Lynn Williams (soccer)

Early life

Born in Fresno, California to Christine and David Williams, Lynn attended Bullard High School where she played on the varsity team and earned all-league and all-area honors all four years. Williams set the school record in scoring with 117 career goals (for boys or girls) and finished her high school career with 47 assists. As a senior in 2011, she was named to the ESPN RISE All-American third team and scored 50 goals. The same year, she helped the team to win county and section titles and was the runner-up at the regional final. She was also named Player of the Year by the Fresno Bee.

Pepperdine Waves, 2011–2014

Williams attended Pepperdine University from 2011–2014 where she played for the Waves. During her freshman season, she started in all 20 games and finished third on the team with six goals and led the Waves with eight assists. Her 20 points ranked second on the team. She was named West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year and earned Soccer America Freshman All-American first team, NSCAA All-West Region second team, All-WCC second team and WCC All-Freshman team honors. Williams set a new school record of five consecutive games with a point and tied for second with two multi-assist games.

As a sophomore in 2012, Williams led the Waves ranked third on the team and sixth in the league in goals (8) and points (19). She led the WCC in shots (97) and shots per game (4.6) for the second consecutive season. She scored her first collegiate hat trick on October 23. Her season performance earned her NSCAA All-West Region and All-WCC first team and All-WCC first team honors. In 2013, Williams started the first 15 games of the season and posted 11 goals and 3 assists (25 points) before missing the last few games due to injury. She ranked first in the WCC for goals per game (0.73, also third in the school's history), tied for second in game-winning goals and third in points per game (1.67, also fourth in the school's history). She set a school single-game record for shots with 14 on September 22. Williams earned NSCAA All-West Region first team and All-WCC first team honors and was named the National Player of the Week by the NSCAA and CollegeSoccer360.com after scoring the game-winning goal against Wright State in August and then netting two goals and an assist against Texas A&M in early September. She was also named WCC Player of the Week.

Williams led the Waves with 14 goals and 10 assists in 22 starts during her senior season. Her performance helped lift the team to the third Sweet 16 appearance in the program's history. She was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, was named first-team All-American by the NSCAA and Soccer America as well as All-WCC first team for the third straight year. Her 14 goals ranked third in the WCC and tied for second highest in the school's history. Her 38 points also ranked second in the school's history. Williams set a new school record for shots with 130 and ranked first in the WCC. She was named WCC Player of the Week three times and Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week after scoring two game-winning goals.

Playing career

Williams was selected sixth overall by the Western New York Flash during the 2015 NWSL College Draft. She made her debut for the club during the team's season opener against the Seattle Reign FC on April 12, 2015. In her 17 appearances during the season, Williams scored four goals. The Flash finished in seventh place with a 6–9–5 record.

Honors and awards

with Western NY Flash