Regan Steigleder (born September 3, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). After playing collegiately for the Northwestern Wildcats, Steigleder spent two seasons with Swedish club KIF Örebro before being traded to the Current in 2024.

Regan Steigleder
Steigleder with the Kansas City Current in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (1998-09-03) September 3, 1998 (age 26)
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Kansas City Current
Number 2
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2021 Northwestern Wildcats 86 (12)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 KIF Örebro 49 (4)
2024– Kansas City Current 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 8, 2024

Early life and college career

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Steigleder was raised in Iowa City, Iowa, the daughter of Paul and Lisa Steigleder.[1] Her mother named her after Regan MacNeil, the fictional character possessed by a demon in the horror film The Exorcist.[2] She began playing soccer when she was three and joined the Iowa Soccer Club in kindergarten.[2] She began playing travel soccer in middle school with a club based in Phoenix, Arizona, before playing two years with the Michigan Hawks.[2] She played almost anywhere on the field for the Hawks and won the ECNL under-17 national championship in 2016.[1][2]

She captained her high school soccer team at Iowa City West, where she scored 93 goals in four years.[1][3] She led her team to the state 3A championship as a junior in 2015, providing an assist and then scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 victory.[4] She reached the state semifinals and was named the Gatorade Iowa Player of the Year as a senior in 2016.[3] She also played one season of high school basketball as a freshman point guard.[1] She initially committed to Vanderbilt, but after its head coach resigned, she switched to Northwestern over offers from Iowa, Nebraska, TCU, and Clemson.[2]

Northwestern Wildcats, 2017–2021

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Steigleder was a five-year starting midfielder for the Northwestern Wildcats, scoring 12 goals in 86 appearances. In her first season in 2017, she helped her team place second in the Big Ten Conference and make it to the final of the conference tournament, earning Big Ten all-freshman honors.[5] She left the game injured against Purdue as a sophomore in 2018 and missed the rest of the season.[1][6] She played the most minutes on the team as a junior in 2019 and was named to the all-Big 12 third team.[7] She scored four goals in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, including the only goal in a win over Purdue in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.[1] She was granted a fifth year of eligibility due to the pandemic and became one of the team's captains in her graduate year in 2021. She led the team in field minutes played and tied her career high with four goals.[1][8]

Club career

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KIF Örebro, 2022–2023

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Steigleder trained with the Chicago Red Stars as a non-roster player in the 2022 preseason and appeared in a preseason friendly against the United States national under-23 team.[9][10] She then signed her first professional contract with Swedish club KIF Örebro DFF on April 8, 2022, for the rest of the year.[11] She entered the usual starting lineup following the departure of Anna Sandberg to Häcken and was converted from an attacking midfielder to an offensive-minded left back.[12] She finished the 2022 Damallsvenskan season with 13 starts in 24 appearances, with KIF Örebro ninth of fourteen teams.[13] On November 3, her contract was extended for an additional year.[12] She started all 25 games in which she played in the 2023 season.[13]

Kansas City Current, 2024–

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Steigleder re-signed with KIF Örebro for another year on December 22, 2023, and was considered a possible captain for the coming season.[14][15] However, she was instead traded to the NWSL team Kansas City Current for a transfer fee on January 30, 2024, and signed for one year with a one-year option.[16] She made her first NWSL appearance as a late substitute in a win over Angel City FC on March 30.[13] She earned her first NWSL start on May 8 in an eventual 0–0 draw to the Seattle Reign, completing 90 percent of her passes in the first half before being substituted for Hailie Mace.[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Regan Steigleder". Northwestern Wildcats. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bain, Matthew (May 15, 2017). "Speed demon: West's Regan Steigleder puts scare in opponents". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Iowa City West's Regan Steigleder named Gatorade state player of the year". The Gazette. June 19, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  4. ^ Naughton, John (June 11, 2015). "Class 3-A: Regan Steigleder lifts West High past Waukee". Iowa City Press-Citizen. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  5. ^ Coffman, Noah (November 6, 2017). "Northwestern Women's Soccer drops a heartbreaker in the Big Ten Championship". Inside NU. SB Nation. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Goldsmith, Charlie (October 14, 2018). "Women's Soccer: Northwestern feeling the pressure after tie against Purdue". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  7. ^ Scanlan, Sophia (November 4, 2019). "Women's Soccer: Steigleder, Thron, Kornhonen pick up postseason accolades". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  8. ^ Swann, Skye (October 15, 2021). "Women's Soccer: Northwestern falls to Wisconsin in Big Ten battle". The Daily Northwestern. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  9. ^ "Chicago Red Stars announce 2022 preseason roster". Windy City Times. February 1, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  10. ^ "U.S. Under-23 Women's Youth National Team Draws 0-0 With Chicago Red Stars At Thorns Preseason Tournament In Team's First Match Since 2019". United States Soccer Federation. March 5, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  11. ^ "KIF Örebro förstärker med amerikanskan Regan Steigleder" (in Swedish). KIF Örebro DFF. April 8, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "Regan Steigleder förlänger med KIF Örebro" [Regan Steigleder extends with KIF Örebro] (in Swedish). KIF Örebro DFF. November 3, 2022. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Regan Steigleder at FBref.com  
  14. ^ "Klart: Regan Steigleder förlänger med KIF Örebro" [Clear: Regan Steigleder extends with KIF Örebro] (in Swedish). KIF Örebro DFF. December 22, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  15. ^ "Avslöjar: Kif Örebro säljer amerikanska stjärnan". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). January 30, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  16. ^ "Kansas City Current sign a pair of players with international experience". Kansas City Current. January 30, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
  17. ^ "Kansas City Current battles Seattle Reign to a scoreless draw on the road". Kansas City Current. May 8, 2024. Retrieved September 2, 2024.
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