Lynn Williams - The Flash
SOCCER - FORWARD - USWNT -
NWSL - NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE
ARCHETYPE: THE FLASH
Day 66/135
Athletic Accomplishments
In high school, Lynn Williams set her school’s career record with 117 goals, including 50 during her senior season. Despite such a stellar career, she received only one college offer, from Pepperdine.
At Pepperdine, Williams won the West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year and was named to Soccer America’s Freshman All-American first team. By her senior season, she was racking up even more honors, including NSCAA All-West Region first team, All-WCC first team, and
first-team All-American by the NSCAA and Soccer America. She was also a finalist for the Hermann Trophy.
Williams was drafted to the NWSL’s Western New York Flash in 2016, where she had a breakout performance, being named to the NWSL Best XI and winning the Golden Boot and league MVP awards.
But 2016 wasn’t just about individual honors for Williams, either. The Flash won the 2016 NWSL Championship thanks to Williams scoring a game-tying header in the last minute of the final to force the game to penalties, and then converting on her PK to help the Flash defeat the Washington Spirit.
When the Flash were sold to new ownership and became the North Carolina Courage, Williams and the squad continued to dominate, winning the NWSL Shield (awarded to the team with the best regular season record) in 2017, 2018, and 2019, and winning the NWSL Championship in 2018 and 2019.
Despite getting her call up to the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2016, Williams was not selected for the 2019 World Cup roster. That fuels her to keep working, keep striving, and to know that nothing comes easy.
Character Archetype: The Flash
Lynn Williams is FAST. During last year’s gameplay, her top speed has clocked in at 21.28 mph, faster than even the fastest clocked elite men’s player, Kylian Mbappé, 21.1 mph.
As a forward, that top speed provides a huge competitive advantage for Williams, who exploits it every chance she gets. In her 2016 breakout rookie season, Williams not only won the NWSL’s MVP Award and Golden Boot—awarded to the player with the most goals in a season—but also scored the game-tying header to send the game to penalties and ultimately win.
With the departures of other U.S. Women’s National Team players like Sam Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper, and Crystal Dunn, this season, Williams will be the most recognizable player on the North Carolina Courage. But she’s a fast learner. Ready, set, go.