Melissa Moore (soccer)

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Melissa Moore
Personal information
Birth name Melissa Liston
Date of birth (1975-07-17) July 17, 1975 (age 48)
Place of birth Van Nuys, California, United States
Position(s) Goalkeeper
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 New Mexico Lobos 68 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001 San Diego Spirit
2001–2003 Philadelphia Charge 43 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Melissa Moore (née Liston; born July 17, 1975)[1] is a retired American soccer player who played for the Philadelphia Charge as a goalkeeper.[2][3] Widely recognized as one of the league's top goalkeepers, Moore played professionally for the Charge during the Women's United Soccer Association's entire three-year run.[4][5][6] During her college career, she started in 68 games for the University of New Mexico Lobos.[4]

Early life and education[edit]

Born Melissa Liston in Van Nuys, she attended Bonita High School in La Verne, California.[7][8] She initially joined the Bonita varsity soccer team as a freshman midfielder, but switched to goalkeeper from her sophomore year onward.[4] In February 1993, she was named to PARADE's All-America High School Girls Soccer Team.[8] In addition to soccer, she played volleyball, swam, ran track, and played badminton.[4]

She graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in psychology,[4][9] and earned a master's degree in athletic administration at Illinois State University.[9] At Illinois State, she worked as a graduate assistant coach for the women's soccer team.[4]

College career[edit]

In 1993, Liston signed with the University of New Mexico Lobos women's soccer team as its first varsity recruit.[7] She was recruited by head coach Amy Allmann, a former player with the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT).[7]

During UNM's first season, Liston was named a Far West All-American.[10] At the end of their second season, she was named to the All-West Region second team, finishing second in the region with 130 saves, and a goals-against average of 1.64.[11] In 1995, she was named to the UNM Athletics Hall of Honor as Female Athlete of the Year.[12] By the time she graduated, she had set school records for total number of saves (438) and shutouts (18).[4]

Professional career[edit]

After completing her master's degree, Moore contacted the San Diego Spirit to inquire about a possible administrative position with the club which was starting in the new Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) league, but was invited to a local tryout instead.[9] In February 2001, she was invited to join the preseason roster as a walk-on player, making her one of three goalkeepers with the San Diego Spirit, including two international players: Ulrika Karlsson from Sweden and Jaime Pagliarulo from the USA.[13][9]

During the WUSA spring training tournament, Moore impressed Philadelphia Charge coach Mark Krikorian, who signed her after she was waived.[9][5][4] Soccer Digest later referred to Moore as "one of Krikorian's shrewdest acquisitions".[5]

On April 22, 2001, Moore started in goal for the Philadelphia Charge, playing against the San Diego Spirit their inaugural match.[14][5] She proceeded to shut out her former teammates 2–0 in front of a sell-out crowd of 6,155 at Torero Stadium, in what The San Diego Union Tribune called the WUSA's "first fairy tale".[14] She pulled off a second shutout against the Spirit when the two teams met again later that season.[5] Moore started in 9 matches that year with a 5–3–1 record, allowing only 1.01 goals per game,[4] but was sidelined for part of the season due to injury.[5] Her performance during the playoffs was said to be "shaky".[15]

During her second season, Moore was widely recognized as one of the top goalkeepers in the league,[4][5] leading what Soccer Digest called "a nearly impenetrable defense".[16] Moore started in all but one game, with a record of 11–3–6,[4] bringing the Philadelphia Charge within one game of securing the top position within the WUSA during the regular season,[16] and helping them secure a place in the playoffs.[4] She had the best goals-against average in the league (1.0), had the second highest save percentage (78.18%), and made the third most saves (86).[4]

Ahead of the WUSA's third and final season, the Philadelphia Charge's top draft pick was University of Washington goalkeeper Hope Solo;[16] USA Today commented that the Charge had "[set] up an interesting situation for the starting spot."[6] While competition between Moore and Solo was intense, Moore remained the Charge's "usual" starting goalkeeper for most of the season.[17]

International career[edit]

Moore trained with the United States women's national soccer team in 1996.[18][13]

Personal life[edit]

As of July 2001, Moore was one of only two Philadelphia Charge players who was married.[19] She was featured along with midfielder Michelle Demko in The Makeover Story, which premiered on The Learning Channel in October 2001.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Melissa Moore women's soccer Statistics". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  2. ^ Levin, Eddie (July 24, 2001). "Melissa Moore leads Charge in goal". Main Line Times & Suburban. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "Philadelphia Women 1-0 Boston Women (16 Jun, 2002) Game Analysis". ESPN. June 15, 2002. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Witte, Phil (August 15, 2002). "Moore to Love: Philadelphia's women's soccer team charges to the WUSA playoffs on the strength of its talented goalkeeper". The Los Angeles Times. p. A6. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Wyllie, John Philip (November 2002). "Buried Treasure". Soccer Digest. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  6. ^ a b James, Matthew (February 3, 2003). "Strong draft could make Charge tough to beat". USA Today. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  7. ^ a b c Stevens, Richard (October 5, 1994). "Overworked Athlete". The Albuquerque Tribune. p. B1. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b Cohen, Haskell; O'Shea, Michael (February 7, 1993). "Meet PARADE's All-America High School Girls Soccer Team". Newsday. Suffolk, New York. PARADE Magazine. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c d e Straus, Brian (April 27, 2001). "Taking No Offense At Defensive Games". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  10. ^ Stevens, Richard (October 5, 1994). "Overworked Athlete (Continued)". The Albuquerque Tribune. p. B6. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Domzalski Cleans Up With Dial Award". Albuquerque Journal. December 3, 1994. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Hall of Honor". University of New Mexico Lobos. June 8, 2020. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  13. ^ a b "WUSA: San Diego adds tryout players". Soccer America. February 26, 2001. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Zeigler, Mark (April 23, 2001). "INAUGURAL GAME – A SPIRITED DEBUT: Sellout crowd watches S.D. fall in WUSA opener". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  15. ^ Wahl, Grant (March–April 2002). "The Team to Beat". Sports Illustrated Women. Vol. 4, no. 2. p. 78. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via EBSCOHost.
  16. ^ a b c Wyllie, John Philip (April–May 2003). "Forward March". Soccer Digest. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Ryan, Jessica (July 17, 2003). "Charge unable to find net in loss to Atlanta". Courier Post. ProQuest 436998753. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via ProQuest.
  18. ^ "Spirit adds three players to preseason roster from ARCO center tryouts". The Star-News. Chula Vista, California. March 16, 2001. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ Boccella, Kathy (July 26, 2001). "Charge-ing off the field". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. C1, C3. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Snider puts some digs up for sale". The Philadelphia Inquirer. October 28, 2001. Retrieved August 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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