![]() Gilchrist with Florida State in 2024 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Heather Suzanne Gilchrist [1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | March 4, 2004||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2] | ||
Position(s) | Center back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Florida State Seminoles | ||
Number | 20 | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2022– | Florida State Seminoles | 59 | (1) |
International career‡ | |||
2024 | United States U-20 | 12 | (0) |
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 21, 2024 |
Heather Suzanne Gilchrist (born March 4, 2004) is an American college soccer player who plays as a center back for the Florida State Seminoles. She won the 2023 national championship with the Seminoles. She won bronze with the United States at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.
Gilchrist grew up in Boulder, Colorado, the daughter of Anne and Anthony Gilchrist. Her parents played college sports at Cornell University, her mother in equestrian and her father in tennis. Gilchrist played youth soccer for ECNL club Colorado Rush and WPSL team Colorado Rapids. She attended Fairview High School in Boulder. [2] She initially committed to Oregon for college soccer, but after its head coach resigned, she recommitted to Florida State. [3] [4]
Gilchrist played in all 23 games, all but one of them as a starter, in her freshman season with the Florida State Seminoles in 2022, earning Atlantic Coast Conference all-freshman honors. She helped the Seminoles advance to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, where she conceded a penalty in a 3–2 defeat to North Carolina. [2] [5] She started 21 games as a sophomore in 2023 as Florida State finished the season as undefeated national champions. She played every minute of the NCAA tournament, helping the team allow only one goal in the tournament, assisting on the opener in a 2–0 semifinal win against Clemson, and crushing Stanford 5–1 in the final. [2] [6]
Gilchrist made 15 appearances, starting all but one, in her junior season in 2024, missing about a month while at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup with three Seminoles teammates. [2] [7] Florida State won its fifth ACC championship in a row but lost to Vanderbilt on penalties in the NCAA tournament second round. Gilchrist made her penalty kick in the shootout. She was named third-team All-ACC and fourth-team United Soccer Coaches All-American. [2] [8] Gilchrist graduated after the season but chose to return for a fourth season as a graduate student. [9]
Gilchrist was called into training camp with the United States youth national team with the combined under-18/under-19 squad and the under-20 team in 2023. [10] [11] She appeared for the under-20 team throughout 2024 and was selected to the roster for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. [12] She started five of seven games at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, helping the United States finish in third place, its best result since 2012. [13] [14] She was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing alongside the senior national team, in January 2025. [15]
Florida State Seminoles
Individual