Savy King
King with North Carolina in 2023
Personal information
Full name Savannah Mckenzie King[1]
Date of birth (2005-02-07) February 7, 2005
Place of birth Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s) Defender
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023 North Carolina 23 (0)
International career‡
2022 United States U-17 14 (0)
2023 United States U-20 5 (0)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of December 14, 2023

Savannah Mckenzie King (born February 7, 2005) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and has played internationally for the United States national under-20 team. She was drafted second overall by Bay FC in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

Early life

King was born in Santa Monica, California, to Karrie King and Kim Parker King, and grew up in West Hills.[2] She has a twin brother, Parker.[2] She played multiple sports in her youth, including softball, baseball, and flag football.[3] She began playing soccer at age ten for a team in the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO).[3] She later played club soccer for Real So Cal and then Slammers FC HB Køge in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), with which she won the ECNL's under-18/19 national title in 2023.[4][5]

King lettered in four years of track for Agoura High School and set school records in the 200-meter (25.49) and 400-meter dash (56.87).[2][6] She also played flag football at Agoura and once recorded six interceptions and four touchdowns in a single game.[2][3] Ranked by TopDrawerSoccer.com as the top left back of the class of 2023, she committed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in November 2022.[3] She entered into a name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreement with Nike before starting college.[7]

College career

King was the starting center back for North Carolina in 2023.[2] Head coach Anson Dorrance called her performance in the team's scoreless season opener at Penn State the "best first-game performance by a freshman" in program history.[8] In the first three weeks of the season, she received two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Defensive Player of the Week Awards as North Carolina conceded only two goals in its first six matches.[9][10] She led the team in minutes played in her freshman season, which ended in the 2023 NCAA tournament quarterfinals, and was named to the ACC All-Freshman team and the All-ACC second team.[11]

Professional career

Bay FC, a new NWSL expansion team, selected King second overall in the 2024 NWSL Draft; she and North Carolina teammate Ally Sentnor were the top two picks.[12]

International career

King was invited to United States national under-15 team training camps in 2019 and 2020.[13][14] In 2022, she helped the national under-17 team win the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship to qualify for the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, where she helped the United States advance out of the group stage, though they lost in the first knockout round on penalties.[2][3] The next year, she was called up to the national under-20 team for the 2023 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, where as co-captain she helped the United States qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022 – Squad List" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Savy King – Women's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Appelbaum, Eliav (November 25, 2022). "Soccer Royalty". Thousand Oaks Acorn. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  4. ↑ Duren, Jonathan (June 5, 2021). "ECNL North Carolina: Day 2 in Review". Elite Clubs National League. Archived from the original on June 23, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Slammers FC HB Køge captures ECNL Girls U18/19 national championship". SoccerWire. July 1, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Agoura HS Track Records – Outdoor Team Records". Athletic.net. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  7. ↑ Newman, Mia (December 14, 2023). "The Biggest NCAA Women's Soccer NIL Deals this Year". Girls Soccer Network. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  8. ↑ Monroe, Noah (August 21, 2023). "First-years shine in UNC women's soccer's 3-1 home opener victory over California". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  9. ↑ "King Collects First ACC Defensive Player Of The Week Honor". University of North Carolina Athletics. August 22, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  10. ↑ "King Grabs Second ACC Defensive Player Of The Week Award". University of North Carolina Athletics. September 5, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Making the Case: Savannah King for Chipotle U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year". United States Soccer Federation. December 13, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  12. ↑ Ingemi, Marisa (January 12, 2024). "Bay FC takes Savy King with No. 2 overall pick in NWSL college draft". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  13. ↑ "Roster released for U15 Girls YNT Camp". United States Soccer Federation. October 10, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2023 – via TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  14. ↑ "U15 GNT to hold first training camp of 2020". United States Soccer Federation. March 5, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2023 – via TopDrawerSoccer.com.
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