Lia Godfrey

Lia Godfrey
Godfrey with Virginia in 2025
Personal information
Full name Lia Eugenia Godfrey[1]
Date of birth (2001-11-08) November 8, 2001[1]
Place of birth Fleming Island, Florida, U.S.[2]
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 San Diego Wave
Number 22
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2025 Virginia Cavaliers 107 (28)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2026– San Diego Wave 1 (0)
International career
2016 United States U-15
2016 United States U-16
2016–2018 United States U-17 8 (4)
2020 United States U-19 3 (0)
2019 United States U-20 3 (0)
2023 United States U-23
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of March 14, 2026

Lia Eugenia Godfrey (born November 8, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers, earning All-American honors four times. She represented the United States at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

Early life

Godfrey was born and raised in Fleming Island, Florida,[2] the daughter of Tim and Stefannie Godfrey, and has a twin brother and older sister. Her father ran track at South Florida. She is of Italian and Filipino descent on her mother's side.[3][4] Godfrey joined Clay County Soccer Club at age five, and her club coach tabbed her as "the next Morgan Brian" at an early age.[5] She played DA club soccer for Clay County (which later became United Soccer Alliance) and ECNL soccer for Jacksonville FC.[3] She was twice named United Soccer Coaches All-American, and TopDrawerSoccer ranked her as the tenth-best recruit of the 2020 class. She graduated from Fleming Island High School.[3]

College career

Godfrey started all but her first game with the Virginia Cavaliers as a freshman in 2020, a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She scored 4 goals and led the Atlantic Coast Conference with 9 assists in 21 games, helping Virginia to both the ACC and NCAA tournament semifinals. She was named the ACC Freshman of the Year, TopDrawerSoccer National Freshman of the Year, second-team All-ACC, second-team United Soccer Coaches All-American, and first-team TopDrawerSoccer Best XI.[3][6] She scored 3 goals and led the team with 12 assists as a sophomore in 2021, earning first-team All-ACC and second-team All-American honors. Virginia went undefeated in conference play to claim the ACC regular-season title, before losing to Florida State in the ACC tournament final and BYU in the NCAA tournament third round.[3][7]

Godfrey scored 8 goals with 5 assists in 23 games in her junior season in 2022, being named first-team All-ACC and first-team All-American. She scored a brace against Xavier in the NCAA tournament as Virginia made the quarterfinals.[3] In 2023, she missed the entire season after suffering a knee injury in the spring.[4] She came back to the field in 2024, scoring 2 goals with 3 assists in 19 games.[3] She helped Virginia back into the NCAA tournament, which they had missed the year prior.[8] She returned to form in her sixth and final season in 2025, starting all 22 games and scoring a career-high 11 goals with 4 assists.[3] Virginia made the ACC tournament semifinals and earned a one seed in the NCAA tournament, losing in the third round on penalties.[9] She was named first-team All-ACC, first-team All-American, and the ACC Midfielder of the Year.[10]

Club career

San Diego Wave FC announced on December 30, 2025, that they had signed Godfrey to her first professional contract on a two-year deal with options to extend another two years.[2] She made her professional debut as a 64th-minute substitute for Gabi Portilho in a season-opening 1–0 loss to the Houston Dash on March 14, 2026.[11]

International career

Godfrey received her first youth national team call-up at the under-15 level in 2015. The following year, at age 14, she played for the under-17 team and was the United States's youngest player at the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.[5][12] She missed the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup due to an ACL tear.[13] She later appeared in friendlies at the under-19, under-20, and under-23 levels.[14]

Honors and awards

Virginia Cavaliers

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b "FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Jordan 2016 – List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. September 24, 2016. Archived from the original (pdf) on November 4, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "San Diego Wave FC Signs Midfielder Lia Godfrey". San Diego Wave FC. December 30, 2025. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Lia Godfrey". Virginia Cavaliers. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Godfrey's Return Buoys Hoos". Virginia Cavaliers. August 15, 2024. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Eskilson, J.R. (September 26, 2016). "Meet the 2016 U.S. U17 World Cup squad". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "2020–21 Women's DI Postseason awards". TopDrawerSoccer. May 24, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Wieland, Ben (June 28, 2022). "State of the program: Virginia women's soccer". Streaking the Lawn. SB Nation. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Prochaska, Val (November 22, 2024). "The Plus/Minus: Virginia Women's Soccer Crashes out of NCAAs". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "No. 1 Seed Virginia Drops Shootout With No. 4 seed Washington". Virginia Cavaliers. November 23, 2025. Retrieved November 23, 2025.
  10. ^ "2025 All-ACC Women's Soccer Awards Announced". Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved November 5, 2025.
  11. ^ "San Diego Wave FC Fall 1-0 to Houston Dash in 2026 Home Opener". San Diego Wave FC. March 14, 2026. Retrieved March 15, 2026.
  12. ^ Lefko, Randy (September 21, 2016). "Godfrey gets international soccer nod". Clay Today. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
  13. ^ "U.S. U17 WNT World Cup Roster". United States Soccer Federation. October 22, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2024 – via TopDrawerSoccer.
  14. ^ "Lia Godfrey". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved December 29, 2024.
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