Full name Samantha Witteman Years Team Height 1.6 m Position Defender | Playing position Apps (Gls) Current team North Carolina Courage | |
Date of birth (1994-02-26) February 26, 1994 (age 23) Place of birth Redondo Beach, California | ||
Cal women s soccer sam witteman named all american
Samantha "Sam" Witteman (born February 26, 1994) is an American soccer player who currently plays for North Carolina Courage in the NWSL. Shortly after graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, where she played for the California Golden Bears, Samantha was drafted by the Orlando Pride as their first round pick in the NWSL College Draft in January 2016.
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Early life
Witteman was born in Redondo Beach, California where she attended Redondo Union High School where she was a four-year varsity letter winner. She was named First Team All-Bay League and Bay League's Most Offensive Player in her junior and senior years. During her senior year, she scored 23 goals and made 19 assists. She was voted captain of the varsity soccer team two years in a row. In 2009 and 2011, she was recognized as Redondo Union High School's Most Outstanding Student Athlete.
Witteman played on the Cal South Olympic Development Team from 2008 to 2011 and attended the U.S. Soccer U-14 National ID Camp. She was also a member of the Region IV pool in 2009 and 2011.
College career
During her freshman year at the University of California, Berkeley, Witteman played in 19 of the 22 games of the season, securing one assist. In her sophomore year, she started in seven of the 21 games of the season scoring six goals and logging four assists. One of her six goals was the game winning point against the University of California, Davis, and another game winner against Saint Mary's College of California.
Following her junior season, the Pac-12 Conference recognized Witteman with an All-Academic Honorable Mention in 2014. She started in 18 games, and played in all 22 of the season. Samantha scored in each of the two National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament games against San Diego State University and the University of Florida. She scored four goals and made eight assists. One of her goals won the game against Pacific University. Witteman gave an assist to Kory Lamet, securing a win against Oregon State University.
Witteman's senior year at Berkeley was an all-star season. She was named on all-Pac-12's First Team and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America awarded her All-American status. She was also recognized as Muscle Milk's Student Athlete of the Week for the week of October 19, 2015. Witteman started all 21 games of the season, filling seven different positions at least once, securing four game winning goals throughout the season.
Witteman's coach during her college soccer career was Neil McGuire, who previously coached her future Orlando Pride teammate, Alex Morgan.
Orlando Pride, 2016–present
Witteman was selected tenth overall in the 2016 NWSL College Draft by the Orlando Pride. She was the first soccer player from UC Berkeley to be recruited to the National Women's Soccer League. She made her debut for the club in a match against the Chicago Red Stars on May 1, 2016. She made her first start a few days later against Seattle Reign FC.