Karsyn Cherry

Karsyn Cherry
Cherry with Louisville in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-11-02) November 2, 2003
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
Angel City
Number 4
Youth career
Indiana Fire
2018–2021 Central Catholic Knights
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2025 Louisville Cardinals 69 (12)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2024 Indy Eleven 14 (1)
2025 Lexington SC (USL W) 3 (0)
2026– Angel City 0 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Karsyn Cherry (born 2 November 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Louisville Cardinals, earning second-team All-American honors in 2025.

Early life

Cherry grew up in Lafayette, Indiana.[1] She attended Lafayette Central Catholic Jr/Sr High School where she was a standout in both soccer and basketball.[1] She tied the school's single-season record with 22 goals as a freshman in 2018.[2] In 2019, she broke the record with 32 goals and added 20 assists as she led Central Catholic to their first IHSAA Class 1A state title game appearance.[3] She was also named the Journal & Courier Small School Player in the Year in basketball after averaging 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals per game as a sophomore.[4] After her sophomore year, she committed to play college soccer for the Louisville Cardinals.[3]

Cherry helped lead Central Catholic to their first state championship in her junior year in 2020, scoring 31 goals with 24 assists, and was named the Journal & Courier Player of the Year.[5] She broke her own record with 39 goals in her senior year in 2021, again being named the Journal & Courier Player of the Year, as she established a Tippecanoe County career record with 124 goals.[6] While she mainly played forward for Central Catholic, she played defender for club Indiana Fire Academy.[3] She was named ECNL all-conference multiple times.[7]

College career

Cherry started 14 games and scored 3 goals for the Louisville Cardinals as a freshman in 2022, ranking second on the team in scoring.[1] She played in all 18 games, starting 17, as a sophomore in 2023.[1] She started all 18 games and scored 6 goals with 1 assist as a junior in 2024, ranking third in minutes played and second in scoring.[1] In her senior year in 2025, she started 19 games and scored 3 goals with 4 assists.[1] That year, she was team captain as the Cardinals set program scoring records and came one game short of matching their highest win total.[8] Louisville earned their first ACC tournament berth since 2020 and first NCAA tournament berth since 2019.[9] In the NCAA tournament, she converted a penalty in the shootout against Kentucky to reach the second round for the third time in program history, where she had an assist in the loss to Kansas.[9] She was named second-team All-ACC and second-team All-American, the program's first All-American selection since Emina Ekić in 2020.[9]

Club career

Angel City FC announced on January 7, 2026, that they had signed Cherry to her first professional contract on a three-year deal.[10]

Honors and awards

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Karsyn Cherry". Louisville Cardinals. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  2. ^ King, Sam (October 22, 2019). "Caroline Lutz, Karsyn Cherry chasing Central Catholic history, in more ways than one". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  3. ^ a b c King, Sam (July 30, 2020). "Central Catholic's Karsyn Cherry commits to Louisville". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  4. ^ King, Sam (April 18, 2020). "J&C Small School girls basketball Player of the Year: Central Catholic's Karsyn Cherry". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  5. ^ King, Sam (November 25, 2020). "J&C girls soccer player of the year: Central Catholic's Karsyn Cherry". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  6. ^ King, Sam (November 23, 2021). "J&C girls soccer player of the year: Central Catholic's Karsyn Cherry". Journal & Courier. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  7. ^ "ECNL All Conference Ohio Valley". Elite Clubs National League. August 31, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2026 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
    "ECNL Girls Ohio Valley All-Conference Teams". Elite Clubs National League. August 8, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2026 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  8. ^ "Cardinals Fall in the Second Round to Kansas, 3-1". Louisville Cardinals. November 20, 2025. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  9. ^ a b c Paras, Matt (December 5, 2025). "Karsyn Cherry Named Second Team All-American". Louisville Cardinals. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  10. ^ "Angel City Football Club Signs University of Louisville Defender Karsyn Cherry". Angel City FC. January 7, 2026. Retrieved January 7, 2026.