Samantha Meza

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Sam Meza
Meza with North Carolina in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (2001-11-07) November 7, 2001 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Seattle Reign FC
Number 20
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2023 North Carolina 72 (7)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Seattle Reign FC 0 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 United States U-17 12 (0)
2019–2020 United States U-20 11 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of April 21, 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of March 8, 2024

Samantha Meza (born November 7, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She has represented the United States at the under-15, under-17, and under-20 level, winning CONCACAF tournaments at each level. She was drafted by the Reign in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Early life[edit]

Meza was born in Dallas, Texas, to Alma and Luis Santos, and has a younger brother.[1][2] She is of Mexican descent.[3] She grew up in Balch Springs and began playing soccer at age three.[2][4] She played club soccer for Dallas Kicks, which reached the final of the US Youth Soccer National Championships one year, then moved to Solar Soccer Club of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy in 2017–18.[4][5] She was twice named to the Best XI of her Academy conference.[6][7] She attended TTU K–12 for her last two years of high school.[2] She verbally committed to the University of North Carolina in March 2019 after initially planning to join Virginia.[8][9]

College career[edit]

Meza was a starting midfielder at North Carolina from 2020 to 2023. In her first season, she was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman team and All-ACC third team.[10] As a sophomore, she scored an overtime golden goal to beat Arkansas in August 2021 and was named to the All-ACC second team.[11][12] She played through minor shin splints during her junior season and was named third-team All-American and first-team All-ACC though she missed the team's run at the 2022 NCAA tournament due to injury.[13][14] She received second-team All-ACC honors as a senior.[15] Head coach Anson Dorrance nicknamed her "Mighty Mouse" for her defensive prowess.[13][16]

Professional career[edit]

Seattle Reign FC selected Meza with the 17th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft.[17] She signed a one-year contract with the Reign with a one-year option in March 2024.[18]

International career[edit]

Meza began training with the United States national under-15 team in 2015.[3][19] In August 2016, she scored six goals as part of the under-15 team that shut out all seven of its opponents to win the 2016 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship.[5][20] She played regularly for the national under-17 team, including on the winning team at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship.[21][22] She won the 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship with the national under-20 team in early 2020.[23] In June 2022, she played friendlies for the national under-23 team.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Sam Meza – Women's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Cranford, Leslie (January 2020). "D1 University Scholarship Kicks in for TTU K‑12 Soccer Player". TTU K–12. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Jones, Jody (October 8, 2022). "Sam Meza hopes to leave inspiring legacy for young Latinas". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Crooke, Dan (March 28, 2018). "Ordonez and Meza called up to the US U17 WNT for CONCACAF Championship". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "North Texas Players Meza, Ordonez Called Up to U-17 USWNT Camp". Arkansas Soccer Association. October 24, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  6. ^ "USSF announces Girls DA 2017-18 awards". United States Soccer Federation. June 10, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  7. ^ Crooke, Dan (July 22, 2019). "Solar SC and FC Dallas bring home USSDA awards". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  8. ^ Shealer, Sheldon (April 1, 2019). "Recruiting Roundup: April 1–7". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  9. ^ Musarurwa, Kudzi (April 19, 2024). "Sam Meza has bought into the process at Seattle Reign FC". All for XI. SB Nation. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  10. ^ Trendel, Avery (November 14, 2020). "Eight Tar Heels Receive All-ACC Women's Soccer Honors". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  11. ^ Koh, Michael (August 23, 2021). "No. 3 UNC Women's Soccer Tops No. 13 Arkansas on Meza's Golden Goal". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  12. ^ "2021 All-ACC Women's Soccer Awards Announced". Atlantic Coast Conference. November 4, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Bynum, R.L. (September 11, 2022). "After Meza steadies UNC in win, Dorrance calls her greatest defensive midfielder he's coached". Tar Heel Tribune. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  14. ^ Koh, Michael (August 11, 2023). "UNC Women's Soccer Picked 1st in ACC Coaches Poll; 3 Tar Heels Named All-ACC". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  15. ^ Koh, Michael (November 2, 2023). "6 Tar Heels Earn All-ACC Women's Soccer Honors; Sentnor Named Midfielder of the Year". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  16. ^ Rogers, Evan (September 11, 2022). "'Mighty Mouse' Meza lifts UNC women's soccer above UCF with second half magic". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  17. ^ Evans, Jayda (January 12, 2024). "NWSL draft: Reign trade up to take UNC's Sam Meza, select former UW player". The Seattle Times. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  18. ^ "Seattle Reign FC Signs 2024 NWSL Draft Pick Sam Meza". Seattle Reign FC. March 7, 2024. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "U15, U16 GNTs head to Portland for camp". United States Soccer Federation. June 1, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  20. ^ "Champions: U.S. U-15 girls perfect in Orlando; U-18 boys lift Czech crown". Soccer America. August 22, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  21. ^ Eskilson, J.R. (June 10, 2018). "USA qualifies for the U17 Women's World Cup". TopDrawerSoccer.com. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  22. ^ "Four North Texas Players to Compete in U-17 Women's World Cup". Arkansas Soccer Association. Archived from the original on May 28, 2022.
  23. ^ "USA Rolls Past Mexico 4–1 to Win 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship". United States Soccer Federation. March 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
  24. ^ "U.S. Under-23 Women's Youth National Team Defeats Sweden 3–0 on Goals from Alyssa Thompson, Ava Cook and Kerry Abello". United States Soccer Federation. June 28, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2024.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Meza.
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