 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joanna Christie Lohman[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1982-06-26)June 26, 1982 (age 43) | ||
| Place of birth | Silver Spring, Maryland,United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2000 | Bethesda Scorpions | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2003 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 101 | (41) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2002 | Maryland Pride | ||
| 2006 | Washington Freedom | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | Bälinge IF | ||
| 2009 | Saint Louis Athletica | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 | Washington Freedom | 7 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Philadelphia Independence | 33 | (5) |
| 2011–2012 | Espanyol | 21 | (3) |
| 2012 | D.C. United Women | 5 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Boston Breakers | 39 | (3) |
| 2013 | →Apollon Limassol (loan) | ||
| 2015–2018 | Washington Spirit | 52 | (6) |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2005 | United States U-21 | ||
| 2001–2007 | United States | 9 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Joanna Christie Lohman (born June 26, 1982) is a retiredAmerican professionalsoccermidfielder/defender who last played for theWashington Spirit of the AmericanNational Women's Soccer League.[2] She previously played for theWashington Freedom andPhiladelphia Independence. In addition, she served as the general manager of theWashington Freedom Futures, the Washington Freedom Soccer Club'sW-League team. Lohman is a former member of theUnited States women's national soccer team and author of the bookRaising Tomorrow's Champions: What the Women's National Soccer Team Teaches Us About Grit, Authenticity and Winning, which was released on March 3, 2021 by Inspire Digital Media.[3]
Lohman grew up inSilver Spring, Maryland and attendedSpringbrook High School. In 1999, she was named an All-Met selection, and won the MarylandGatorade high school girls soccer player of the year.[4][5]
Lohman was captain of thePenn StateNittany Lions from 2002 to 2003 and was the first four-time First Team All-Big Ten selection in the school's history. She earned a 3.98 GPA while obtaining her business degree at Penn State, resulting in her also being a four-timeAcademic All-American.[6][7] In 2002, Lohman was aMAC Hermann Trophy finalist and earned first-team NCAA All-American honors for the second-straight year.[8] In 2004, she was named Pennsylvania's NCAA Woman of the Year.[9] In 2005, she was awarded theBig Ten Medal of Honor, which recognizes one male and one female student from the graduating class of each Big Ten member school, for demonstrating joint athletic and academic excellence throughout their college career.[10]
Lohman was selected by theSaint Louis Athletica during the 2008 WPS General Draft.[11] Lohman did not want to leave the DC area, however, so Athletica traded Lohman's rights to theWashington Freedom in January 2009.[5] She appeared in seven games with the Freedom during the 2009 season.[12]
In September 2009, Lohman traveled to Japan with Freedom teammateRebecca Moros to train withNTV Beleza, a professional team based outside of Tokyo.[12]
As a free agent, Lohman signed to thePhiladelphia Independence for the 2010 season. She ended the season with 24 appearances and 5 goals.[13] Lohman was tied as the second-leading goal scorer and started 20 of 24 games.[14]
Lohman returned to the Independence during the 2011 season, making 10 appearances.[13]
During the 2011–2012 off-season, Lohman and her teammate,Lianne Sanderson, joinedRCD Espanyol de Barcelona in Spain.[15][16]
After the folding of the WPS in early 2012, Lohman and Sanderson joinedD.C. United Women in theW-League for the 2012 season.[17] Lohman played in five games, for a total of 391 minutes.[18]
In February 2012, she and Sanderson joinedBoston Breakers in the newNational Women's Soccer League. The duo went onloan to Cypriot clubApollon Limassol after the American season had finished, to play in theUEFA Women's Champions League.[19]
In September 2014, Lohman was waived by Breakers and was selected byWashington Spirit for the 2015 season.[20] In her first year with the Spirit, the midfielder played in 17 out of the Spirit's 20 regular season matches. In 2016, Lohman played in all 20 regular season matches plus the semifinal. She scored four goals, tied for second most on the team, and notched one assist. Lohman memorably scored the opening goal of the historic 4th NWSL season in dramatic fashion with a bicycle kick in the 3rd minute againstBoston Breakers on April 16, 2016.[21]
During the2017 season opener againstNorth Carolina Courage, Lohman suffered an ACL injury keeping her from playing the remainder of the season.[22]
In March 2018, Lohman returned to the pitch following her ACL repair as a halftime substitute in the Spirit's2018 season opener againstSeattle Reign. Lohman scored the Spirit's lone goal in a 2–1 defeat.[23]
On April 8, 2019 Lohman announced her retirement from professional soccer. The Spirit retired her number 15 during a ceremony during the club's firstLGBT pride-themed night on June 22.[24][25]
From 2000 to 2005, Lohman was a member of the U-21 US national team and served ascaptain of the squad through 2003–2004.[26] In 2002, she helped lead the team to three Nordic Cup championships, earning MVP honors.[27]
Lohman trained withUnited States women's national soccer team during the 2004 Olympic Residency Training Camp and has nine caps with the senior team.[28] She made her debut with the senior team in 2000–2001 during theAlgarve Cup in a 1–0 defeat toItaly.[29] In 2006, she helped the team defeat Australia 2–0 during thePeace Queen Cup.[30]
Lohman married Melodie George in Washington, D.C., in September 2021.[32] George works for the United States Chamber of Commerce. In August 2022, Lohman announced on Instagram that that couple was expecting their first child in December.
From 2010 to 2015, while playing for thePhiladelphia Independence, Lohman was in a relationship with Philadelphia teammate and English internationalLianne Sanderson.[9] The couple moved to Spain together and founded JoLi Academy, a training centre for young female footballers in India.[33][34][35]
Lohman helped launch an organization called GO! Athletes that aims to encourage schools to create safer spaces for lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and questioning athletes.[16][36] She is an out and proud athlete who wants to inspire and advocate for equality.[37]
In February 2015 Lohman was confirmed to be in a relationship with Lucy Keener fromBaltimore, which lasted until August 2016.[38]
During the 2016 NWSL offseason, Lohman traveled toBotswana to run aU.S. State Department program called "Girl Power", using the shared experience of sport to promote gender equality.[39][40]
Lohman is vice president of Tenant Consulting, LLC, acommercial real estate firm in theWashington metropolitan area. She helped create the first "carbon neutral calculator" for office buildings, resulting in an invitation to meet former Vice PresidentAl Gore.[41][42]
