Laney Rouse

Elaine Marie Rouse (born August 31, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right back for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Virginia Cavaliers, earning All-American honors in 2025. She represented the United States at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Early life

Rouse grew up in Cary, North Carolina, the daughter of Cheryl and Granville Rouse, and has two older brothers. She began playing soccer when she was four as she took after one of her brothers, Jordan, who later played college soccer for the St. John's Red Storm. She played club soccer for the North Carolina Courage Academy. She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the 26th-best prospect of the 2020 class, part of Virginia's second-ranked recruiting class.

College career

Rouse played in 12 games and started 3 for the Virginia Cavaliers as a freshman in 2020, helping reach both the ACC and NCAA tournament semifinals.

Rouse returned to start all 19 games for the Cavaliers in 2024, She had a "sixth-year Renaissance" in her last college season in 2025, starting all 22 games, scoring a goal against Duke, and adding a career-high three assists. She was named second-team All-ACC and tabbed fourth-team All-American by United Soccer Coaches.

Club career The Kansas City Current announced on December 19, 2025, that they had signed Rouse to her first professional contract on a one-year deal. She made her professional debut on March 25, 2026, starting in a 3–0 defeat to the Seattle Reign. Two months later, on May 14, she signed a two-year contract extension with the Current until the end of 2028, with the club option for an additional year.

International career

Rouse began training with the United States youth national team at the under-14 level in 2016. In 2018, she helped the under-16s win the Torneo delle Nazioni friendly tournament in Italy. She helped the under-20s win the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, starting in the 2–0 win over Mexico in the final. She then made the roster for the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica, playing and starting in two games and earning an assist to future Kansas City teammate Michelle Cooper in the opening 3–0 win over Ghana, but the United States failed to make it out of the group stage.

Honors and awards

Virginia Cavaliers Atlantic Coast Conference: 2021

United States U-20 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2022 Sud Ladies Cup: 2022

Individual Fourth-team All-American: 2025 Second-team All-ACC: 2025