Alexa Spaanstra

Alexa Christine Spaanstra (born February 1, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers, where she was a five-time All-ACC selection. Internationally, she has played for the United States youth national team, winning CONCACAF tournaments at the under-17 and under-20 levels. She was selected by the Current in the first round of the 2023 NWSL Draft.

Early life

Spaanstra grew up in Brighton, Michigan, the older of two children born to Andrea and Scott Spaanstra. Her father played college basketball for the Northern Michigan Wildcats, and her mother ran track at Aquinas College. Spaanstra played club soccer for the Michigan Hawks of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) starting at the under-11 level, helping the team win national ECNL titles in 2014 and 2017 and finish runners-up in the years between. She was also a competitive sprinter, winning a national 200-meter dash at age 10 and lettering in track at Brighton High School. She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the No. 7 recruit of the class of 2018.

College career

Spaanstra was a five-year starter at forward and midfield for the Virginia Cavaliers from 2018 to 2022. She helped Virginia win the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season title in 2021 and reach the finals of the ACC tournament in 2019 and 2021, earning all-tournament honors in each of her first four seasons. As a freshman in 2018, she recorded nine goals and six assists, both joint team bests, and was named All-ACC third team and ACC All-Freshman. She had three goals and a team-best twelve assists as a sophomore in 2019, including four assists in one game and two against Florida State in the ACC semifinals, and was second-team All-ACC. After missing about a month due to injury, she made the All-ACC first team with ten goals as a junior in 2020–21, including four goals in the first two rounds of the 2020 NCAA tournament as the Cavaliers reached the semifinals. She recorded seven goals and nine assists as a senior in 2021, helping Virginia take the ACC regular season title, and was named second-team All-ACC. She finished her fifth season of eligibility with eight goals and was third-team All-ACC in 2022.

Club career

The Kansas City Current selected Spaanstra tenth overall in the first round of the 2023 NWSL Draft. She was signed to a two-year contract in February 2023. She made fifteen appearances and five starts as a rookie. She recorded her first professional assist and her first goal in a 6–0 win over the Chicago Red Stars on October 7. She scored again the following week, helping salvage a 2–2 draw away at NJ/NY Gotham FC on October 15, and was recognized for her performances as the NWSL Rookie of the Month for September/October 2023. Spaanstra started eight games and recorded a goal and an assist in 11 appearances for the Current in the 2024 regular season. Additionally, she played in four matches in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and one in the Women's Cup, where she scored the winning goal against South African club Mamelodi Sundowns on August 15.

On August 19, 2024, Portland Thorns FC announced that they had acquired Spaanstra in a trade with the Kansas City Current in exchange for $25,000 in intra-league transfer funds and an additional $15,000 in allocation money.

International career

Spaanstra trained with the United States youth national team beginning at the under-14 level in May 2013. She was called up to the national under-17 team in August 2014 to play friendlies in South Korea and trained with both the under-17 and under-20 teams in August 2015, aged 15. She helped the United States win the 2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and competed at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. She led the national under-19 team to win a tournament in China in September 2017 and was recognized as the tournament's most valuable player. While in college, she competed at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and won the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. She first played with the national under-23 team at an NWSL preseason tournament in February 2022.

Career statistics

As of match played July 6, 2024

Honors

United States U20

• CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2020