Neeku Purcell

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Neeku Purcell
Personal information
Full name Neeku Kazemi Purcell
Date of birth (2003-10-07) October 7, 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Brooklyn FC
Number 18
Youth career
2016–2022 OL Reign Academy
College career
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022–2023 UCLA Bruins 27 (0)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2024– Brooklyn FC 5 (0)
International career
2018 United States U-16
2019 United States U-17 3 (0)
2019 United States U-18 1 (0)
2022 United States U-20 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of December 14, 2024

Neeku Kazemi Purcell (born October 7, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Super League club Brooklyn FC. She played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins. She has represented the United States at the youth international level.

Contents

Early life and college career

Purcell was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, one of two twin sisters born to Elham Kazemi and Mark Purcell. Both of her parents went to UCLA. She attended the Northwest School, where she played basketball and lettered in three seasons. [1] She played club soccer for the OL Reign Academy from its inception in 2016. [2] She was rated by TopDrawerSoccer as the eighth-best prospect of her class. [1]

UCLA Bruins

Purcell made 8 appearances (all off the bench) for the UCLA Bruins in her freshman season in 2022, serving as the understudy to Lauren Brzykcy. She appeared briefly in the first round of the NCAA tournament but was unused the rest of the way as UCLA won the national championship. [1] [3] In her sophomore season in 2023, she started all 19 games and kept 7 full shutouts along with 4 shared shutouts. UCLA was upset by UC Irvine in the first round of the NCAA tournament. [1] [4]

Club career

Brooklyn FC

USL Super League club Brooklyn FC announced Purcell's signing on August 6, 2024, ahead of the league's inaugural 2024–25 season. [5] She made her professional debut on September 29, 2024, starting in a 1–0 win against Lexington SC. She finished the fall series with 3 clean sheets in 5 starts, sharing goalkeeping duties with Sydney Martinez. [6] [7]

International career

Purcell was called up to the United States youth national team at the under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-20 levels. [8] She started all four knockout rounds for the United States at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, conceding no goals as they won the tournament. [6] She started the country's second game at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, a 3–0 loss to the Netherlands, as the United States did not make it out of the group stage. [6] She was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing alongside the senior national team, in January 2025. She was the only USL Super League player called into the camp. [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Neeku Purcell". UCLA Bruins . Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  2. ↑ "OL Reign Academy Player Neeku Purcell Called Up to U-20 U.S. Youth National Team". Seattle Reign FC. February 15, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  3. ↑ Whitaker, Grace (August 18, 2023). "UCLA women's soccer starts off the season strong with win against Georgia". Daily Bruin . Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  4. ↑ Friedman, Isabelle (November 10, 2023). "UC Irvine cuts No. 1 seed UCLA women's soccer's NCAA run short with late-game shot". Daily Bruin . Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Goalkeeper Neeku Purcell and Forward Mackenzie George join Brooklyn FC after collegiate success". Brooklyn FC. August 6, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 {{ Soccerway }} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.
  7. 1 2 Leigh, Andrew (January 8, 2025). "Brooklyn FC's Neeku Purcell invited to USWNT Futures Camp". Hudson River Blue. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Neeku Purcell". TopDrawerSoccer . Retrieved January 8, 2025.
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