Ashlyn Harris Announces Retirement

Brad Smith / ISI Photos

On Monday, at the USWNT Players Association Players Ball, goalkeeper Ashlynn Harris announced her retirement from professional soccer. The announcement did not surprise most fans. Harris, 37 was sidelined during the most recent NWSL season due to another knee injury. She has dealt with quite a few of injuries during her career, including tearing both of her ACLs. Many people considered her return from the ACL surgeries to be a miracle. It is difficult to come back from one ACL tear, and nearly impossible to come back from two. Harris played professional soccer for 13 years, playing in the US and overseas. She also earned 25 USWNT caps, which included two World Cup victories in 2015 and 2019. Harris started with the National team system at thirteen, playing on multiple teams before joining the senior team in 2009. Her NWSL career was also nothing short of incredible. Harris joined the league in its inaugural season, with the Washington Spirit. In 2016, she joined the Orlando Pride playing there until 2021. During her time in Orlando, Harris earned her 100th NWSL cap. In 2022, she was traded to NY/NY Gotham FC for the 2022 season.

Off the pitch, Harris is happily married with two kids. Her wife is Ali Krieger, a USWNT defender and Ashlyn’s longtime teammate. They’ve played together for a majority of Harris’s professional career. They kept their relationship private for a long time. They went public with it in early 2019 and got married that December. In early February 2021, they adopted their first child, a daughter named Sloane. In August 2022, they shocked fans when they announced the adoption of their second child, a son named Ocean. Krieger, 37 has not announced her retirement, so we can most likely expect to see her back on the pitch with Gotham next season.  

Brad Smith / ISI Photos

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Ashlyn Harris had an amazing soccer career. Harris quickly told fans in an Instagram story, that this is only the beginning. Then not twenty-four hours later, it was announced that she would be joining Gotham’s front office, as the Global Creative Advisor. Congratulations on an incredible soccer career, Ash. We can’t wait to see what’s next!