Olivia Wingate

Olivia Wingate (born January 20, 2000)[2] is an American professional soccer player. She plays as a forward for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A native of Wilmington, Massachusetts, she played five years of college soccer for Notre Dame. She was selected by the Courage sixth overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft.

Olivia Wingate
Wingate with the North Carolina Courage in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-01-20) January 20, 2000
Place of birth Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 North Carolina Courage
Number 20
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2022 Notre Dame 95 (26)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023– North Carolina Courage 13 (0)
International career
2015–2016 United States U16 6 (2)
2017 United States U18 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:23, August 26, 2023 (UTC)

Youth career

Wingate started playing soccer at age four.[3] During her first year of high school in 2014–15, Wingate played at club level for the Massachusetts-based FC Stars of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), which won the Northeast regional conference with a record of 13–2–1.[4] After recovering from a broken leg, as a sophomore she left FC Stars and joined her high school soccer team at Wilmington High School.[5][6] She scored 12 goals in about ten games as a sophomore; as a junior, she scored 17 goals and had five assists in 13 games.[6][7] The Wilmington Wildcats went undefeated in the regular season both years, going a combined 33–0–3 for two league titles, but made early exits from the 2015 and 2016 state tournaments.[6][8] Wingate, known for her quickness from a young age,[4][7] was twice named the Middlesex League Player of the Year.[9]

A collision with an opposing goalkeeper, while playing for a club team in May 2017, led to a knee injury that required surgery and sidelined Wingate for more than a year (including all of her senior high school season), up until two weeks before her first college game.[10][11][12]

College career

Wingate verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame as a high school sophomore in September 2015 and signed a letter of intent in February 2018.[5][12] She played five years there on an athletic scholarship.[9] In her first three seasons, she played in all of Notre Dame's 40 games, scoring five goals.[8] She "upped her game" as a senior in 2021, with seven goals and five assists in 22 starts.[8] With an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)–leading shot accuracy of 0.640,[3] she was named to the All-ACC third team.[13] She scored twice in the NCAA tournament: an equalizer in the second round versus Purdue and another in their third-round loss to Arkansas.[1][8]

Wingate was "much more of a complete player" by her fifth season, elevating her finishing and movement.[8][14] In 2022, she led her team in shots and was second in goals (14) and assists (5) in 23 games.[8] On September 1, she scored a hat trick against Wisconsin, with three goals all in the second half, and was awarded ACC Player of the Week honors.[15][16] She received the honors again the week of October 11 after scoring twice and assisting twice across two wins over NC State and Florida State.[17] She was named first-team All-ACC and third-team All-American.[8] She scored three goals in the NCAA tournament to help Notre Dame reach the Elite Eight before losing to eventual finalists North Carolina.[3][8]

Professional career
Wingate playing for the Courage in the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final

The North Carolina Courage had multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NWSL Draft; Wingate said she expected to her name to be called in one of their later first-round spots, but at sixth overall, she was the team's first selection.[9][18] She signed with the Courage through 2025.[19] She made her NWSL debut for the Courage on April 1, 2023, as a substitute in the season opener versus the Kansas City Current.[20]

Wingate made her first NWSL goal on June 14, 2023, scoring the 2–1 game winner off a Haley Hopkins pass in the 92nd minute in a Challenge Cup match versus the Washington Spirit.[21]

International career

Wingate first trained with the United States national under-16 team at a camp in Carson, California, in February 2015.[4] In May 2016, she played three games for the under-16 team, and scored two goals, in the first women's edition of the Tournament of Nations (Torneo delle Nazioni) in Gradisca d'Isonzo, Italy.[22][23] In September 2016, she played another three games in an under-16 tournament in the Netherlands.[6][22] She continued representing the United States with the under-18 team on a three-game tour of England in February 2017.[24]

Personal life

Wingate was born in Medford, Massachusetts, the second of four children of Carol and Steven Wingate.[6][25] She grew up in nearby Wilmington from age five.[25] She played multiple sports growing up besides soccer, such as softball, basketball, and ice hockey.[7] She played one season of ice hockey for her high school team as a forward, leading the team with about 20 goals, though they went 2–17–1.[6][7]

The Wilmington Town Crier, Wingate's hometown newspaper, twice named her "Female Athlete of the Year" (2016 and 2022) and named her "Female Athlete of the Decade" for the 2010s.[6][7][8]

References
  1. "Olivia Wingate". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  2. Notre Dame Women's Soccer (January 20, 2021). "Happy Birthday Olivia Wingate!!". Facebook. Retrieved September 2, 2023.
  3. Herko, Annika (May 19, 2023). "Olivia Wingate leads line for Irish women's soccer". The Observer (student newspaper). Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  4. Foley, Brendan (June 13, 2015). "Wingate makes leap to national status". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  5. Foley, Brendan (September 12, 2015). "Wingate commits to Notre Dame". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  6. Pote, Jamie (December 17, 2016). "Wilmington Town Crier's annual: Female Athlete of the Year – Olivia Wingate". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  7. Pote, Jamie (December 8, 2019). "Town Crier's Female Athlete of the Decade: Olivia Wingate". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  8. Pote, Jamie (January 7, 2023). "The Female Athlete of the Year: Olivia Wingate". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  9. Albert, James (January 13, 2023). "Wilmington's Olivia Wingate can't wait to start pro soccer career". The Lowell Sun. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  10. Pote, Jamie (September 17, 2017). "Wingate out for the season". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  11. Wingate, Olivia (March 5, 2019). "Olivia Wingate". strongerscars.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  12. Pote, Jamie (February 17, 2018). "National Letter of Intent Day: Seven (six present) athletes sign on the dotted line". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  13. Pote, Jamie (October 8, 2022). "Quite the homecoming performance by Olivia Wingate: Notre Dame striker scores a goal in 3-0 win over BC". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  14. Moller, Nate (September 14, 2022). "Olivia Wingate prepared to lead undefeated Irish into conference play". The Observer (student newspaper). Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  15. Pote, Jamie (September 10, 2022). "Wilmington College Notebook: Wingate nets hat trick; 71st in ND program history". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  16. "Duke's Cooper, ND's Wingate, UVA's Staude Notch ACC Player of Week Honors". Atlantic Coast Conference. September 6, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  17. "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". Atlantic Coast Conference. October 11, 2022. Archived from the original on December 25, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  18. Pote, Jamie (January 23, 2023). "From WHS to Notre Dame University to the North Carolina Courage: Olivia Wingate turning pro". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  19. Shalin, Dan (March 15, 2023). "Wilmington's Olivia Wingate Signs With NWSL's NC Courage Through 2025". Patch.com. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  20. Cooke, Jason (April 1, 2023). "Wingate makes pro debut for courage". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  21. "Local roundup: Wilmington's Olivia Wingate nets first professional goal". The Lowell Sun. June 15, 2023. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  22. Pote, Jamie (September 10, 2016). "Wingate gets call back to US Under 16 National Team; Hendee named top representative of Coaches Association". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  23. Foley, Brendan (May 18, 2016). "WHS Sophomore Soccer Star: Wingate finishes up Under 16 National Tournament in Italy". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  24. Pote, Jamie (March 11, 2017). "Wingate, U-18 National team, finish 2-0-1 in England". Wilmington Town Crier. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  25. Hurley, Christopher (September 22, 2022). "Wingate excited for soccer homecoming". The Lowell Sun. Archived from the original on August 13, 2023. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
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