.jpg) Spaanstra with thePortland Thorns in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexa Christine Spaanstra[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-02-01)February 1, 2000 (age 25)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Brighton, Michigan, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Portland Thorns | ||
| Number | 77 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Michigan Hawks | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | Virginia Cavaliers | 107 | (37) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023–2024 | Kansas City Current | 26 | (3) |
| 2024– | Portland Thorns FC | 8 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2016 | United States U-17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017 | United States U-19 | 3 | (2) |
| 2018–2020 | United States U-20 | 17 | (2) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of December 27, 2024 | |||
Alexa Christine Spaanstra (born February 1, 2000) is an American professionalsoccer player who plays as aforward forPortland Thorns FC of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for theVirginia Cavaliers, where she was a five-time All-ACC selection. Internationally, she has played for theUnited States youth national team, winningCONCACAF tournaments at theunder-17 andunder-20 levels. She was selected by the Current in the first round of the2023 NWSL Draft.
Spaanstra was born and raised inBrighton, Michigan,[2] as the older of two children born to Andrea and Scott Spaanstra.[3] Her father played college basketball for theNorthern Michigan Wildcats, and her mother rantrack atAquinas College.[3] Spaanstra played club soccer for the Michigan Hawks of theElite 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.[3][4] She was also a competitivesprinter, winning a national200-meter dash at age 10 andlettering in track atBrighton High School.[3][4] She was ranked byTopDrawerSoccer as theNo. 7 recruit of the class of 2018.[3]
Spaanstra was a five-year starter at forward and midfield for theVirginia Cavaliers from 2018 to 2022.[3][5] She helped Virginia win theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season title in2021 and reach the finals of theACC tournament in2019 and2021, earning all-tournament honors in each of her first four seasons.[3][5][6] 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.[3][7] She had three goals and a team-best twelve assists as a sophomore in 2019, including four assists in one game and two againstFlorida State in the ACC semifinals, and was second-team All-ACC.[3] 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 the2020 NCAA tournament as the Cavaliers reached the semifinals.[3][8] 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.[3][9][10] She finished her fifth season of eligibility with eight goals and was third-team All-ACC in 2022.[3][11]
TheKansas City Current selected Spaanstra tenth overall in the first round of the2023 NWSL Draft.[12] She was signed to a two-year contract in February 2023.[13] She made fifteen appearances and five starts as a rookie.[14] She recorded her first professional assist and her first goal in a 6–0 win over theChicago Red Stars on October 7.[15][16] She scored again the following week, helping salvage a 2–2 draw away atNJ/NY Gotham FC on October 15, and was recognized for her performances as theNWSL Rookie of the Month for September/October 2023.[15][17] 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 theNWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup and one inthe Women's Cup, where she scored the winning goal against South African clubMamelodi Sundowns on August 15.[18]
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.[19]
Spaanstra trained with the United States youth national team beginning at theunder-14 level in May 2013.[20] She was called up to thenational under-17 team in August 2014 to play friendlies in South Korea and trained with both the under-17 andunder-20 teams in August 2015, aged 15.[21][22][23] She helped the United States win the2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and competed at the2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[4][24] She led thenational under-19 team to win a tournament in China in September 2017 and was recognized as the tournament'smost valuable player.[25] While in college, she competed at the2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup and won the2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship.[26][27] She first played with thenational under-23 team at an NWSL preseason tournament in February 2022.[28]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Playoffs[b] | Continental[c] | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Kansas City Current | 2023 | NWSL | 15 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 21 | 2 | |||
| 2024 | 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 4[d] | 0 | 11 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 26 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 3 | ||
| Portland Thorns FC | 2024 | NWSL | 8 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0[d] | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Career total | 34 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 44 | 4 | ||
United States U20