Leah Freeman

Leah Irene McInerney Freeman (born February 6, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A Women club Lazio. She played college soccer for the Oregon Ducks and the Duke Blue Devils, winning both the Pac-12 and ACC Goalkeeper of the Year awards. After a stint with Bay FC, she made her professional debut for the San Diego Wave in 2026.

Early life

Freeman was born in Berkeley, California, to Dale and Kerry Freeman, and has three siblings. She played club soccer for Mustang SC, which she helped reach the ECNL national semifinals in 2018. She played high school soccer for Berkeley High School, where she was named first-team All-American as a junior 2019. In her sophomore season in fall 2021, she kept a program-record nine clean sheets and was named to the All-Pac 12 first team.

Freeman posted a career-high 114 saves as a junior in 2022, the most by any power conference goalkeeper that year, and became the first Oregon player to be named Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year. She made a career-high 14 saves in a shutout of rival Washington. She left Eugene as the program leader in career clean sheets (19) and goals against average (1.05). She played all but one game for Duke and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference third team. She saved a penalty kick by Avery Patterson in a 1–1 draw with rival North Carolina. In her final season in 2024, she helped lead Duke to the national and the ACC regular-season title, and she did not concede a goal during the NCAA tournament until the semifinals where they lost to North Carolina. She was named first-team All-ACC, first-team All-American, and the ACC Goalkeeper of the Year, becoming the first college soccer player to win that award in two different conferences.

Club career Bay FC announced on July 18, 2025, that the club had signed Freeman to her first professional contract through the end of the season. She replaced the injured Melissa Lowder as the third-stringer for Bay behind starter Jordan Silkowitz and backup Emmie Allen.

San Diego Wave FC announced on January 12, 2026, that they had signed Freeman to a one-year contract. Following an injury to DiDi Haračić, she won the start over Luisa Agudelo and made her professional debut in a 2–1 win over the Utah Royals on March 22. One week later, she kept her first professional clean sheet in a 2–0 win over Chicago Stars. Supporting a strong San Diego defense, she contributed to five wins from six appearances before being made third-stringer behind a recovered Haračić and Agudelo. Shortly after the Wave signed Sandra Paños, Freeman agreed to a mutual contract termination on July 23.

International career Freeman trained with the United States national under-16, under-18, and under-20 teams, appearing in one friendly for the under-18s against Norway in 2020.

Honors and awards

Duke Blue Devils Atlantic Coast Conference: 2024

Individual First-team All-American: 2024 ACC Goalkeeper of the Year: 2024 Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year: 2022 First-team All-ACC: 2024 First-team All-Pac-12: 2021, 2022 Third-team All-ACC: 2023 Third-team All-Pac-12: 2020