WPS Chicago Red Stars' Tarpley Is Female Soccer Player of the Decade

She may have been left off the list of finalists for Women's World Soccer Player of the Year, but Chicago Red Stars' Lindsay Tarpley was named "Girl Soccer Player of the Decade," today by ESPN RISE.

According to ESPN, it had come down to Tarpley and U.S. Women's National Team counterpart Heather O'Reilly, but there was one factor that swung the decision in favor of Tarpley.

While both honored high school and national team commitments during their high school careers, Tarpley made a greater impact in high school.

At East Brunswick (East Brunswick, N.J.) in 2002, O'Reilly received the National Soccer Coaches Athletic Association Player of the Year honors over Tarpley, despite only playing eight games.

Tarpley, from Portage Central (Portage, Mich.), fought for future opportunities for Michigan soccer players by challenging a rule that prohibited high school players from participating in outside competition.

"Simply put," the ESPN RISE announcement stated, "Tarpley deserves national player of the decade honors not only for what she accomplished on the field, but also off of it. During her junior and senior seasons, she served three-game suspensions for violating a state association out-of-school participation rule while playing for the U.S. youth national team. She petitioned the state, which ultimately changed its stance on the issue for her and future players in her state."

Tarpley, currently a member of Chicago Red Stars in the WPS and a U.S. national team member, scored 18 goals her senior year in high school to push her career totals to 147 goals and 63 assists.

An all-round athlete, Tarpley also played varsity basketball all four years and was Portage Central's girls' basketball MVP all four years, making all-conference three years.

At point guard, Tarpley graduated with the single-game, season, and career school records for steals and assists.

Although injuries interrupted her college career at North Carolina, Tarpley managed to score 59 goals and have 59 assists, winning one national title. 

Ironically, O'Reilly was a teammate at UNC.

On her graduation in 2006, Tarpley's No. 25 jersey was retired by the university, after earning NCAA Rookie of the Year honors (2002), NCAA Player of the Year (2003) and was All-ACC three of four years.

As an international, Tarpley played on both the 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic gold medal-winning women's soccer teams.

She has 119 caps for international play and has scored 30 goals in international matches.

Tarpley, a midfielder, figures to be a key member of the Red Stars' again in 2010.

With the departure of team scoring leader Cristiane and national team colleague Carly Lloyd, Tarpley, who was the second-leading scorer during the team's inaugural season, will be called upon to carry even more of the scoring and leadership load.