Profile

Christen
Press

Position Forward
Number 11
Date of Birth Dec 29 1988
Hometown Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Height 5' 6"
Club Angel City FC

Christen Press has the power to wow defenders and audiences alike. The 2010 Hermann Trophy winner and all-time-leading goal-scorer at Stanford with 71 goals, she possesses speed, creativity and nuance. In her first season playing professionally, she was the 2011 WPS rookie of the year. When the league folded in 2012, Press took her talents to Sweden, where she became the 2013 leading goal-scorer of the Swedish league. In 2014, she returned to the NWSL. Now a forward for the Utah Royals, she has never been more at ease or confident in what she has to offer—on the field and off.

The Boot

All her life, Christen Press has scored insane numbers of goals. Her club team, Slammers FC, was a powerhouse: at the U-14 level, it did not lose a game. In the U-14 national championship, the Slammers won 3-2, and Press scored all three goals. The team won Nationals, Nike, Surf Cup, Gothia. And every time, Press was the MVP, the Golden Boot winner. “All four years of high school we called her “The Boot,” says her best friend, Nima. “It started because we were at her house and saw this golden boot, and we were like, ‘uh, what is that?’” Yet, Press was not called up for U.S. Youth National Teams – which kept her constantly hungry to prove herself.

Swedish Life

After the WPS folded, Press headed to Sweden to play for Gotenberg, where she had the chance to play for Torbjörn Nilsson—known in Sweden as the 'God of Football'. Like Press, Nilsson was a center forward who had set records for goals. She took full advantage of the opportunity to learn, having one-on-one meetings with him to walk the field, relying on gestures and Google translate. After her goal-scoring spree and great success in the Swedish league, then national team coach Pia Sundhage called her in. In February of 2013, she got her first cap, her first start, and of course, scored two goals. In her next game, she scored yet again, becoming the only woman to score three goals in her first two games for the U.S. National Team.