Ella Hendley Stevens (born December 11, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club NJ/NY Gotham FC. She played college soccer for the Duke Blue Devils before being drafted by the Chicago Red Stars in the 2020 NWSL College Draft.
_020_(Stevens).jpg) Stevens with Gotham FC in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ella Hendley Stevens[1] | ||
| Date of birth | December 11, 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Snellville, Georgia, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | NJ/NY Gotham FC | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2016 | Gwinnett SA | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2019 | Duke Blue Devils | 91 | (24) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2023 | Chicago Red Stars | 46 | (8) |
| 2024– | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 14 | (6) |
| International career | |||
| United States U17 | |||
| United States U19 | |||
| 2015 | United States U20 | ||
| 2018 | United States U23 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 24, 2023 | |||
Early life and college career
editStevens was born in Snellville, Georgia, to Chip Stevens and Celeste Baker, and has a younger brother. Her father played college soccer at Lander University. She played high school soccer for Grayson High School where she recorded 73 goals and 83 assists in four years.[1] She played club soccer for Gwinnett Soccer Academy of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL).[2] She committed to play college soccer at Duke University in January 2014.[3] In her senior year in 2015–16, she was named the national Gatorade Player of the Year as the country's best high school soccer player.[2][4]
Duke Blue Devils, 2016–2019
editStevens led the Duke Blue Devils with 10 goals and added six assists in her freshman season, including two goals and two assists over the first four rounds of the 2016 NCAA tournament. She received All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) third team and ACC All-Freshman honors.[1] In her sophomore year, scored five goals and led the team with 11 assists, helping Duke make the 2017 NCAA semifinals, and was second-team All-ACC.[1] She was second in the ACC with 10 assists as a junior, adding one goal.[1] In her senior year in 2019, she recorded eight goals and six assists, starting every game of the season, and was all-ACC for the fourth year in a row.[1]
Club career
editChicago Red Stars, 2020–2023
editStevens was selected 24th overall in the 2020 NWSL College Draft by the Chicago Red Stars.[5] She made her debut in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup on July 1, 2020, while on a short-term contract.[6][7] She was signed to the roster on October 9.[7]
Stevens made her first regular season start in the first game of the 2022 season, on April 30 against Racing Louisville, and scored her first professional goal in the first minute of the game.[8][9] She recorded four goals and two assists in 19 appearances that season.[10]
In the 2023 season, Stevens started 16 of 22 matches, scored four goals, and had one assist for the Red Stars, who finished the season at the bottom of the table.[10]
NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2024–
editOn January 22, 2024, Stevens signed with NJ/NY Gotham FC on a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.[11]
In the 2024 away game against the San Diego Wave, Stevens had a goal in the 1–1 draw.[12] A week later, she netted the winner in the 90th minute against the Chicago Red Stars, making it 2–1.[13] The next game, Stevens scored both goals in the 2–0 win over Bay FC.[14] She scored again two weeks later in the 2–0 win over Racing Louisville.[15] On September 5, 2024, the NWSL announced that Stevens was named NWSL Player of the Month for August 2024 after leading Gotham FC to a 2-0-1 record throughout the regular season and the NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup, scoring three goals and adding two assists.[16] Stevens was also named to the NWSL Team of the Month the following day.[17]
International career
editStevens trained with the United States youth national teams at multiple age levels, starting at the under-14 level in 2011.[18] She trained with the under-15 team in 2012 and the under-17 team in 2013.[19][20] She was called up to the under-19 team in 2015.[21] Later that year she represented the under-20 team at the 2015 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, contributing a goal in the group stage against Haiti as the United States went on to win the tournament.[22][23] She played friendlies with the under-23 team against NWSL clubs in the 2018 preseason.[24]
Career statistics
edit- As of August 24, 2024
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Playoffs[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chicago Red Stars | 2020 | NWSL | — | 2 | 0 | — | 0[c] | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2022 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 25 | 4 | |||
| 2023 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 4 | ||||
| NJ/NY Gotham FC | 2024 | 14 | 6 | 4 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 19 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 60 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 78 | 14 | ||
- ^ Includes the NWSL Challenge Cup & NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup
- ^ Includes NWSL Playoffs
- ^ NWSL Fall Series
Honors
editIndividual
- NWSL Player of the Month: August 2024[16]
- NWSL Team of the Month: August 2024[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Ella Stevens – 2019 – Women's Soccer". Duke Blue Devils. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Clark, Travis (May 26, 2016). "HS: Stevens lands Gatorade PotY award". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ Clark, Travis (January 27, 2014). "Girls Commitments: Deciding on Duke". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "2015–2016 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year". Gatorade. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Stevens Selected by Chicago Red Stars in 2020 NWSL Draft". Duke Blue Devils. January 16, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Portland Thorns 0–0 Chicago Red Stars". National Women's Soccer League. July 1, 2020. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
- ^ a b "Chicago Red Stars Announce Addition of Ella Stevens to Roster". Chicago Red Stars. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Ella Stevens 2022 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "The Red Stars' 2022 NWSL Season So Far". Chicago Red Stars. June 28, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Tonelli, Jenna (January 22, 2024). "'This will be a defining year for me': Ella Stevens joins Gotham FC on multiyear deal". The Equalizer. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Stevens Signs with Gotham FC". Duke Blue Devils. January 22, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ "San Diego Wave FC's Hanna Lundkvist scores first goal in NWSL with weekend draw". FOX 5 San Diego. May 13, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ "Ella Stevens' late-game goal leads Gotham over Red Stars". New York Post. May 20, 2024. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ Lewis, Michael (May 25, 2024). "Double Trouble: Stevens' brace powers Gotham FC to 6-game unbeaten streak". Front Row Soccer. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ Media, Field Level (June 15, 2024). "Gotham FC tops Louisville for fourth win in a row". New York Post. Retrieved June 16, 2024.
- ^ a b NWSL (September 5, 2024). "NJ/NY Gotham FC Forward Ella Stevens Named August Player of the Month, Presented by EA SPORTS | National Women's Soccer League Official Site". NWSL. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ a b NWSL (September 6, 2024). "NWSL Announces August Best XI of the Month, Presented by Amazon Prime | NWSL Announces August Best XI of the Month, Presented by Amazon Prime | National Women's Soccer League Official Site". NWSL. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
- ^ "U.S. U14s gearing up for Saturday's test". TopDrawerSoccer. September 23, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ Eskilson, J.R. (June 11, 2012). "U15 Girls National Team defeats Fram U16 4–0". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ Eskilson, J.R. (August 5, 2013). "U17 WNT ramping up for CONCACAF qualifying". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
- ^ "Twenty-four players called into U19 NT camp". United States Soccer Federation. July 10, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
- ^ "U.S. U-20 WNT tops Haiti 6–0, advances to CONCACAF Championship semis". United States Soccer Federation. December 9, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via SoccerWire.
- ^ "U.S. U-20 WNT wins CONCACAF U-20 Championship 1–0 vs. Canada". United States Soccer Federation. December 14, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via SoccerWire.
- ^ "Snow names roster for U23 WNT camp". United States Soccer Federation. March 8, 2018. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.