cover photo from Andy Mead/Icon Sportswire
The most exclusive position in all of US Soccer: the USWNT’s goalkeeper. Only 26 women have played goalkeeper for the national team in 37 years. Branching off the men’s goalkeeping era post I did a few years ago, the same methodology applies here. The graphs portray how featured a goalkeeper was with the national team by comparing their own games played vs. the available caps in the previous two years. For example, at the end of December 2012, Hope Solo had 31 appearances in the last two years (dating back to the start of 2010). There were only 7 non-Solo goalkeeper caps (Barnhart 5, Loyden 2) in the timespan, giving Solo a 82% share. Looking at the graph in late 2012, Solo’s section spikes to one of its highest points.
This approach leaves a goalkeeper’s color on the chart until two years after their last cap, roughly mimicking the public’s perception of their connection with the national team.
All-Time USWNT Goalkeeper Caps
1. Hope Solo (2000-2016) - 202
2. Briana Scurry (1994-2008) - 175
3. Alyssa Naeher (2014-present) - 80
4. Nicole Barnhart (2005-13) - 53
5. Siri Mullinix (1999-04) - 45
6. Saskia Webber (1992-2000) - 28
7. Mary Harvey (1989-96) - 27
8. Ashlyn Harris (2013-present) - 25
9a. Tracy Noonan (1996-99) - 24
9a. Amy Allman (1987-91) - 24
11. Lakeysia Beene (2000-03) - 18
12. Kim Maslin-Kammerdeiner (1988-91) - 17
13. Kristin Luckenbill (2004) - 14
14a. Adrianna Franch (2018-present) - 10
14b. Jill Loyden (2010-14) - 10
16. Kim Wyant (1985-93) - 9
17. Jane Campbell (2017-present) - 7
18a. Jen Branam (2000, 06) - 6
18b. Janine Szpara (1986-87) - 6
18c. Jen Mead (1993-1997) - 6
21. Casey Murphy (2021-present) - 4
22. Jaime Pagliarulo (1997, 01) - 3
23a. Emily Oleksiuk (2001) - 2
23b. Gretchen Gegg (1986, 90) - 2
23c. Ruth Harker (1985) - 2
26. Aubrey Kingsbury (2022-present) - 1
1985 - 1991
Featured Goalkeepers
7. Mary Harvey (1989-96) - 27
9a. Amy Allman (1987-91) - 24
12. Kim Maslin-Kammerdeiner (1988-91) - 17
16. Kim Wyant (1985-93) - 9
18b. Janine Szpara (1986-87) - 6
23b. Gretchen Gegg (1986, 90) - 2
23c. Ruth Harker (1985) - 2
The first half decade games were erratic and scarce. In 1987, 1989, and 1991 the national team played 11, 1, and 28 games, respectively. UCF alum Kim Wyant started in each of the six first games while Amy Allman and Mary Harvey collected the bulk of the appearances for the time. Allman played in sixteen of the nineteen games from 1987 to 1988 but would eventually be named backup to Harvey, who led the team to a first-place finish at the 1991 World Cup.
1992-2004
Featured Goalkeepers
1. Hope Solo (2000-2016) - 202
2. Briana Scurry (1994-2008) - 175
5. Siri Mullinix (1999-04) - 45
6. Saskia Webber (1992-2000) - 28
7. Mary Harvey (1989-96) - 27
8. Ashlyn Harris (2013-present) - 25
9a. Tracy Noonan (1996-99) - 24
9a. Amy Allman (1987-91) - 24
11. Lakeysia Beene (2000-03) - 18
12. Kim Maslin-Kammerdeiner (1988-91) - 17
13. Kristin Luckenbill (2004) - 14
16. Kim Wyant (1985-93) - 9
18a. Jen Branam (2000, 06) - 6
18c. Jen Mead (1993-1997) - 6
22. Jaime Pagliarulo (1997, 01) - 3
23a. Emily Oleksiuk (2001) - 2
As Harvey’s time with the national team waned, some new faces would eventually supplant the World Champion. Harvey was 30 by the time the 1995 World Cup rolled around and while Saskia Webber had established herself as a promising young goalkeeper, it was Briana Scurry who sprang onto the scene at the start of 1994.
Until the end of the decade, Scurry received at least half of the caps every year, with UNC product Tracy Noonan making the biggest dent at the end of 1997. Siri Mullinix started the 2000 Olympic silver medal run as then-coach April Heinrichs opted for Mullinix over Scurry due to her spending "too much time appearing on talk shows and too little time at the gym”. A young hotshot goalkeeper named Hope Solo earned her first cap in the spring of 2000.
2005-2016
Featured Goalkeepers
1. Hope Solo (2000-2016) - 202
2. Briana Scurry (1994-2008) - 175
3. Alyssa Naeher (2014-present) - 80
4. Nicole Barnhart (2005-13) - 53
5. Siri Mullinix (1999-04) - 45
13. Kristin Luckenbill (2004) - 14
18a. Jen Branam (2000, 06) - 6
Solo managed to earn a bulk of the caps for over a decade, dipping off slightly due to shoulder surgery at the end of 2010. Solo would start for the USWNT during the 2011 and 2015 World Cups but the starting spot in the summer of 2007 was controversially split between Scurry and Solo.
Barnhart notched 53 appearances over her career, despite playing in the NWSL for nearly a decade after her last cap. Alyssa Naeher’s rise to the starting position took a few years but by the end of 2016, Solo’s 17-year run wound down.
2017-2022
Featured Goalkeepers
1. Hope Solo (2000-2016) - 202
3. Alyssa Naeher (2014-present) - 80
8. Ashlyn Harris (2013-present) - 25
14a. Adrianna Franch (2018-present) - 10
17. Jane Campbell (2017-present) - 7
21. Casey Murphy (2021-present) - 4
26. Aubrey Kingsbury (2022-present) - 1
A new era emerges with Alyssa Naeher taking a Solo-esque dominance in playing time, hovering right around 75% of goalkeeper caps for several years. Ashlyn Harris split the leftover minutes between Adrianna Franch and up-and-coming goalkeeper Jane Campbell.