 Pearce in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christie Patricia Pearce[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-06-24)June 24, 1975 (age 50) | ||
| Place of birth | Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||
| Position | Center back | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1996 | Monmouth Hawks | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997 | Central Jersey Splash | ||
| 1998 | Buffalo FFillies | ||
| 1998 | New Jersey Lady Stallions | ||
| 2001–2003 | New York Power | 55 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Sky Blue FC | 30 | (0) |
| 2011 | magicJack | 11 | (0) |
| 2013–2017 | Sky Blue FC | 87 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 1997–2015 | United States | 311 | (4) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Sky Blue FC (caretaker player/manager) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Christie Patricia Pearce (formerlyRampone; born June 24, 1975) is an American former professionalsoccer player who played as adefender. She is the former captain of theUnited States national team. Pearce is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and also a two-time world champion inFIFA Women's World Cup.
Pearce has played in fiveFIFA Women's World Cup finals and fourOlympics women's soccer tournaments. She is a1999 and2015 FIFA Women's World Cup champion, and a three-timegold medalist having won championship titles at the2004 Athens Olympics,2008 Beijing Olympics and2012 London Olympics. She finished no lower than third place in each of the World Cup or Olympic tournaments in which she competed.
Pearce played in theW-League from 1997 through 1998. She played in two American professional leagues the entire time they were in operation; from 2001 through 2003 in theWUSA and from 2009 through 2011 in theWPS. In 2009, while playing forSky Blue FC, she simultaneously served as coach of the club while winning the2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs, and was namedWPS Sportswoman of the Year.
Pearce was the oldest player to appear in a FIFA Women's World Cup game (at age 40) untilFormiga competed in the2019 FIFA Women's World Cup at the age of 41. With 311 caps, Pearce is also the third-most capped player, male or female, in U.S. and world history, afterKristine Lilly andCarli Lloyd.[2]
On June 9, 2021, it was announced that Pearce was to be inducted into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.[3]
Born inFort Lauderdale, Florida, Christie Pearce grew up inPoint Pleasant, New Jersey. During her high school years, she was a four-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, track, andfield hockey. While attendingPoint Pleasant Borough High School, she scored 2,190 career high school basketball points,[4] and was the first female athlete in New Jersey history to lead her conference in scoring in three different sports. This accomplishment led her to all-state honors in all three sports. Pearce was heralded as the best athleteOcean County, New Jersey had ever produced.[citation needed]
Pearce attendedMonmouth University, located inWest Long Branch, New Jersey, after being highly recruited by nearly every major college in the country.[citation needed] At Monmouth, she excelled as a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, andlacrosse. During her senior year, she opted to ease away from her startingpoint guard basketball position to train and travel with theUnited States women's national soccer team. On the Monmouth soccer field, Pearce was a two-timeNortheast Conference Player of the Year selection and First Team All Mid-Atlantic Region selection, posting ten multiple-goal games in her senior year. She finished her collegiate soccer career with a start in all 80 games, led her team with 79 career goals and 54 assists, and was Monmouth's record holder for goals, assists, and points in a season.[5]
When not on the field, Pearce studied towards a degree inSpecial Education, which she completed in 1996. She also worked as a volunteer basketball and soccer coach when completing her student teaching with Monmouth. As a tribute to her achievements and for the worldwide fame she brought to heralma mater, the university awarded her with anhonorary degree in Public Service in 2005. Furthermore, the university inducted her into the Monmouth University Hall of Fame in 2007 and honored her 2008 Olympic accomplishments by declaring October 5, 2008 as Christie Rampone Day.[6]
After college, Pearce played forCentral Jersey Splash andNew Jersey Lady Stallions, in 1997 and 1998 respectively, of theW-League.
In 2001, she was selected as a member ofNew York Power, a professional soccer team inWomen's United Soccer Association. In the first year, Christie played every minute of the first 18 games until tearing heranterior cruciate ligament, sidelining her for the rest of the season. In 2002, Christie bounced back to play in 1699 minutes over 19 games, and another 18 games in 2003 in addition to her national team duties. Shortly after concluding its third season, the WUSA suspended all operations. In anticipation of an eventual relaunch, WUSA preserved its rights in the team names, logos and similar properties.[7]
The next attempt at women's professional soccer in the United States kicked off in 2008 under the name ofWomen's Professional Soccer. On September 16, 2008, the initial WPS player allocation was conducted and Pearce was chosen as captain for New Jersey'sSky Blue FC with fellow US Women's National Team playersHeather O'Reilly andNatasha Kai.[8]
In its inaugural season, Pearce and Sky Blue FC struggled, including the suspension of their first head coachIan Sawyers and the resignation of his successor,Kelly Lindsey. In July 2009, the Sky Blue organization announced that Pearce would serve as thecaretaker coach, in addition to her playing duties, for the remainder of the WPS season.[9] After taking on the position as head coach, the third in one season for Sky Blue FC, Pearce took her team on to win the2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs. It was later revealed she was almost three months pregnant with her second child at the time of the match.[10] One week later, she was namedWPS Sportswoman of the Year.[11]
She remained with Sky Blue in a playing role for 2010 before switching tomagicJack ahead of the2011 Women's Professional Soccer season.[12]
On January 11, 2013, Pearce was one of three members from the United States women's national team that was allocated to the newNWSL clubSky Blue FC, along withJillian Loyden andKelley O'Hara.[13] She came second in voting forNWSL Defender of the Year behindBecky Sauerbrunn in the 2013 season.[14]
Christie Pearce has represented the United States at the1999,2003,2007,2011, and2015FIFA Women's World Cup finals,[15] in addition to the2000,2004,2008, and2012Summer Olympics.
After training with theUnited States women's national soccer team during her senior year at Monmouth, she switched to playing as adefender. Pearce's first game was February 28, 1997 versusAustralia. She tallied her first national team goal on May 2, 1997, in a match versusSouth Korea. Pearce started 16/18 games in her first season and finished with two goals and three assists.[16] The following year, Pearce helped her team to its first undefeated season and led the United States to gold in the1998 Goodwill Games by starting in both matches.
Pearce played 2540 minutes with the national team in 2000, including five games at the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney. The team finished with the silver medal. In 2001, Pearce tore heranterior cruciate ligament and missed a majority of the limited national team season. Pearce was back with the team for two training camps in 2002, but focused on recovering from her surgery. In 2003, she started in 15/17 national team games and all four World Cup matches to lead her team to the bronze medal.
In the2004 Athens Olympics, she helped the United States win gold after defeatingBrazil in what would be the final Olympic Games for a few of her senior teammates:Mia Hamm,Brandi Chastain andJulie Foudy. It was in this same year that Pearce would become the fifth most capped defender in United States history.[17]
Pearce returned to the team in 2006, after taking off the 2005 season to have her first child. In 2006, Christie returned to the team just 112 days after giving birth for China'sFour Nations Tournament. 2007 brought Pearce's busiest year to date, starting in all 20 games in which she played and she became the most capped defender and second-most capped played on the2007 FIFA Women's World Cup team. She started in all six matches of the World Cup.
In 2008, Pearce was named captain[18] of the Women's National Team and led the United States to the Gold medal once again, earning her 200th National Team cap at the2008 Summer Olympics. With the retirement of teammateKristine Lilly in 2010, she became the mostcapped active player in the world.
Pearce captained the U.S. team to win second place at2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, losing to Japan 1–3 in the penalty shoot-out, having drawn the final match at 2–2 at the end of extra-time. She played all 600 minutes in all 6 matches U.S. played.[19]
In2012 London Olympics, Pearce captained the U.S. team to a 2–1 gold medal win over Japan in the final; playing all 570 minutes in 6 matches and was a key free kick taker throughout the tournament. Pearce also saved a shot off the line from Japan in the Olympic final. The U.S. team won all six matches it played at the 2012 London Olympics, including 3shutouts.
As of September 20, 2015, Christie Pearce is currently second on the all-time cap list with 311.
On July 5, 2015, she became the oldest woman to play in a FIFA Women's World Cup final, and in any tournament game, at age 40 years, 11 days, when she entered thefinal against Japan during the 86th minute.[20]In1999 she played against Korea DPR in the group stage,[21]and in2015 she played against Nigeria in the group stage,[22]and in the final against Japan.[23]
Pearce is ofScottish descent and sporting heritage; her great-grandfatherBill Dowie was agoalkeeper withRaith Rovers before emigrating to the United States in the 1920s.[24]
Pearce has two daughters with her ex-husband Chris Rampone: Rylie (born 2005) and Reece (born 2010).[25] She and Rampone divorced in 2017.[26] Though married to Chris in 2001, Pearce did not use the name "Rampone" on her jersey until 2004.[27]
In July 2011, Pearce revealed she hadLyme disease.[28] Pearce is currently engaged toRacing Louisville FC former-head coachChristy Holly.[29]
In 2012,Jersey Mike's Subs appointed Jersey Shore native Pearce as its first spokesperson in its 56-year history.[30] She and her ex-husband have since become franchisees of the chain, opening two locations inToms River, New Jersey in early 2017.[31]
Pearce was featured along with her national teammates inEA Sports' FIFA video game series inFIFA 16, the first time women players were included in the game.[32] In September 2015, she was ranked by EA Sports as the number 8 women's player in the game.[33]
Following the United States' win at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Pearce and her teammates became the first women's sports team to be honored with aticker tape parade in New York City.[34] Each player received a key to the city from MayorBill de Blasio.[35] In October of the same year, the team was honored by PresidentBarack Obama at theWhite House.[36]
| 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 onminute (offplayer) – substituted on at theminute indicated, andplayer was substituted off at the same time offminute (onplayer) – substituted off at theminute indicated, andplayer was substituted on at the same time |
| 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, whichassisted in scoring the goal. This column depends on the availability and source of this information. |
| penalty orpk | Goal scored onpenalty-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 ofextra-time; the match was tied at the end of 90' regulation |
| pso | Penalty-shoot-out score shown in parentheses; the match was tied at the end of extra-time |
| Green background color –exhibition or closed door international friendly match | |
| Yellow background color – match at an invitational tournament | |
NOTE: some keys may not apply for a particular football player | |
| Date | Location | Opponent | Lineup | Min | Score | Result | Competition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997-05-02[37][38][39] | Milwaukee |  Korea Republic | Start | 79 | 7–0 | 7–0 | International Friendly |
| 2 | 1997-06-05[37][39][40] | Ambler |  Australia | Start | 37 | 5–0 | 9–1 | 1997 Nike U.S. Cup |
| 3 | 2000-04-05[41] | Davidson |  Iceland | Start | 54 | 4–0 | 8–0 | Closed door international friendly |
| 4 | 84 | 8–0 |
Following her marriage to Chris Rampone in the fall of 2001, Christie Pearce became Christie Rampone (although she didn't change the name on her jersey until 2004).
| Preceded by | WNT captain 2008–2016 | Succeeded by |
United States squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
