 Winters warming up for theSeattle Reign FC, 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Keelin Winters Pattillo[1] | ||
| Birth name | Keelin Mary Winters[2] | ||
| Date of birth | (1988-12-09)December 9, 1988 (age 36)[3] | ||
| Place of birth | Cleveland, Ohio, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Defensive midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2004 | Mustang Blast | ||
| 2004–2007 | Real Colorado | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2010 | Portland Pilots | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2008 | Colorado Rush | 16 | (2) |
| 2011 | Boston Breakers | 19 | (4) |
| 2012 | Seattle Sounders | 8 | (1) |
| 2012 | 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam | 9 | (2) |
| 2013–2016 | Seattle Reign FC | 87 | (6) |
| 2014–2016 | →Western Sydney Wanderers (loan) | 23 | (7) |
| International career | |||
| 2008 | United States U20 | ||
| 2010–2011 | United States U23 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Keelin Winters Pattillo (bornKeelin Mary Winters; December 9, 1988) is an American retiredsoccer defensive midfielder who last played for theSeattle Reign FC of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL), a team she captained to two consecutiveNWSL Shield wins.[4] She previously played for1. FFC Turbine Potsdam in theFrauen-Bundesliga,Boston Breakers inWomen's Professional Soccer, theSeattle Sounders of the AmericanUSL W-League, andWestern Sydney Wanderers in theAustralian W-League[5][6] With Turbine Potsdam, she competed in three games of the2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League helping lift the team to the Round of 16.[7] She played collegiate soccer for theUniversity of Portland and was namedWest Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Year in 2010.
Winters represented the United States on theU-20 andU-23 national teams. She was a member of the senior national team's player pool and was allocated byU.S. Soccer during theNWSL Player Allocation, but did not play during an official international match.[8] In 2008, Winters captained the U-20 team to win gold at the2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Chile and scored the game-winning goal in the quarterfinal match against England.
Winters was born inCleveland, Ohio to parentsBrian and Julie Winters.[9] She has five siblings: Cara, Brendan, Kevin, Meghan and Ryan.[6] Her father played nine years in theNBA for theLos Angeles Lakers andMilwaukee Bucks and later went on to coach in both theNBA andWNBA.[10]
Winters played one year of high school soccer atCarondelet High School inConcord, California before moving to Colorado and joiningRegis Jesuit High School where she was named the team's most valuable player (MVP) all four years. Winters earned first team all-state honors from 2006 to 2007 and all-state honorable mention honors in 2005. As a freshman, she helped Carondelet reach the 2003 North Coast Section finals. She played for a regional team in the Olympic Development Program (ODP) in 2005 as well as the Colorado State Team from 2004 to 2006.[9]
Winters attended theUniversity of Portland where she played for thePilots from 2007 to 2010. In 2007, she played a total of 1,457 minutes. She was named Soccer Buzz First Team Freshman All-America,West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year, Soccer Buzz All-West Region Second Team, All-WCC Second Team and Nike Portland Invitational Defensive MVP. She was twice named to the National Team of the Week.[9]
In 2008, Winters missed five games, including all playoff matches, while training and playing at theFIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She was named All-WCC honorable mention. In 2009, Winters started all 23 games for the Pilots, scored two goals and recorded two assists while co-captaining the team. She was named to the NSCAA Scholar All-West Region Second Team,West Coast Conference (WCC) All-Academic First Team, and All-WCC Second Team.[9][11] In 2010, she was namedWCC Player of the Year.[12]
Winters was selected in the first round of the2011 WPS Draft by theBoston Breakers.[13] She scored her first goal in the 22nd minute of her professional debut during the Breakers' 4–1 win over theAtlanta Beat on April 9, 2011.[7] During the2011 WPS regular season, she recorded three goals and two assists while starting in 18 of the 19 games in which she played.[7] Winters helped the Breakers to the playoffs where she scored the team's lone goal during the 3–1 loss tomagicJack. Her season performance earned her a nomination for theWPS Rookie of the Year Award.[14] The WPS suspended operations in early 2012.[15]
On March 8, 2012, Winters signed a contract withSeattle Sounders Women, under head coachMichelle French, to play with national team membersAlex Morgan,Hope Solo,Sydney Leroux, andStephanie Cox. Of her signing, she said, "Once WPS was suspended, I was obviously really disappointed. I thought about going overseas, but transfer windows were closed and things became really complicated and frustrating...Alex Morgan asked if I was interested in playing with her on the Sounders. [Alex] knew I have been living in Seattle. Right after that, I went back and sent [Michelle] an email to find out more information about the Sounders Women. So that's how it all started for me."[16] Winters played in eight matches for the Sounders Women, scored one goal and recorded one assist.[17] The team finished second in the Western Conference with a10–3–1 record.[18] With the national teammates' presence on the team,[19][20] the Sounders sold out nine of their ten home matches at the 4,500 capacityStarfire Stadium.[21] Average attendance during the 2012 season for the Sounders Women was four times higher than the next closest team.[21]
On May 10, 2012, it was announced that Winters would joinGermanBundesliga side1. FFC Turbine Potsdam effective July 1, 2012.[22][23] During the team's season opener againstVfL Sindelfingen, she scored the first goal helping her team win 9–1.[24] Her second goal on the season came during the 45th minute of Potsdam's 5–1 victory overSGS Essen on November 4, 2012.[25] She made nine appearances for the team during the 2012–2013 season, including eight starts.[7]
During the domestic cup,Frauen DFB Pokal, Winters scored three goals: two during Potsdam's 5–3 win overSGS Essen on October 7, 2012 and the game-winning goal againstSC 07 Bad Neuenahr.[7] During the2012-13 UEFA Women's Champions League, she scored a goal in the team's 3–4 loss toArsenal L.F.C.[7] Winters made three Champions League appearances helping lift the club to the Round of 16.[7]
In 2013, after originally being allocated to theChicago Red Stars as part of theNWSL Player Allocation, Winters was traded toSeattle Reign FC for theinaugural season of theNational Women's Soccer League.[26][27] She captained the team to a seventh place standing for theseason. Winters played in 19 of the team's 22 games of the season, tallying a total of 1,710 minutes as a central midfielder for the squad. She scored one goal against theWestern New York Flash on June 24, 2013 with an inside-the-eighteen yard box finish off an assist fromTeresa Noyola.[28] She also had one assist on the season.[29] In October 2013, it was announced that she had signed a two-year contract with the Reign as a free agent (non-allocated player).[30]
During the2014 season, Winters captained the Reign, setting a league record unbeaten streak of 16 games during the first part of the season. During the 16 game stretch, the Reign compiled a 13-0-3 record.[31] The team finished first in the regular season clinching theNWSL Shield for the first time.[32] After defeating theWashington Spirit 2–1 in the playoff semi-finals, the Reign were defeated 2-1 byFC Kansas City during the championship final.[33] Winters finished the 2014 season with three goals playing primarily as a holding midfielder. She started in 22 of the 23 matches in which she played.[34]
After returning to the Reign for the2015 season, Winters was credited along withJess Fishlock as being the heart of the team and a major contributor to their winning record.[35] The Reign finished the regular season in first place clinching theNWSL Shield for the second consecutive time.[36] After advancing to theplayoffs, Seattle faced fourth-place teamWashington Spirit and won 3–0, advancing to the championship final.[37] Seattle was ultimately defeated 1-0 byFC Kansas City during the championship final in Portland.[38] Winters, along with teammatesStephanie Cox,Kendall Fletcher, andMegan Rapinoe, were named to the NWSL Second XI team.[39]
"[Keelin's] given us absolutely everything on the field for the last four seasons. I call her the glue of this team. She's always tried to do the right thing and make sure everyone is included.."
During the first few months of the2016 season, a number of offensive players became unavailable due to injury includingManon Melis,[41]Jess Fishlock[42] andMegan Rapinoe.[43] During the team's last home match of the season (and Winters' last home match with the Reign) on September 11, 2016, Winters scored a goal againstWashington Spirit to lift the team to a 2–0 win and keep them in contention for a playoff berth.[44] Seattle finished the regular season in fifth place with a8–6–8 record, narrowly missing a playoff spot by two points.[45] In September 2016, Winters announced her planned retirement following the end of the season.[46]
In September 2014, Winters joinedWestern Sydney Wanderers on loan from Seattle.[47] She made 11 appearances for the club and was the team's leading scorer with 5 goals.[7] The Wanderers finished in last place during the regular season with a2–8–2 record.[48]
Winters was named captain of theUnited States U-20 women's national soccer team in 2008 and led the team to clinch the2008 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup inChile. She scored the game-winning goal in the quarterfinal match againstEngland.[49]
Winters was part of theUnited States under-23 squad for the 2011 Four Nations Tournament.[13] On May 9, 2012, she was called up for theUnited States match againstChina, but did not play.[50][51]
Winters started a coaching business, Pro Skills Soccer[52] and is an ambassador forAthlete Ally, a nonprofit organization that "provides public awareness campaigns, educational programming and tools and resources to foster inclusive sports communities."[53] She is openly gay and married her longtime girlfriend Paige Pattillo on October 3, 2015.[54] Following her retirement from professional soccer, Winters became a firefighter.[55]
