Mallory Pugh

Mallory "Mal" Pugh

Personal information
Full name	Mallory Diane Pugh[1]
Date of birth	April 29, 1998
Place of birth	Highlands Ranch, Colorado, United States
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Real Colorado
Youth career
Years	Team
2011–2016	Real Colorado
2016–	UCLA Bruins
National team^‡
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2013–2014	United States U17
2014–	United States U20
2016–	United States	11	(2)
† Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of April 10, 2016

Mallory Diane "Mal" Pugh (born April 29, 1998) is an American soccer player who currently plays for the United States women's national soccer team and Real Colorado of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). In 2015, she received the U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year and Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year awards. In January 2016, she became the youngest female player to be selected and play for the U.S. national team during an Olympic qualifying tournament.^[2]

Early life

Raised in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, a suburb located 12 miles south of Denver, Pugh is currently a senior at Mountain Vista High School.^[3] As a freshman in 2013, she was named to the All-Colorado team after leading her high school team to a state title.^[4] She was also named MVHS offensive MVP, NSCAA youth All-American and a top 5 finalist for Sports Illustrated Kid of the Year. During her sophomore year, despite missing more than half of her high school games due to national team commitments; she helped the team to the 5A semifinal.^[5] During her junior year, Pugh led the Golden Eagles to a 16-3 record and state semi-final playing in the attacking midfielder position. She was subsequently awarded the Gatorade’s National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award.^[6]

In January 2016, it was reported that Pugh had rejected college in order to turn professional and play for National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Portland Thorns when she finished high school.^[7] Later that week, her father said the reports were false and that Pugh would join UCLA Bruins as originally planned.^[8]

Playing career

International

Pugh has represented the United States at the U-17 and U-20, and senior national team levels.^[9] While playing for the under-17 national team from 2013–2014, she was the leading scorer at the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Women’s Championship with five goals and three assists.^[10][11] In 2015, she captained the U-20 national team to win the 2015 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship and earned the tournament's Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals. The United States' win earned the team a berth at the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.^[9] She was later named 2015 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year by the United States Soccer Federation.^[12]

On January 23, 2016, Pugh earned her first cap for the U.S. women's national soccer team from head coach Jill Ellis during a match against Ireland. She scored her first goal for the team sealing the United States' 5–0 win.^[13][14][15] Pugh made her Olympic qualifying debut in the national team's 5–0 victory over Costa Rica in the team's first match of the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship. At 79 days shy of her 18th birthday, Pugh became the youngest player in US Women's National Team history to play in an Olympic qualifying game.^[16][17]

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
#	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
	Orange background color – Olympic women's football tournament
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player

	Date	Location	Opponent	Lineup	#	Min	Assist/pass	Score	Result	Competition
1	2016-01-23[m 1]	USASan Diego	Ireland	on 58' (off Morgan)	1.1	83	Christen Press	5–0	5–0	Friendly
2	2016-04-06[m 2]	USAEast Hartford	Colombia	off 46' (on Press)	1.1	39	Carli Lloyd	3–0	7–0	Friendly

Honors

Individual

• U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year: 2015^[18]
• Gatorade National Female Soccer Player of the Year: 2016^[19]
• National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Youth Girls National Player of the Year: 2014^[1]
• NSCAA Youth All-America Team: 2013^[1]
• Sports Illustrated Sports Kid of the Year Top 5 Finalist: 2012^[1]

References

1. "Mallory Diane "Mal" Pugh". Elite Clubs National League. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
2. Baxter, Kevin (January 26, 2016). "Mallory Pugh, 17, becomes youngest woman chosen for U.S. Olympic soccer qualifying roster". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
3. Dzakowic, Morgan (January 20, 2016). "Mallory Pugh not turning pro; despite rumors, she will attend UCLA this fall". The Denver Post. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
4. Nguyen, Joe (April 2, 2014). "Mallory Pugh has shot at soccer glory". The Denver Post. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
5. Hoang, Bryan (April 22, 2014). "Mountain Vista soccer stays strong". Highlands Ranch Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
6. Konecky, Chad (May 21, 2015). "Mallory Pugh wins Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year". USA Today. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
7. Kassouf, Jeff (15 January 2016). "Report: Pugh skipping college, headed to Thorns". The Equalizer. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
8. Kassouf, Jeff (20 January 2016). "Pugh’s dad says Mallory won’t go pro, will go to UCLA". The Equalizer. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
9. "Mallory Pugh". United States Soccer Federation. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
10. Konecky, Chad (May 21, 2015). "Mallory Pugh wins Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year". USA Today. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
11. "Pugh steers U.S. charge at CU20W". CONCACAF. December 11, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
12. Rosenblatt, Greg (December 19, 2015). "Mallory Pugh wins US Soccer Young Female Player of the Year". SB Nation. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
13. Dzakowic, Morgan (January 23, 2015). "Mallory Pugh scores goal in senior U.S. Women’s National Team debut". Denver Post. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
14. Goldberg, Jamie (January 23, 2016). "Mallory Pugh scores in U.S. Women's National Team debut". The Oregonian. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
15. "Lloyd, Pugh lead new-look USWNT to dominating in 2016 opener". Four Four Two. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
16. "WNT Opens 2016 Olympic Qualifying with Big 5–0 Win vs. Costa Rica in Frisco". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
17. "Mallory Pugh, 17, becomes youngest woman chosen for U.S. Olympic soccer qualifying roster". latimes.com. Retrieved 2016-02-11.
18. "Mallory Pugh named 2015 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year". Denver Post. December 18, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.
19. "UCLA W Soccer Commit Mallory Pugh Wins Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year". Sun Times Network. May 20, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2016.

Match reports

1. "U.S. WNT Opens 2016 with 5–0 Win Against Republic of Ireland in Front of Record Crowd in San Diego". U.S.Soccer. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
2. "U.S. WNT Defeats Colombia 7-0 in Front of Record Crowd in Connecticut". Retrieved April 8, 2016.

External links

• Mallory Pugh – FIFA competition record
• US Soccer player profile
• ECNL player profile