Christine Nairn

Nairn provided the assist on Penn State's lone goal in the Big Ten Final against Illinois and scored a dramatic 85th-minute game-winner against Army in the NCAA First Round.

Nairn also tallied two assists in a 4–1 victory over number 12 Marquette in the NCAA Second Round.

Christine Marie Nairn (born September 25, 1990) is an American retired soccer player from Annapolis, Maryland.

She previously played for the Houston Dash, Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and Seattle Reign FC in the United States National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and had regular loan spells with Melbourne Victory in the Australian W-League.

She represented the United States at senior level and numerous youth levels.

Born in Annapolis, Maryland to parents Tommy and Danamarie Nairn, Christine attended Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland where she was all-time leader in assists, goals and points from 2004–2007 and was a four-time Parade All-American.

Besides excelling in soccer, she played four years of varsity basketball in high school.

She was a National Honor Society member and graduated with Dean's List honors.

Nairn played club soccer with the Freestate Shooters U-18 team, which won the WAGS Championship and Maryland State Cup in 2004 and the U.S. Club Soccer Championship in 2007.

Nairn was a three-time All-State selection, an NSCAA/adidas All-American from 2005–08, and the Gatorade Maryland State Player of the Year from 2005–07.

She was named Player of the Year by The Washington Post and was an NSCAA/adidas All-South Region selection from 2005 to 2007.

Nairn started playing soccer when she was just four years old competing against her older brothers, Kevin and TJ, in her back yard.

After her club coach, Pat Noel, encouraged her to go to an Olympic Development Program (ODP) tryout at age nine, she was accepted in the program.

Nairn credits the Maryland ODP program as a very important contributor for her national recognition achievements.

She was also a four-year captain for the Region I Olympic Development Program (ODP) team and won the 2006 Regional ODP National Championship.

In 2008, she helped the under-20 national team win gold at the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile.

Nairn retired from professional soccer on September 18, 2021, to pursue a career as a professional firefighter with the Houston Fire Department.

In January 2008, during her senior year in high school, Nairn was called up to the United States women's national soccer team and was the youngest member to attend training camp.

The same year, Soccer Buzz named her the number three recruit in the country.

Nairn attended Pennsylvania State University from 2009–2012 and majored in Communications.

During her freshman year, she started in all but two games as the team's central midfielder.

She scored seven goals and led the team in assists at ten.

Nairn recorded three assists in a 4–0 win over then-number 22 Purdue University on November 1 setting a new freshman record and second most in a game.

She tallied a point in 10 of 12 games from September 13 to November 1.

Nairn earned unanimous All-Big Ten Conference First Team, Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team honors and was named TopDrawerSoccer.com Rookie of the Year.

She was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on October 5 and November 2 and was named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List.

As a sophomore, Nairn scored 7 goals and provided 6 assists for 20 points.

She was named to the All-Big Ten First Team and NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team.

She started in all 21 games in central midfield leading the team in shots at 73.

She scored the second-fastest goal in Penn State history, a strike 63 seconds into the match at the University of Connecticut on September 5.

Nairn notched penalty-kick goals in games against the University of Portland, Michigan State University, and Northwestern University.

She was named team MVP and to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) First-Team All-Star squad.

During her junior year with the Nittany Lions, Nairn started in 24 of 25 matches in attacking midfield.

She tallied three goals and 13 assists for 19 points, earning NSCAA All-American Second Team honors for a second straight year.

She garnered All-Big Ten and NSCAA All-Great Lake First Team honors for a third straight year.

She tallied assists at Pittsburgh, UCF, and Virginia, capping a four-game point streak and assisted game-winners vs. Ohio State and Michigan State.

As a senior in 2012, Nairn earned her first ever Big Ten Midfielder of the Year and first team NSCAA All-American honor.

She finished her career with the second highest number of all-time assists in program history and doubled her career goal total (second highest in the conference) with 17 goals.

She was one of two players in the 2012 College Cup with double-digit goals and assists.

Nairn scored an exciting golden goal against Florida State in the national semifinals.