Aubrey Bledsoe

Aubrey Renee Bledsoe (born November 20, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League[2] and for Sydney FC in the Australian W-League.

Aubrey Bledsoe
Aubrey Bledsoe playing for the Orlando Pride in 2017
Personal information
Full name Aubrey Renee Bledsoe[1]
Date of birth (1991-11-20) November 20, 1991
Place of birth Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Washington Spirit
Number 1
Youth career
Kings Soccer Academy
St. Ursula Academy
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Wake Forest
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Los Angeles Blues (0)
2014 IK Grand Bodø 11 (0)
2015 Sky Blue FC 1 (0)
2015–2016 → Fortuna Hjørring (loan) 4 (0)
2016–2017 Orlando Pride 12 (0)
2017–2018 → Sydney FC (loan) 23 (0)
2018– Washington Spirit 45 (0)
2019–2020 → Sydney FC (loan) 14 (0)
National team
2014 United States U-23 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 21, 2019

Early life

Bledsoe was born in Cincinnati to Paul and Char Bledsoe. She attended St. Ursula Academy where she was a member of the state championship soccer team in 2007 and 2008.

Bledsoe graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in health and exercise science and minors in chemistry and biology. She started all her games during her four seasons with the Demon Deacons and was named co-captain during her senior year. She holds the Wake Forest career record for shutouts (33), goals against average (0.91), games played and started (94), and minutes played in goal (8,692). She is also one of three Demon Deacons to be named an All-American three times, earning third-team honors from the NSCAA in 2011 and 2012 and second-team honors in 2013.[3]

Club career

Los Angeles Blues, 2014

In January 2014, Bledsoe signed for USL W-League side, Los Angeles Blues (previously known as "Pali Blues") in preparation for exploring opportunities in Europe.[4]

IK Grand Bodø, 2014

After her stint in LA, Bledsoe secured a move to Norway to play for Toppserien club, IK Grand Bodø.[5] She would make 11 appearances for Bodø.

Sky Blue, 2015

In October 2014, Bledsoe signed with Sky Blue FC as a discovery player.[6] The 2015 season, Bledsoe would back up starting keeper, Brittany Cameron, limiting her to just a single appearance for Sky Blue.[7]

Fortuna Hjørring, 2015–2016

At the conclusion of the 2015 season, Bledsoe secured an off-season loan to Danish club Fortuna Hjørring of the Elitedivisionen along with teammate Nadia Nadim.[8] Competing in the UEFA Women's Champions League, Bledsoe made 4 appearances (2 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss), earning two clean sheets.[2]

Orlando Pride, 2016–2017

On November 2, 2015, Bledsoe was selected by Orlando Pride as their 10th pick in the NWSL expansion draft. She would join the pride at the conclusion of her loan spell at Fortuna.[7] Deputising for Ashlyn Harris, Bledsoe would only make a single appearance during the 2016 season. When Harris got injured during the 2017 season, Bledsoe made a string of starts for the Pride, registering 11 appearances, earning 5 wins and 2 clean sheets.[2][9]

Sydney FC (loan)

On November 28, 2017, Bledsoe joined Sydney FC for the remainder of the 2017–18 W-League.

Washington Spirit, 2018–present
Aubrey Bledsoe playing for Washington Spirit in 2018

In January 2018, Orlando traded Bledsoe and a 2019 first round draft pick to Washington Spirit in exchange for Canadian national defender, Shelina Zadorsky.[10] On June 19, 2018 Bledsoe was named Player of the Week by the NWSL Media Association for Weeks 11 and 12. Bledsoe led the Spirit to back-to-back shutouts, and saved a Megan Rapinoe penalty kick during those weeks.[11] She went on to break the NWSL league leading save record, surpassing the previous record held by Alyssa Naeher.[12] She re-signed for the Washington Spirit's 2019 season in September 2018. In Week 4 of the 2019 NWSL season Bledsoe won both NWSL Player and Save of the Week.

Sydney FC (loan)

In September 2018, Bledsoe re-signed for the 2018–19 W-League season where she helped Sydney reach its second straight Grand Final.[13][14] Bledsoe and Sydney FC won the 2019 Grand Final. She was subsequently named the 2018–19 W-League Goalkeeper of the Year.[15]

International career

Bledsoe received her first senior call-up to the United States national team on October 31, 2019.[16]

She was named to the senior team roster ahead of their matches on January 18, 2021, and January 22, 2021.[17]

Personal life

Bledsoe is a Christian.[18] Her twin sister, Amber, is also a goalkeeper who attended Brown University.[6]

Honors

League


Individual

References
  1. Aubrey Bledsoe at the Norwegian Football Federation (in Norwegian)
  2. "Aubrey Bledsoe | Soccerway Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  3. "Aubrey Bledsoe Bio". Wake Forest Sports.
  4. Jeff Kassouf (January 29, 2014). "Stengel, Bledsoe land in USL W-League with Blues". The Equalizer. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  5. Anders Bergundhaugen (June 18, 2014). "Grand secured the US keeper". www.an.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  6. "Sky Blue FC signs goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe". Sky Blue FC. August 9, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  7. Dan Lauletta (November 2, 2015). "Orlando Pride complete NWSL expansion draft". The Equalizer. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  8. "Sky Blue FC loans Nadim, Bledsoe to Danish Club Fortuna Hjørring". Sky Blue FC. September 10, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  9. Christian Simmons (June 23, 2017). "Orlando Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe making most of long-awaited starts". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  10. "Washington Spirit acquires goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, 2019 1st round pick from Orlando Pride". washingtonspirit.com. January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  11. "Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe voted NWSL Player of the Week". June 19, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  12. "Bledsoe breaks NWSL save record".
  13. "Sydney FC Sign Talented NWSL Goalkeeper". Sydney FC. November 28, 2017.
  14. "Aubrey Bledsoe, Sydney FC reach 2nd straight W-League Grand Final". Washington Spirit. February 10, 2019.
  15. . Westfield W-League twitter. May 13, 2019 https://twitter.com/WLeague/status/1127862755967455237. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. "VLATKO ANDONOVSKI NAMES 24-PLAYER TRAINING CAMP ROSTER FOR FRIENDLIES AGAINST SWEDEN AND COSTA RICA". US Soccer. October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  17. "USWNT roster: Megan Rapinoe returns to squad in Vladko Andonovski's January camp alongside NWSL mainstays". CBSSports.com. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  18. "Five Increase Questions with Aubrey Bledsoe". The Increase. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  19. Levine, Matthew (November 1, 2019). "Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe named 2019 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year". Nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  20. "2019 NWSL Best XI and Second XI announced". October 24, 2019. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  21. "Week 4 Player of the Week: Aubrey Bledsoe". NWSL. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  22. "Week 7 Player of the Week: Aubrey Bledsoe". NWSL. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  23. "May Team of the Month". NWSLsoccer. NWSL. May 31, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
  24. "June Team of the Month". NWSLsoccer. NWSL. July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  25. "August Team of the Month". NWSLsoccer. NWSL. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
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