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Briana Scurry is one of the most celebrated soccer players in U.S. women’s soccer history. She was the starting goalkeeper for the United States National team from 1994-2000 and again from 2003-2004. After taking nearly two years off for personal reasons, Briana has returned to her world class form and is currently serving the team once again as a veteran leader and primary goalkeeper. Scurry is the most capped goalkeeper in the history of the U.S. Women’s National Team and is also the only female goalkeeper in the world to surpass 100 appearances. Scurry began her career in perfect fashion by notching a shutout in her first national match against Portugal in 1994; she would go on to earn six more that year. She was the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. National Team at the Women’s World Cup in Sweden in 1995. She registered 9 shutouts in 15 games for the U.S. that year. The following year she helped the Women’s National Team win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta where she started and played the entirety of all five matches. Scurry started in 15 games during the 1997 season recording seven shutouts. In 1998, she lost just one game in 17 starts and recorded a career high of 12 shutouts. She also won a gold medal at the Goodwill Games that same year. Her 1999 season saw much success as the U.S. Women’s Nation Team became the Women’s World Cup champions. Scurry played every minute of all the games during the World Cup allowing only three goals while earning four shutouts. One of her most important saves came during the championship match against China, helping the United States to victory. Subsequently, she was named to the Women’s World Cup All-Star Team. Although she started for the U.S. Women’s National Team in the beginning of 2000, injuries kept her off the field until 2002. In 2003, Scurry re-claimed her starting position with the Women’s National Team and led the team to a third place finish at the Women’s World Cup. During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Scurry played a major role in the teams gold medal victory. She played every minute while only allowing three goals. Her heroic performance would inspire millions of people around the world because Scurry had accomplished this amazing feat, while dealing with incredible emotional adversity. Scurry’s father Ernest, had tragically passed away from a heart attack just a few weeks prior to the games. After the victory her teammates gave her the nickname “The Rock”, as a testament to her courage, leadership, and grace under fire. Scurry was a founding player of the Women’s United Soccer Association where she played from 2001-2004 for the Atlanta Beat. After taking a break from international soccer for most of 2005 and 2006, she rejoined the National Team in 2007, competing in the 2007 Women's World Cup and traveling with the team to the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games. Briana attended the University of Massachusetts and graduated in 1995 with a degree in political science. In 1993, she was voted the National Collegiate Goalkeeper of the Year, a NSCAA All-American, an All-Northeast Region and All-New England First Team Selection. Additionally, in the same year, she helped lead UMass to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. In 1989, she led Anoka Senior High School to the state championship and was voted the Top Female Athlete of the Year in the state of Minnesota. In 2009, Scurry was selected in the inaugural Women's Professional Soccer draft by the Washington Freedom and was the starting goalkeeper in the first-ever WPS game against the Los Angeles Sol. Upon her retirement from professional soccer in 2010, Briana began working with ESPN and ESPNU as a soccer analyst. AWARDS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS 1989 High School All-American 1989 Minnesota’s High School Female Athlete of the Year 1993 All-New England, All-Northeast Region, and All-American 1993 National Collegiate Goalkeeper of the Year 1994 Most Valuable Player, Chiquita Cup 1994 Algarve Cup 2 nd Place 1995 World Cup Bronze Medalist 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist 1998 Goodwill Games Gold Medalist 1999 Algarve Cup 2 nd place 1999 World Cup Champion 1999 Best Goalkeeper Award -World Cup 2000 Algarve Cup Champion 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion 2000 Olympic Silver Medalist 2001 All-WUSA Second Team 2002 All-WUSA Second Team 2003 All-WUSA First Team 2003 WUSA Goalkeeper of the Year 2003 Algarve Cup Champion 2003 World Cup Bronze Medalist 2004 Algarve Cup Champion 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist 2006 CONCACAF Gold Cup Champion 2007 Algarve Cup Champion |
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