyresö finished second during the regular season with a 14–6–2 record and thus qualified for the 2014-15 UEFA Women's Champions League. In October 2013, Press scored Tyresö's only two goals during the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League's Round of 32 securing a 2–1 aggregate win over French side, Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and launching her team to the Round of 16.

Chicago Red Stars, 2014–present

File:2015-05-02 ChristenPress.JPG

Christen Press warming up as a Red Star on May 2, 2015

On January 3, 2014, the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League announced that Press would be joining their roster for the 2014 season following her time with Tyresö FF. During the 2014 NWSL season, Press scored a team-high of six goals while playing in only 12 matches and was awarded the team's Golden Boot. During a match on July 4 against 2013 champions Portland Thorns at Providence Park, Press scored two goals in the 76th and 82nd minutes to equalize the score resulting in a draw after being down 2–0 at halftime. On August 16, she scored another brace with goals in the 17th and 60th minutes helping Chicago draw against Western New York Flash. Chicago finished fifth during the regular season with a 9–7–8 record. Press was named to the league's second XI team by players, coaches, and media.

Press returned to the Red Stars for the 2015 Chicago Red Stars season. During the team's first home match against Seattle Reign FC, she scored a brace and served an assist to Jen Hoy to help the Red Stars defeat Seattle 3–2. She was subsequently named the league's NWSL Player of the Week for week 2 of the season. On April 25, Press scored two early goals in a drawn match against Portland Thorns FC. At the end of April, having scored four goals and provided one assist, Press was the league's goal leader and was named the NWSL Player of the Month. Press missed the next eight games due to her participation in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. After returning, Press scored four goals in a three-game span; including a brace in the Red Stars' 2–2 draw with FC Kansas City on August 1.

Statistics

Club	Season	League		Playoffs/Cup		UEFA		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Pali Blues	2010	10	4	-	-	-	-	10	4
magicJack	2011	17	8	2	0	-	-	19	8
Göteborg FC	2012	21	17	6	5	6	3	33	25
Tyresö FF	2013	20	23	4	11	9	9	33	43
Chicago Red Stars	2014	12	6	0	0	0	0	12	6
	2015	11	10	0	0	0	0	11	10
	Total	23	16	0	0	0	0	23	16
Total in career		91	68	12	16	15	12	118	96

International career

File:Press looking up.jpg

Press playing for the U.S. at Avaya Stadium, May 2015

Press represented the United States on various youth national teams, including the under-20 and under-23 teams. In 2012, she was a member of the senior team player pool and attended the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as an alternate.

Press played in her first match for the United States women's national soccer team on February 9, 2013 in a match against Scotland. After scoring the first two goals of the match in the right midfielder position, she served the assist on the United States' third goal. Press is only the third woman to score two goals on her first match for the U.S. national team following Cindy Parlow Cone in 1996 and Sherrill Kester in 2000. The U.S. defeated Scotland 4–1 and Press was named Budweiser Woman of the Match. She scored another goal during her second game four days later helping the U.S. defeat Scotland 2–0. No other US woman has scored three goals in her first two games.

2013 Algarve Cup

Press' third cap for the national team occurred at the 2013 Algarve Cup during the team's first group stage match against Iceland on March 6, 2013. Press subbed in during the 64th minute for Carli Lloyd and the U.S. defeated Iceland 3–0. During the team's next group stage match on March 8, 2013, Press scored the fourth goal in a commanding 5–0 win over China. With the goal against China, Press became the fifth women's national team player to score at least four goals in her first four matches. She earned two additional caps at the Algarve during the knockout stage match against Sweden led by former United States coach, Pia Sundhage, and in the final against Germany. The United States took first at the 2013 Algarve Cup with a 2–0 win over Germany.

Press finished her first year with the senior national team with 8 goals in 12 matches.

2014

Press started 2014 with three goals in three international friendly matches. She was selected by national team head coach Tom Sermanni to play at the 2014 Algarve Cup. Earlier in the year she scored a goal against Russia in a friendly on February 8, 2014 and again on February 13, 2014. During a group stage match against Argentina at the 2014 International Tournament of Brasília, Press scored four goals helping the U.S. win 7–0, and qualify for the championship game.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup

Press was selected for the US national team for the World Cup. On June 8, 2015, Press made her first career World Cup start against Australia and scored her first World Cup goal in the 61st minute. She played in four of the team's seven World Cup games, starting two, en route to the team's win at the World Cup that year.

During the 2015 World Cup Victory Tour, Press tallied 8 goals and an assist in 249 minutes of playing time (including 2 hat-tricks and goals in 2 games within 3 minutes of entering the match). These goals brought her up to 10 in total for 2015, placing her 2nd in the team's 2015 scoring list, behind midfielder Carli Lloyd.

International summary

Year	Apps	Starts	Min	Gls	Asts	Goals per 90 min.
2013	12	5	554	8	2	1.3
2014	23	14	1322	11	5	0.8
2015	17	13	1097	10	4	1.2
2016	11	3	460	4	2
Totals	66	32	2973	34	13	1.1

Updated through 2016-4-30

International goals

	Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting)
Location	Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup	Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain Sorted by minutes played
#	NumberOfGoals.goalNumber scored by the player in the match (alternate notation to Goal in match)
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score	The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result	The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
	Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
	Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament
	Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match
	Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match
	Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

Goal	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	#	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	2013-02-09	Jacksonville	Scotland	72. off 72' (on Mewis)	2.1	13	unassisted	5150.01005 1–0	5350.04005 4–1	Friendly
2					2.2	32	Tobin Heath	5250.02005 2–0
3	2013-02-13	Nashville	Scotland	30. on 61' (off Wambach)	1.1	54	Shannon Boxx	5350.03005 3–0	5250.03005 3–1	Friendly
4	2013-03-08	Albufeira	China PR	74. off 74' (on Horan)	1.1	64	Alex Morgan	5450.04005 4–0	5550.05005 5–0	Algarve Cup: Group B
5	2013-04-09	The Hague	Netherlands	Start	2.1	45	Sydney Leroux	5250.02005 2–0	5250.03005 3–1	Friendly
6					2.2	60	Heather O'Reilly	5350.03005 3–0
7	2013-10-20	San Antonio	Australia	30. on 57' (off Leroux)	1.1	90+1	Heather O'Reilly	5350.03005 3–0	5250.03005 3–1	Friendly
8	2013-10-27	San Francisco	New Zealand	Start	1.1	41	unassisted	5350.03005 3–0	5350.04005 4–1	Friendly
9	2014-02-08	Boca Raton	Russia	60. off 60' (on Rodriguez)	2.1	51	Carli Lloyd	5450.04005 4–0	5750.07005 7–0	Friendly
10					2.2	59	Ali Krieger	5650.06005 6–0
11	2014-02-13	Atlanta	Russia	10. on 81' (off Wambach)	1.1	86	Megan Rapinoe	5850.08005 8–0	5850.08005 8–0	Friendly
12	2014-03-10	Parchal	Denmark	start	1.1	51	Heather O'Reilly	4850.01005 1–3	4850.03005 3–5	Algarve Cup: Group B
13	2014-08-20	Cary	Switzerland	start	1.1	77	unassisted	5250.03005 3–1	5350.04005 4–1	Friendly
14	2014-10-20	Washington	Haiti	Start	1.1	65	unassisted	5500.05005 5–0	5600.06005 6–0	World Cup qualifier: Group A
15	2014-10-24	Chester	Mexico	Start	1.1	56	Sydney Leroux	5300.03005 3–0	5300.03005 3–0	World Cup qualifier:semifinal
16	2014-12-18	Brasilia	Argentina	Start	4.1	7	Morgan Brian	5100.01005 1–0	5700.07005 7–0	Tournament of Brasília
17					4.2	23	Abby Wambach	5200.02005 2–0
18					4.3	41	Ali Krieger	5400.04005 4–0
19					4.4	78	Megan Rapinoe	5700.07005 7–0
20	2015-03-11	Faro	France	75. off 75' (on Leroux)	1.1	41	Amy Rodriguez	5200.02005 2–0	5200.02005 2–0	Algarve Cup: Final
21	2015-06-08	Winnipeg	Australia	68. off 68' (on Heath)	1.1	61	Sydney Leroux	5150.02005 2–1	5350.02005 3–1	World Cup: Group D
22	2015-08-16	Pittsburgh	Costa Rica	Start	3.1	29	unassisted	5250.02005 2–0	5850.08005 8–0	Friendly
23					3.2	45	Shannon Boxx	5450.04005 4–0
24					3.3	68	Heather O'Reilly	5850.08005 8–0
25	2015-09-17	Detroit	Haiti	63. off 63' (on O'Reilly)	1.1	33	Crystal Dunn	5250.02005 2–0	5350.05005 5–0	Friendly
26	2015-12-10	San Antonio	Trinidad and Tobago	31. on 60' (off Morgan)	3.1	61	Carli Lloyd	5350.03005 3–0	5650.06005 6–0	Friendly
27					3.2	75	Ali Krieger	5450.04005 4–0
28					3.3	84	Lindsey Horan	5550.05005 5–0
29	2015-12-13	Glendale	China PR	12. on 79' (off Morgan)	1.1	81	unassisted	5250.02005 2–0	5250.02005 2–0	Friendly
30	2016-02-10	Frisco	Costa Rica	12. on 74' (off Johnston)	1.1	83	Tobin Heath	5550.05005 5–0	5550.05005 5–0	Olympic Qualifier: Group A
31	2016-02-15	Frisco	Puerto Rico	74. off 74' (on Brian)	1.1	62	unassisted	5750.07005 7–0	6050.10005 10–0	Olympic Qualifier: Group A
32	2016-04-06	East Hartford	Colombia	45. on 46' (off Pugh)	1.1	74	Crystal Dunn	5750.07005 7–0	5750.07005 7–0	Friendly
33	2016-04-10	Chester	Colombia	Start	1.1	29	Lindsey Horan	5150.01005 1–0	5350.03005 3–0	Friendly

Honors and awards

International

• FIFA Women's World Cup: 2015

Individual

• Hermann Trophy: 2010
• Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year: 2010
• Soccer America Player of the Year Award: 2010
• Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year Award: 2010
• WPS Rookie of the Year: 2011
• Damallsvenskan Golden Boot award (Tyresö FF): 2013
• UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award Nominee: 2013
• NWSL Second XI: 2014
• NWSL First XI: 2015
• NWSL Player of the Week: 2015 (Week 2)
• NWSL Player of the Month: 2015 (April)

Club

• Swedish Cup (Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC): 2012

In popular culture

Television and magazines

Press has appeared in several advertisements and promotional pieces for Nike. In May 2015, she starred in television commercials for Coppertone.

In May 2015, Press' likeness appeared on The Simpsons along with teammates Alex Morgan and Abby Wambach. She has been featured in a number of magazines including Self, Howler, and Glamour. In 2015, she was featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Yoga Digest. In October 2015, Press was announced as a host for FOX Sports’ @The Buzzer.

• In April 2015, Francesco Gariselli (an italian fan from Modena) received a fantastic gift from his friends: they painted a mural that represents Christen and Francesco playing soccer together.

Video games

Press was featured with her national teammates in the EA Sports' FIFA video game series in FIFA 16, the first time women players were included in the game.

Ticker tape parade and White House honor

Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Press and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with a ticker tape parade in New York City. Each player received a key to the city from Mayor Bill de Blasio. In October of the same year, the team was honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.

See also

• List of Stanford University people
• To Write Love on Her Arms

References

Match reports

Further reading

• Lisi, Clemente A. (2010), The U.S. Women's Soccer Team: An American Success Story, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 0810874164
• Grainey, Timothy (2012), Beyond Bend It Like Beckham: The Global Phenomenon of Women's Soccer, University of Nebraska Press, ISBN 0803240368
• Stevens, Dakota (2011), A Look at the Women's Professional Soccer Including the Soccer Associations, Teams, Players, Awards, and More, BiblioBazaar, ISBN 1241047464

External links

• Official website
• Christen Press on Twitter
• Christen Press on Instagram
• Christen Press – FIFA competition record
• USWNT Soccer player profile
• Chicago Red Stars player profile
• Christen Press – UEFA competition record
• Stanford player profile