Ashlyn Harris

Ashlyn Michelle Harris (born October 19, 1985) is an American former soccer player.

Professionally, Harris played for the Saint Louis Athletica, Washington Freedom, and Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer as well as FCR 2001 Duisburg of Frauen-Bundesliga in Germany and Tyresö FF of the Swedish Damallsvenskan.

She also played for Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride, and Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Born to Tammye and Mike Harris in Cocoa Beach, Florida, Ashlyn was raised with her older brother, Chris.

Growing up, she looked up to her brother and frequently joined him and his friends skateboarding and surfing.

Until the age of 14, she played club soccer with the boys' teams.

She first played for the Palm Bay Rangers and South Brevard United before playing for the Seminole Ice girls team.

Harris helped the team win state championship titles her sophomore and junior year in 2002 and 2003.

Following her senior season, Harris was named the nation's number one recruit by Soccer America.

In 2003, Harris won the state championship with the U-17 Indialantic Force.

Harris attended Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, where she played soccer under coach Fitzgerald Haig.

She was then named 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year and 2004 NSCAA Player of the Year.

At the end of her high school career, Harris was a four-time Parade Magazine All-American, a four-time NSCAA Youth All-American, and a McDonald's All-American.

She was the first female to be named to four consecutive Parade All-American soccer teams.

She was named Florida Player of the Year for her last two years at Satellite High School.

Harris also made All-Conference, All-District, and All-States teams for all fours years.

In her 65 career games at Satellite High School, she recorded 50 shutouts and had 0.29 goals against average.

She graduated in May 2004 with a 3.8 GPA.

Harris signed with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels to play for head coach Anson Dorrance.

Due to national team commitments for the FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup in Thailand in the fall of 2004, Harris delayed her enrollment and did not start training with the Tar Heels until the spring of 2005.

During one spring practice, a ball caught her right hand as she was warming up and shattered her thumb.

After a surgery that inserted three pins in her thumb, she was put on the bench until the summer.

At her first practice back with the Tar Heels in the summer of 2005, Harris tore her right anterior cruciate ligament, which kept her out for the entire 2005 season.

Despite being hurt, Harris still made the 2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Honor Roll team.

After recovering from her ACL injury, Harris returned to practice with the Tar Heels in the spring of 2006.

However, she then tore her left ACL during a training camp with the U-21 Women's National Team in June 2006.

She was able to make it back in time for the 2006 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament in November, although she came in as a substitute in every game, a strategy employed by Dorrance.

She played in all six NCAA Tournament matches, including the championship game against Notre Dame, a 2–1 win for UNC.

Harris was named to the 2007 ACC Academic Honor Roll at the end of her sophomore year.

During the 2007 season, Harris was diagnosed with a torn labrum in her right hip which occurred during a goal kick.

Harris did not miss any games following the injury and instead switched to mainly using her left leg and dealt with the pain.

Dorrance again employed the two-goalkeeper method, as Harris split time with junior goalkeeper, Anna Rodenbough.

The two goalkeepers alternated starts and played for half of each game.

Harris played in 19 games and made 9 starts, playing a total of 1120 minutes.

She allowed nine goals and recorded 29 saves, giving a 0.763 save percentage.

UNC lost their match against Notre Dame in the third round of the 2007 NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament on November 24, 2007.

The 2008 season was the first season where Harris was healthy for the entire season.

Dorrance again employed Harris in the two-goalkeeper system along with Rodenbough.

She represented the United States women's national soccer team, making her debut for the senior national team on March 11, 2013, and was a member of the championship–winning team at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada and at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.

Harris played college soccer for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels and helped the team win three NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championships.