Sam Coffey

Sam Coffey

200px Coffey with the Portland Thorns in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Samantha Grace Coffey
Date of birth	(1998-12-31) December 31, 1998
Place of birth	New York City, New York, U.S.
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Portland Thorns
Number	17
Youth career
	Match-Fit Academy
	New York Soccer Club
2013–2017	Masters School Panthers
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2018	Boston College Eagles	40	(17)
2019–2021	Penn State Nittany Lions	62	(25)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2022–	Portland Thorns FC	44	(1)
International career‡
	United States U18
	United States U19
2017–2018	United States U20	13	(1)
2019	United States U23	3	(0)
2022–	United States	17	(1)
Medal record CONCACAF W Championship Winner 2022 Mexico CONCACAF W Gold Cup Winner 2024 United States
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 5, 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 4, 2024

Samantha Grace Coffey (born December 31, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defensive midfielder for the Portland Thorns in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and for the United States national team. She was drafted by the Thorns in 2021 after playing college soccer at Boston College and Penn State.

Early career

Youth

Coffey played youth club soccer for Match-Fit Academy and New York Soccer Club, where she was a five-time "region 1 team" honoree and named an all-American. In high school, she played for the Masters School, located in Dobbs Ferry, where she was selected as team MVP all four years and was a team captain for two seasons. She was named the league player of the year three times, and scored 100 goals in high school.

Boston College

Coffey began her college soccer career with the Boston College Eagles in 2017. She led the team in assists and points as a freshman, and was selected to the All-ACC third team and freshman team. She was her team's co-rookie of the year, and was the Boston College Freshman Scholar Athlete of the Year. As a sophomore in 2018, she helped the team reach the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, their first appearance since 2015. She was the team leader in both goals and assists, and was a semi-finalist for the Hermann Trophy. She was a United Soccer Coaches first-team All-American, was included in the All-ACC first team, and was selected as the ACC midfielder of the year. In both years she was also included in the All-ACC Academic Team. During her two seasons at the school, she started all 40 games, scoring 17 goals and recording 24 assists.

Penn State

File:Sam coffey in 2019.jpg

Coffey with Penn State 2019

In December 2018, it was announced that Coffey would transfer to Pennsylvania State University to play for the Nittany Lions starting in the 2019 season. She enrolled in classes at the school in January 2019. In her junior season in 2019, she scored 11 goals and recorded 10 assists, ranking second in the Big Ten Conference with her 32 points. She helped the team to win the 2019 Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament, in which she scored an equalizing penalty goal in the final against Michigan to send the game to extra time. The team advanced to the round of 16 of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament before losing 2–0 to eventual champions Stanford. During her senior 2020–21 season, which was postponed to spring semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Coffey scored 6 goals and recorded 12 assists in 16 matches for the team as a captain. Penn State were eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2020 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, losing to eventual runner-up Florida State. As the NCAA granted all student-athletes another year of eligibility due to the pandemic, Coffey played her fifth college season in 2021 as a graduate student. She recorded 8 goals and 8 assists in 21 games, with the team losing in the round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament to South Carolina.

In all three seasons, Coffey was included in the All-Big Ten and All-North Region first teams. She was included in the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America Second Team in 2019, and the CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team in 2020–21. She was selected as the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year in 2020–21, and in the same season was included in the Senior CLASS Award First Team All-America. In 2019 and 2020, she was also included in the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team. Coffey made 62 appearances during her three seasons at Penn State, scoring 25 goals and recording 30 assists. She finished her collegiate career with 42 goals and 54 assists in 102 appearances, becoming the 50th player in NCAA Division I to tally 40 goals and 40 assists.

Club career

Portland Thorns FC

After the NCAA granted all student-athletes another year of eligibility due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coffey decided not to enter herself into the 2021 NWSL Draft as she was uncertain about her future. Nevertheless, she was still entered into the draft, and was selected by Portland Thorns FC with the 12th overall pick in the second round. However, she ultimately decided to play an additional year of college soccer with Penn State.

On January 7, 2022, the Portland Thorns signed Coffey to a two-year contract. She made her debut for the team in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 18, 2022, playing the full match in a 1–1 away draw against OL Reign. She made her NWSL regular season debut on April 30, 2022, playing the full match in a 3–0 home win over the Kansas City Current. She quickly became a regular starter, starting in 26 games in 2022 (20 regular season, 4 Challenge Cup, and 2 playoff). She helped the Thorns win the NWSL Championship that year, was nominated for NWSL Rookie of the Year, and was on the 2022 NWSL Best XI First Team.

International career

Youth

Coffey was a member of the United States youth squads on the under-18, under-19, and under-20 levels. With the under-18 team, she attended six training camps and played in two international tournaments. At the under-20 level, she was included in the U.S. squad for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, held in Trinidad and Tobago. The team finished as runners-up after losing the final on penalties to Mexico. However, the team still qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France, though Coffey was not selected as a squad member.

Senior

In June 2022, Coffey earned her first call-up to the United States women's national team for two friendlies against Colombia. Despite being uncapped, Coffey was later added as an injury replacement for Ashley Hatch after the group stage of the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship, but was not called on to play. She earned her first cap, and first start, in a friendly against Nigeria on Sept. 6, 2022, and played three further matches that year. She was called up again for friendly matches in September 2023 but did not play. She scored her first, and to date only, international goal in a friendly against China PR on Dec. 5, 2023.

International

As of match played June 4, 2024

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
United States	2022	4	0
	2023	3	1
	2024	10	0
Total		17	1

International goals

	Key (expand for notes on “international goals” and sorting)
Location	Geographic location of the venue where the competition occurred Sorted by country name first, then by city name
Lineup	Start – played entire match on minute (off player) – substituted on at the minute indicated, and player was substituted off at the same time off minute (on player) – substituted off at the minute indicated, and player was substituted on at the same time (c) – captain Sorted by minutes played
Goal in match	Goal of total goals by the player in the match Sorted by total goals followed by goal number
#	NumberOfGoals.goalNumber scored by the player in the match (alternate notation to Goal in match)
Min	The minute in the match the goal was scored. For list that include caps, blank indicates played in the match but did not score a goal.
Assist/pass	The ball was passed by the player, which assisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information.
penalty or pk	Goal scored on penalty-kick which was awarded due to foul by opponent. (Goals scored in penalty-shoot-out, at the end of a tied match after extra-time, are not included.)
Score	The match score after the goal was scored. Sorted by goal difference, then by goal scored by the player's team
Result	The final score. Sorted by goal difference in the match, then by goal difference in penalty-shoot-out if it is taken, followed by goal scored by the player's team in the match, then by goal scored in the penalty-shoot-out. For matches with identical final scores, match ending in extra-time without penalty-shoot-out is a tougher match, therefore precede matches that ended in regulation
aet	The score at the end of extra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation
pso	Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parenthesis; the match was tied at the end of extra-time
	Light-purple background color – exhibition or closed door international friendly match
	Light-yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament
	Light-orange background color – Olympic women's football qualification match
	Light-blue background color – FIFA women's world cup qualification match
	Pink background color – Continental Games or regional tournament
	Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
	Blue background color – FIFA women's world cup final tournament
NOTE on background colors: Continental Games or regional tournament are sometimes also qualifier for World Cup or Olympics; information depends on the source such as the player's federation. NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

Goals	Cap	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	7	2023-12-05	Frisco, Texas	China PR	{{{4}}}. off 69' (on Moultrie)	62'	Emily Sonnett	1–1	2–1	Friendly

Personal life

Coffey was born in New York City to Wayne Coffey, a sportswriter who previously worked for the New York Daily News, and Denise Willi. She grew up in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and attended the Masters School. She earned her bachelor's degree in journalism from Pennsylvania State University at the end of 2020, and began pursuing her graduate degree at the school afterwards. Her sister Alex is a sportswriter who previously wrote for The Athletic and currently covers the Philadelphia Phillies as beat reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Honors

Penn State Nittany Lions

• Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament: 2019

Portland Thorns FC

• NWSL Championship: 2022

United States U20

• CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship runner-up: 2018

United States

• CONCACAF Women's Championship: 2022
• CONCACAF W Gold Cup: 2024
• SheBelieves Cup: 2024

Individual

• NWSL Rookie of the Month: June 2022
• NWSL Best XI of the Month: June 2022, Sept./Oct. 2022
• NWSL Best XI: 2022, 2023

References

Match reports

External links

• Sam Coffey at National Women's Soccer League
• Sam Coffey at Portland Thorns FC
• Sam Coffey at U.S. Soccer
• Sam Coffey at Soccerway