Raquel Rodríguez

Raquel "Rocky" Rodríguez Cedeño (born 28 October 1993) is a Costa Rican international soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder for Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League.

Raquel Rodríguez
Personal information
Full name Raquel Rodríguez Cedeño[1]
Date of birth (1993-10-28) 28 October 1993[1]
Place of birth San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Portland Thorns
Number 11
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2015 Penn State Nittany Lions 93 (23)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Sky Blue FC 76 (8)
2017–2018 → Perth Glory (loan) 9 (0)
2020– Portland Thorns 10 (1)
National team‡
2008–2010 Costa Rica U17 3 (3)
2008–2012 Costa Rica U20 14 (10)
2008– Costa Rica 73 (43)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 July 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 June 2020

Early life

Born in San José, Costa Rica to Sivianni Rodriguez and Grettel Cedeño,[2] Rodriguez was raised in Costa Rica and moved to the United States where support for women's soccer offered more opportunity.[3][4] Her father, Sivianni Rodríguez, played professionally in Costa Rica with Herediano and the Costa Rica national football team.[5]

Rodriquez began playing soccer at age four and played on boys teams and trained with her brother and father as a youth. At age 11, her cousin told her one of the well-known men's club teams was holding tryouts for a women's team. After trying out, she played for the team's under-15 team.[5] She played for the high school team while still attending elementary school.[5] Both Raquel and her brother, Sivianni, attended International Christian School.[5] She played for the school's team for a short while before committing to play for Costa Rica's national teams.[5]

Penn State, 2012–2015

Rodriguez was a four-year starter for the Penn State Nittany Lions.[2] As the 2015 team captain, she led her team to victory at the NCAA College Cup by scoring the game-winning goal against the Duke Blue Devils.[6] Rodriguez received numerous awards in 2015, including NSCAA Scholar Player of the Year, Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Year, and she was the 2015 recipient of the Mac Herman Trophy.[2] As a senior, she won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top soccer player.[7][8]

Club career

Sky Blue FC, 2016–2019

Rodríguez was selected second overall by Sky Blue FC in the 2016 NWSL College Draft.[9] In her rookie season, she scored 1 goal in 18 matches, and at the end of the season was named NWSL Rookie of the Year.[10] In the 2017 season, Rodríguez scored the fastest goal in NWSL history, netting 24 seconds from kick-off against Portland Thorns FC.[11]

Perth Glory, 2017

On 12 October 2017, Rodríguez joined Perth Glory for the 2017–18 W-League season. Rodríguez is the first Central American ever to play in the W-League.[12]

Portland Thorns FC

On 8 January 2020, Rodríguez was traded to Portland Thorns FC.[13]

International career

During the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rodriguez scored Costa Rica's first ever Women's World Cup goal during the opening Group Stage match against Spain, which ended 1–1.[14][15] Rodriguez played in all of Costa Rica's three matches in the tournament.[16] During the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament, Rodriguez scored five goals in the three group stage matches.[17]

References
  1. "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. "Raquel Rodriguez Bio". GoPSUsports.com. Penn State Athletics. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  3. "Raquel 'Rocky' Rodriguez has plans beyond soccer". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  4. "Women's soccer: How Sky Blue's Raquel Rodriguez fought for a dream for all of Costa Rica". Excelle Sports. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  5. Lee, Allison (24 May 2016). "Raquel Rodriguez's journey to the NWSL anything but typical". Once A Metro. SB Nation.
  6. "Penn State wins the 2015 DI Women's Soccer Championship". NCAA.com. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  7. "Rodriguez nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year | News, Sports, Jobs - The Express". Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  8. "Raquel Rodriguez of Penn State Named Honda Sports Award Winner for Women's Soccer". CWSA. 23 December 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  9. Scavuzzo, Diane (31 January 2016). "Sky Blue's Raquel Rodriguez - A Dream Comes True". GoalNation.
  10. "Raquel Rodriguez voted NWSL Rookie of the Year". FourFourTwo. 3 October 2016.
  11. Forrester, Nick (21 June 2017). "Sky Blue FC's Raquel Rodriguez goal confirmed as fastest in NWSL history". Excelle Sports.
  12. "Glory add Costa Rican international for new season". Perth Glory. 12 October 2017.
  13. https://skybluefc.com/2020/01/08/sky-blue-fc-acquires-margaret-midge-purce-from-portland-thorns-fc/
  14. "World Cup: Costa Rica and Spain settle for draw, 1–1". Los Angeles Times. 9 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  15. "Entertaining battle sees debutants draw". FIFA. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  16. "FIFA player's stats". FIFA. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  17. "Costa Rica joins U.S. women's national team in CONCACAF semifinals". espnW. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
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