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Messiah Bright
Bright with Angel City in 2024
Personal information
Full name Messiah Da'kahlian Bright[1]
Date of birth (2000-01-12) January 12, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Dallas, Texas, United States
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Angel City FC
Number 24
Youth career
Solar SC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2022 TCU Horned Frogs 103 (50)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023 Orlando Pride 22 (6)
2024– Angel City FC 21 (1)
International career
2018 United States U18
2022 United States U23
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 1, 2024

Messiah Da'kahlian Bright (born January 12, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Internationally she has represented the United States at youth level.

Bright played collegiately for TCU Horned Frogs and set the program record for all-time goals while winning two Big 12 regular season and one Big 12 Tournament title. She was named 2018 Big 12 Freshman of the Year and in 2021 she was named First Team All-American.[2]

Early life

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Born in Dallas, Texas, Bright attended Cedar Hill High School. She scored 48 goals and 15 assists in her freshman and second years and was named District 8-6A Offensive MVP in 2016 before opting not to play high school soccer in her last two years. She played club soccer for Solar SC where she was a three-time Dallas Girls Cup champion.[3] She was also a standout track and field athlete.[4]

College career

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Bright played five seasons of college soccer for the TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University between 2018 and 2022 while studying for a bachelor's in strategic communication. In her first year, Bright was one of five players to start all 21 games and tied for the team lead with six goals.[3] She was an All-Big 12 Conference Second Team honoree and named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, shared with Julia Grosso.[5] Nationally, TopDrawerSoccer.com named her to the All-Freshman Second Team.[6]

In 2019, Bright again started every TCU game and led the team with 12 goals as a sophomore. She was recognized as All-Big 12 First Team and Offensive MVP at the 2019 Big 12 Tournament.[3] Having missed the opening two games of the season and a further two in October, Bright made a total of 12 appearances during the 2020–21 season which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. TCU won the regular season title for the first in program history.[7] Despite being limited to nine regular season appearances, Bright scored three goals and was named All-Big 12 Second Team.[8]

As a senior, Bright started all 24 games and set a new school single-season record for goals with 17. She played in all three matches during the 2021 Big 12 Tournament, scoring twice in a 3–0 win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the semi-final and another in the final before assisting the game-winner by Camryn Lancaster as TCU came from behind to beat the Texas Longhorns 2–1 to win the first tournament title in school history. The team had also retained their regular season title.[9][10] She was named All-Big 12 First Team for a second time, the Big 12 Tournament Offensive MVP and also nationally recognized with United Soccer Coaches All-America First Team honors.[3][11] Having accrued an additional year of eligibility following the COVID-19 impacted season, Bright did not declare for the 2022 NWSL Draft and returned to play a fifth season in 2022.[12] She made 24 appearances, scoring 11 goals and four assists. TCU finished runners-up to the Texas Longhorns in the regular season and lost the tournament final to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Bright earned All-Big 12 First Team honors for a third time in five seasons and was All-America Second Team.[13][14] In total, she made 103 career appearances (all starts) out of a possible 107 and set a new program record for all-time goals with 50 as well as adding 18 assists.[3]

Club career

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Orlando Pride (2023)

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On January 12, 2023, Bright was selected in the second round (21st overall) of the 2023 NWSL Draft by Orlando Pride.[15] She was part of a record sized Big 12 draft class as five players were selected.[16] Bright signed a three-year contract with Orlando on March 1, 2023.[17][18] She made her debut on March 26, 2023, starting Orlando's 2023 season opener, a 4–0 defeat away to Portland Thorns FC.[19][20] She was named NWSL player of the week on July 11 after scoring the only goal in a 1–0 win against OL Reign.[21] She scored six goals in 22 regular season appearances and was one of three nominees for the NWSL Rookie of the Year award but lost out to Jenna Nighswonger.[22]

Angel City FC (2024–present)

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After only one season in Orlando, Bright requested a trade for personal reasons. On January 26, 2024, she was acquired by Angel City FC in exchange for $130,000 intra-league transfer funds.[23] Bright made her debut for Angel City on March 17, 2024, as a substitute in the 2024 season opening match against Bay FC. Bright started her first match for Angel City a few days later on March 22, 2024, against her former club Orlando Pride.[24] Bright recored her first assist for Angel City on July 26, 2024, setting up Claire Emslie in a 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup 2–0 away victory against Bay FC.[25] Bright scored her first Angel City goal as well recored her first professional hat-trick and the first hat-trick in Angel City's history on August 18, 2024, in a friendly against FC Juárez which finished as a 7–0 win, which is also the largest victory in club history.[26]

International career

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In March 2018, Bright was called up to the United States under-18 squad for a training camp and friendlies against Switzerland under-19s in Köniz.[27] In February 2022, Bright was named to the United States under-23 squad for the 2022 Thorns Invitational.[28] She returned to the under-23s in June as part of a 21-player squad to travel to Sweden for the U23 Three Nations Tournament.[29]

Career statistics

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College summary

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Team Season Big 12 regular season Big 12 Tournament NCAA Tournament Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
TCU Horned Frogs 2018 Div. I 18 5 1 0 2 1 21 6
2019 18 10 3 2 1 0 22 12
2020–21 9 3 — 3 1 12 4
2021 18 10 3 3 3 4 24 17
2022 18 9 3 2 3 0 24 11
Total 81 37 10 7 12 6 103 50

Club summary

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As of November 1, 2024[30]
Club Season League Cup[a] Playoffs[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Orlando Pride 2023 NWSL 22 6 6 1 — 28 7
Angel City FC 2024 21 1 4 0 — 25 1
Career total 43 7 10 1 0 0 53 8
  1. ^ Includes NWSL Challenge Cup & NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.
  2. ^ Includes NWSL Playoffs

Honors

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TCU Horned Frogs

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Classes from the Bob Schieffer College of Communication: Bachelor of Science". Fall 2022 Commencement. Texas Christian University. December 17, 2022. p. 40. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  2. ^ Cascone, Arianna (January 9, 2023). "10 players to watch ahead of the 2023 NWSL Draft". Equalizer Soccer.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Messiah Bright – Women's Soccer". TCU Athletics.
  4. ^ "Messiah Bright athletics". Athletic.net.
  5. ^ a b "Hintzen, St. Georges, Bright and Grosso Lead All-Big 12 Honors". big12sports.com. October 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "2018 Women's Division I Postseason Awards". TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  7. ^ "TCU Wins First Big 12 Soccer Regular Season Title". big12sports.com. November 6, 2020.
  8. ^ "TCU Headlines 2020 Big 12 Soccer Awards". big12sports.com. November 18, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "TCU Wins 2021 Big 12 Championship, Earning Automatic NCAA Tournament Bid". big12sports.com. November 7, 2021.
  10. ^ "TCU Rallies Past Texas; Claims Tournament Title". TCU Athletics. November 7, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "2021 NCAA Division I Women's All-Americans Announced". United Soccer Coaches.
  12. ^ Lloyd-Hughes, Theo (December 14, 2021). "Messiah Bright has 'unfinished business' with TCU, will return for fifth year". The Striker.
  13. ^ "2022 All-Big 12 Soccer Awards Released". big12sports.com. November 2022.
  14. ^ "2022 NCAA Division I Women's All-Americans Announced". United Soccer Coaches.
  15. ^ North, Anthony (January 13, 2023). "TCU Soccer Forward Messiah Bright selected 21st Overall by Orlando Pride in 2023 NWSL Draft". Frogs O' War.
  16. ^ "Big 12 Soccer Student-Athletes Chosen in the 2023 NWSL Draft". big12sports.com. January 13, 2023.
  17. ^ "Orlando Pride sign forward Messiah Bright to three-year deal". orlandocitysc.com.
  18. ^ "Messiah Bright goes from NWSL draft-day drop to three-year deal". Just Women's Sports. March 2, 2023.
  19. ^ "'I'm really proud of them': Young players earn valuable experience for Orlando Pride in season opener". orlandocitysc.com.
  20. ^ "Portland Thorns v Orlando Pride: March 26, 2023 match report". nwslsoccer.com.
  21. ^ "Mama, there goes Messiah Bright! Our @budlight Player of the Week Winner". twitter.com.
  22. ^ "2023 NWSL End-Of-Year Awards: NWSL Rookie of the Year". nwslsoccer.com.
  23. ^ "Orlando Pride acquires $130,000 in Intra-League Transfer Funds from Angel City FC". orlandocitysc.com. January 26, 2024.
  24. ^ Seebeck, Nathan Ray (March 22, 2024). "NWSL: Angel City FC at Orlando Pride". Henry Herald. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  25. ^ "Match Recap: Angel City 2, Bay FC 0 (Summer Cup) | 7.26.24". angelcity.com. July 27, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  26. ^ "Messiah Bright scores a hat trick as Angel City routs FC Juarez in friendly". Daily News. August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  27. ^ "U18 WNT roster named for Switzerland trip". TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  28. ^ "U.S. U-23 Women's Youth National Team Will Face Three NWSL Teams In The 2022 Thorns Preseason Tournament". US Soccer.
  29. ^ "Under-23 WNT heads to Europe in June". TopDrawerSoccer.com.
  30. ^ "M. Bright – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  31. ^ a b "TCU Women's Soccer Wins Second Straight Big 12 Championship". Sports Illustrated. October 29, 2021.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Big 12 Freshman of the Year
2018 		Succeeded by
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