Margaret Purce

Margaret Melinda "Midge" Williams-Purce (born September 18, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for Sky Blue FC in the National Women's Soccer League. She previously played with Portland Thorns FC in 2018–2019, Boston Breakers in 2017, and for the Harvard Crimson in 2013–2016.

Margaret Purce
Purce playing for Boston Breakers in 2017
Personal information
Full name Margaret Melinda Williams-Purce[1]
Date of birth (1995-09-18) September 18, 1995
Place of birth Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Sky Blue FC
Number 23
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Harvard Crimson 69 (42)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Boston Breakers 22 (1)
2018–2019 Portland Thorns 38 (8)
2020– Sky Blue FC 5 (0)
National team‡
2011–2012 United States U17
2013–2014 United States U20
2015–2018 United States U23
2019– United States 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 22, 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 10, 2019

Early life

Purce is the daughter of James Purce, and has an older brother, JP Purce. She began playing soccer as a child, following in the footsteps of her brother.[2] She attended Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic High School in Olney, Maryland, near her hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland [3]where she was named Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year in 2012 and an NSCAA All-American in 2010 and 2011.[4]

College career

Harvard Crimson, 2013–2016

Purce scored 42 goals in 69 appearances with the Harvard University women's soccer team, and was named Ivy League Player of the Year twice, in 2015 and 2016, and a first-team NSCAA All-American in 2016. She majored in psychology at Harvard[4] in pursuit of a future law career.[2]

Club career

Boston Breakers, 2017

After playing for Harvard, Purce was drafted by the Boston Breakers with the 9th pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft.[5] She appeared in 22 games for Boston and scored one goal.[6]

Portland Thorns FC, 2018–2019

After the Breakers folded in January 2018,[7] the league held a dispersal draft for the Breakers' players; Purce was selected with the 4th pick by the Portland Thorns.[8]

Purce made 21 appearances and 16 starts for the Thorns in 2018, playing primarily as a right fullback. During the 2019 NWSL season, Purce moved into wide and central forward positions, and at one point scored 5 goals in a span of 5 games.[2]

Sky Blue FC, 2020–present

Purce was traded to Sky Blue FC in 2020.[9]

International career

Youth USWNT (2011–2018)

Purce was called up to the United States women's national U17, U20, and U23 teams. She played in the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, made 4 appearances and 3 starts in the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup,[10][11] and scored goals for the US U20s against France in a friendly[12] and against Mexico in the 2014 CONCACAF U20 Championship.[13]

Senior USWNT (2017–)

Purce received her first call-up to the United States women's national team for the 2017 Tournament of Nations but she did not appear in any of the three games.[14] She received another call-up in June 2018 for a pair of friendlies against China PR, but she sustained an ankle injury in training camp and was ruled out for the two friendlies.[15]

In November 2019, in Vlatko Andonovski's first training camp as the new USWNT head coach, Purce received another call-up. Despite playing primarily as a forward throughout her career, Purce was brought in to camp to experiment as a defender. Purce played in her first match for the United States women's national team in their friendly against Costa Rica on November 10, 2019. She played the full 90 minutes of the game as right back, and had a cross deflected in for a Costa Rica own goal in the U.S. team's 6–0 victory. [16]

Awards

NWSL Player of the Week: 2019 week 19[17]

NWSL Team of the Month: June 2019,[18] August 2019[19]

NWSL Goal of the Week: 2019 week 8[20]

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Canada 2014 – List of Players: USA" (PDF). FIFA. August 4, 2014. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  2. Goldberg, Jamie (July 3, 2019). "Portland Thorns leading goal scorer Midge Purce craves even greater heights". The Oregonian/OregonLive. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  3. "Campaigning For Change: Midge Purce & Danielle Slaton". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved 2020-08-16.
  4. "Margaret Purce – Harvard". GoCrimson.com. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  5. National Women's Soccer League. "Boston Breakers". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  6. "M.Purce". July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  7. National Women's Soccer League (2018-01-28). "NWSL announces Boston Breakers to cease operations". www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  8. NWSL (2018-01-30). "With the fourth pick in today's dispersal draft, @ThornsFC select Margaret Purce". @NWSL. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
  9. Staff, The Equalizer. "Thorns acquire No. 1 pick in 2020 draft, Raquel Rodriguez; ship Sonnett to Orlando, Purce to Sky Blue – Equalizer Soccer". Retrieved 2020-01-09.
  10. James, Chelsea (July 21, 2014). "Five locals selected to national team for U20 Women's World Cup". Washington Post. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  11. "Purce '17 Named to United States U-23 Training Camp". GoCrimson.com. January 3, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  12. Nguyen, Joe (June 16, 2014). "Mallory Pugh collects assist for U.S. U-20 in soccer game vs. France". The Denver Post. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  13. Borg, Simon (January 19, 2014). "USA beat Mexico again: Under-20 women's side down El Tri 4–0 for 2014 CONCACAF title". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  14. "TALENTED RETURNEES HIGHLIGHT 24-PLAYER WNT ROSTER FOR CHINA PR FRIENDLIES". May 29, 2018. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  15. "WNT DEFENDER MARGARET PURCE RULED OUT OF CHINA PR FRIENDLIES". June 5, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  16. "U.S. SOCCER USWNT defenders Midge Purce, Alana Cook make the most of international debuts". prosoccerUSA.com. November 11, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  17. Levine, Matthew (August 27, 2019). "Week 19 Player of the Week: Midge Purce, Portland Thorns FC". NWSLsoccer.com. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  18. Purdy, Jacqueline (July 8, 2019). "June Team of the Month". NWSLsoccer.com. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  19. NWSLsoccer.com Staff (September 5, 2019). "Thorns FC's Menges, Sinclair and Purce named to NWSL Team of the Month for August 2019". Portland Timbers. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  20. "MIDGE PURCE, PORTLAND THORNS FC | WEEK 8 GOAL OF THE WEEK". NWSLsoccer.com. June 4, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
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