_012.jpg) Abello with theOrlando Pride in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kerry Margaret Abello[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-09-17)September 17, 1999 (age 25) | ||
| Place of birth | Elmhurst, Illinois, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Orlando Pride | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Team Chicago | |||
| Eclipse Select | |||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2021 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 91 | (17) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | Chicago Red Stars Reserves | ||
| 2022– | Orlando Pride | 68 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 2016–2017 | United States U18 | ||
| 2017 | United States U19 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of March 14, 2025 | |||
Kerry Margaret Abello (born September 17, 1999) is an American professionalsoccer player who plays as adefender for theOrlando Pride of theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
A versatile player, Abello playedcenter-back,full-back andforward during her college career with thePenn State Nittany Lions before being drafted 24th overall in the2021 NWSL Draft. She won theNWSL Shield andNWSL Championship with the Pride in 2024.
Born inElmhurst, Illinois, Abello grew up playing club soccer for Team Chicago and Eclipse Select SC, and also played one year of high school soccer atBenet Academy.[2] She was a three-timeNSCAA Youth All-American between 2014 and 2016.[1][3] Within the 2017 recruiting class, Abello ranked 12th overall and as the no. 2 defender nationally byTopDrawerSoccer.com.[1]
Abello played five seasons ofcollege soccer atPennsylvania State University between 2017 and 2021 while also studying as apre-medical major in biological life sciences and Spanish. A high achiever academically, she enrolled in theSchreyer Honors College and was a four-timeCoSIDA Academic All-American including CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for the 2020–21 and 2021 seasons, the first student-athlete to earn the distinction twice in soccer for Division I.[4][1][5] As a freshman, Abello made 15 appearances for theNittany Lions all as a substitute and recorded a season-high 45 minutes on August 20 in a game againstHofstra Pride. The team won the2017 Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament.[1] Predominantly playing as aforward, Abello became a starter in 2018, starting 19 of 23 appearances, and tallied seven goals and five assists as Penn State clinched the Big Ten regular season title.[6][7] As a junior in 2019, Abello transitioned to playingleft-back and started all 24 of Penn State's games, scoring eight goals and three assists on the way to earning First Team All-Big Ten honors.[8] Ahead of the 2020 season, Abello was named as teamcaptain.[9] Having been selected in the2021 NWSL Draft, she elected to delay her pro career and return in 2021 to contest both the delayed 2020 season and the 2021 season following the NCAA's offer of an additional year of eligibility in light of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[10] For the 2020–21 campaign, Abello moved to playing atcenter-back, making 12 appearances before missing the final four matches due to injury as Penn State won the Big Ten regular season title for the second time in three seasons.[11] In her fifth and final season, Abello started all 20 games for the Nittany Lions and earned First Team All-Big Ten honors for the second time.[1]
In the 2018 offseason, Abello played a season at center-back with the Chicago Red Stars Reserves in theWPSL.[12] The team topped the Northern Conference and progressed to the playoff semi-finals before losing toPensacola FC.
On January 13, 2021, Abello was selected in the third round (24th overall) of the2021 NWSL Draft byOrlando Pride.[13] Having returned to Penn State to exhaust her fifth year of college eligibility during the 2021 season, Abello signed a two-year contract with the team on January 28, 2022, ahead of the2022 season.[14] She made her professional debut on April 3, 2022, as a 61st-minute substitute againstWashington Spirit during the2022 NWSL Challenge Cup.
Abello was the Pride's only field player to appear in all 26 matches (25 starts) in the 2024 regular season as the team claimed theNWSL Shield with the best record in the league.[15] She was named to theNWSL Best XI Second Team.[16] She started in theNWSL Championship on November 23, which the Pride won 1–0 against theWashington Spirit.[17]
Abello has been rostered for theUnited States national teams at under-14, under-15, under-17, under-18 and under-19 levels. In October 2016 she was called up for the under-18 team to play at the 2016 Women's International Cup in Ireland. She attended three training camps with the under-19s in February, May and June 2017. In July 2017, Abello traveled to Australia to play three matches with the under-18s.[1]
Abello is the daughter of Kim and Oscar Abello. She has two older sisters and one older brother.[18]
| Team | Season | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | ||
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 2017 | Div. I | 15 | 0 |
| 2018 | 23 | 7 | ||
| 2019 | 24 | 8 | ||
| 2020–21 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2021 | 17 | 2 | ||
| Total | 91 | 17 | ||
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Playoffs[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Orlando Pride | 2022 | NWSL | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 1 | ||||
| 2024 | 26 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 68 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 82 | 2 | ||
Penn State Nittany Lions
Orlando Pride
Individual
