Heather Gilchrist

Last updated

Heather Gilchrist
UNC vs FSU (Sep 2025) 15 (cropped).jpg
Gilchrist with Florida State in 2025
Personal information
Full name Heather Suzanne Gilchrist [1]
Date of birth (2004-03-04) March 4, 2004 (age 21) [1]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2]
Position Center back
Team information
Current team
 Florida State Seminoles
Number 20
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022– Florida State Seminoles 70 (4)
International career‡
2024 United States U-20 12 (0)
‡ National team caps and goals 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.

Contents

Early life

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 flipped her commitment to Florida State. [3] [4]

College career

Gilchrist was an immediate starter for the Florida State Seminoles as a freshman in 2022, earning Atlantic Coast Conference all-freshman honors. She helped the Seminoles reach the NCAA tournament semifinals, where she conceded a penalty in the 3–2 defeat to North Carolina. [2] [5] She contributed to Florida State's undefeated national championship season as a sophomore in 2023. She played every minute in the NCAA tournament, allowing just one goal in the competition, assisting on the opening goal in the 2–0 semifinal win over Clemson, and defeating Stanford 5–1 in the final. [2] [6]

Gilchrist missed about a month while at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup as a junior but was nevertheless named first-team All-ACC and United Soccer Coaches fourth-team All-American. [2] [7] She helped the Seminoles to their fifth consecutive ACC tournament title but lost to Vanderbilt on penalties in the NCAA tournament second round. Gilchrist made her penalty kick in the shootout. [2] [8] Gilchrist graduated after the season but chose to return for a fourth season as a graduate student in 2025. [9]

International career

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]

Honors and awards

Florida State Seminoles

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Colombia 2024 Squad Lists" (PDF). FIFA. p. 23. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Heather Gilchrist". Florida State Seminoles . Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  3. ↑ Sheng, Kristen. "Heather Gilchrist". The Royal Banner (Fairview student newspaper). Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  4. ↑ Clark, Travis (October 5, 2020). "SIMA Recruiting Roundup: October 5–11". TopDrawerSoccer . Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  5. ↑ "North Carolina, UCLA win, advance to NCAA College Cup final". Associated Press. December 2, 2022. Retrieved September 4, 2024– via ESPN.
  6. ↑ Kassim, Ehsan (December 4, 2023). "Game recap: FSU soccer dominates Stanford 5-1 to claim NCAA Women's Soccer Championship". Tallahassee Democrat . Retrieved September 4, 2024.
    "Stanford, FSU to meet for women's soccer title in battle of unbeatens". ESPN. December 1, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Four Seminoles Named to United States U-20 Women's World Cup Roster". Florida State Seminoles. August 8, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  8. ↑ Joffer, Prince Akeem (November 23, 2024). "FSU soccer falls in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Vanderbilt". Tomahawk Nation. SB Nation . Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  9. ↑ Coffey, Wayne (March 13, 2025). "How an influx of elite youth players to NWSL is impacting the college soccer landscape". The Athletic . Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  10. ↑ "U18/19 WNT Camp Roster Named for California". United States Soccer Federation. January 10, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
  11. ↑ "U20, U18/19 Rosters Announced for NC Camps". United States Soccer Federation. April 4, 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2024– via TopDrawerSoccer .
  12. ↑ Oliaro, Jack (August 8, 2024). "Four Seminoles Named to United States U-20 Women's World Cup Roster". Florida State Seminoles . Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  13. ↑ Heather Gilchrist at Soccerway OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  14. ↑ "USA Scores Dramatic 119th-Minute Game-Winner To Defeat The Netherlands 2-1 And Finish Third At 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup". United States Soccer Federation. September 22, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Emma Hayes Names 24 Players to the 2025 Futures Camp Which Will Run Concurrently With USWNT Training Camp in Los Angeles". United States Soccer Federation. January 8, 2025. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
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