Jessica McDonald

Jessica Marie McDonald (born February 28, 1988) is an American professional soccer player for the United States women's national soccer team.

She previously played for the Australian W-League teams Melbourne Victory and Western United as well as the Western New York Flash, Chicago Red Stars, Seattle Reign FC, Portland Thorns FC, Houston Dash, and North Carolina Courage.

McDonald was a member of the Sereno Soccer club from 2000 to 2007 and helped the team win state championships each year she played for it.

She helped lead Sereno to regional championships in 2003 and 2007 and played on the Surf Cup title-winning teams in 2005 and 2006.

In 2004 and 2006, she was a member of state championship basketball teams and was a first-team all-state and all-region selection.

She was also a state champion and record holder in the 400 meters during her track and field career.

She graduated Cactus High School as the school's record holder for the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, and 4 × 400 meter relay team.

She was the MVP of the tournament in 2006.

McDonald attended Phoenix College during her freshman and sophomore year of college where she played soccer, basketball and track and was a member of the honors program.

She was named a first-team junior college All-America in soccer and National Junior College Player of the Year.

McDonald earned first-team all-conference and all-region honors and was the single-season record holder at Phoenix College for goals and assists.

Also continuing to excel at basketball, McDonald earned first-team all-region and all-conference honors and was the country's number one rebounder in junior college and among the Top 30 in scoring.

After transferring to the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill during her sophomore year, McDonald joined the North Carolina Tar Heels soccer team during the first half of the 2008 season and helped the squad ultimately win the national championship as a starting striker.

McDonald scored 5 goals and had 10 assists for 20 points during the season.

Despite playing in only 75 percent of the team's games her first year, she led the squad in assists.

In 2010, McDonald was the second pick (fifteenth overall) by the Chicago Red Stars in the 2010 WPS Draft.

She made five appearances for the squad before suffering a knee injury that required 18 months recovery.

Chicago finished the regular season in sixth place with a record.

Following the season, the team suspended league operations in December 2010 and re-established themselves in the WPSL.

McDonald signed with the Melbourne Victory FC in Australia's W-League (now known as A-League Women) for the 2012–13 season.

She started all 13 of her appearances for the squad, scoring seven goals, and helped the squad to the Grand Final match against Sydney FC.

In 2013, McDonald signed with the Chicago Red Stars as a free agent for the inaugural season of the NWSL.

During the pre-season, she scored four goals in the second half of a match against St. Edwards University.

She made nine appearances for the Red Stars during the regular season, serving one assist, before being waived by the team in June 2013.

On June 28, 2013, it was announced that McDonald had signed with the Seattle Reign FC after being waived by the Red Stars.

She scored her first goal during her debut appearance for the club in a match against the Boston Breakers on July 3, 2013.

Two games later, during the team's first televised match on Fox Soccer, she scored a brace against the Washington Spirit leading the Reign to a 2–1 win.

McDonald finished the 2013 season with six starts in seven matches played, tallying a total of 439 minutes played.

Her three goals ranked third on the squad for most goals scored – tied with teammates, Christine Nairn and Kaylyn Kyle.

McDonald was traded to the Portland Thorns along with defender Rebecca Moros in late 2013 under head coach Cindy Parlow Cone, in exchange for Danielle Foxhoven.

McDonald was a starting forward for the first eleven games of the 2014 season, then mostly relegated to a substitute position as Alex Morgan returned from an injury.

The team-leading scorer for the Thorns in 2014, McDonald had eleven goals, including a July 17 goal 33 seconds in against Chicago: the fastest goal in NWSL history.

This would be her only season in Portland, where she played as number 14 for a total of 1310 minutes in 24 regular-season games under head coach Paul Riley.

On January 16, 2015, McDonald was traded by the Thorns to the Houston Dash for the 13th pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft and a second round selection in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.

McDonald led the Dash's inaugural season in goals with seven during the 2016 season.

She scored the game-winning goal during the team's 1–0 win over her former team the Portland Thorns in May.

McDonald became a World Cup champion in 2019, with the United States team that won the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, McDonald is the daughter of Traci McDonald and Vince Myers.

Her brother, Brandon McDonald, is also a professional soccer player who plays in Major League Soccer.

She attended Cactus High School in Glendale, Arizona, where she played basketball all four years and ran track during her junior and senior years.