Beat Sign Olympian Carli Lloyd
December 17, 2010 - Women's Professional Soccer (WPS)
Atlanta Beat News Release
KENNESAW, GA (December 17, 2010 ) - Atlanta Beat General Manager Shawn McGee today announced signing, Carli Lloyd, a United States Women's National Team (USWNT) midfielder with two years of Women's Professional Soccer experience.
Lloyd joins the Beat having earned a combined total of 17 starts in 21 WPS games played. She began her professional career with the Chicago Red Stars by way of the WPS Allocation of USWNT players in 2009. With the Red Stars, she started 14 of 16 appearances and tallied two goals and one assist. She later signed with New Jersey's Sky Blue FC on Oct. 19, 2009.
"She is a fantastic midfielder and someone who is fully focused on the game," said Beat head coach James Galanis. " I have known her from her college days, and I have had the opportunity to train her and improve her game individually. She has made a lot of sacrifices off the field to reach her dreams, and she is going to bring a lot of professionalism to the team."
Lloyd first appeared with the full USWNT on Oct. 1, 2006, against Chinese Taipei and has since acquired a total of 100 caps with 22 goals scored in international play. In 2009, she started five of six USA matches following a landmark year with in 2008.
Lloyd was named the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2008 after she finished two major goals during the Olympics, including the game-winner in a 1-0 victory against Japan in group play and an overtime finish against Brazil in the gold medal game. She starting all 35 matches in which she played, tying the USA team lead in games played during that year. She was second on the team in minutes with 2,781 and found the net nine times with nine assists. In 2007, she scored a goal in each of the four matches of the Algarve Cup in Portugal, earning tournament top scorer and MVP honors.
"She is a great player for all of the young players to look up to because she does all the right things on and off the field," said Galanis.
Prior to the start of her professional career, Lloyd had an impressive college campaign at Rutgers University where she helped the Scarlet Knights to four BIG EAST Tournament berths and two trips to the NCAA Tournament. She was the first Rutgers player to earn first-team all-BIG EAST honors four times (2001-2004), and she was named the BIG EAST Conference Midfielder of the Year in 2004. Lloyd earned a spot on the Soccerbuzz All-America Second Team, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Mid-Atlantic Region All-Third Team, and the Soccerbuzz Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. She completed her Rutgers career as the all-time leader in points (117) and goals (50) and as a four-time All-American. She was also a finalist for the 2004 Soccerbuzz National Player-of-the-Year Award, and a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy, the official NSCAA national player-of-the-year award.
Lloyd is the Beat's third player signing announced this week. She reports for preseason training on March 1, 2011.
Note: All team transactions must be approved by WPS before becoming official.
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Women's Professional Soccer Stories from December 17, 2010
- Beat Sign Olympian Carli Lloyd - Atlanta Beat
- Beat Sign India Trotter - Atlanta Beat
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