Meagan McClelland

Meagan Erin McClelland (born August 5, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, where she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-Big Ten four times. After stints with several NWSL clubs, she made her professional debut for Danish club Odense Boldklub Q in 2024, helping them earn promotion to the top flight. Later that year, she joined USL Super League club Carolina Ascent, winning the inaugural Golden Glove and Players' Shield in 2025.

Early life

McClelland grew up in Kearny, New Jersey, one of three children born to Coleen and Patrick McClelland. She began playing soccer when she was three and joined Mike O'Neill's PDA academy at age eight. She played multiple outfield positions before turning to goalkeeper when she received goalkeeping gloves as a Christmas present in third grade. She also played basketball growing up and starred in both sports at Kearny High School. She kept 20 clean sheets in one-and-a-half seasons with the soccer team, and she scored 1,348 points in 91 games for the basketball team. She committed to Rutgers as a sophomore.

College career

McClelland succeeded Casey Murphy as the starting goalkeeper for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. In her sophomore season, she kept 12 clean sheets in 21 games, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors and helping Rutgers repeat as Big Ten regular-season runners-up. They made the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. She became team captain in her junior season, which was pushed back to the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She kept 7 clean sheets in 16 games, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors, as Rutgers made the Big Ten tournament semifinals and the second round of the NCAA tournament. McClelland returned to use her fifth year of eligibility, granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic. She kept 8.5 clean sheets in 20 games as Rutgers finished seventh in the conference in 2022. She left college with the second-most minutes played in NCAA history behind McKinley Crone.

Club career

McClelland was not selected in the 2023 NWSL Draft but was invited to preseason training with the Chicago Red Stars, who signed her to a short-term national team replacement contract on April 7, 2023. Later that year, she signed further short-team deals with San Diego Wave FC in July and NJ/NY Gotham FC in September. She signed a permanent contract with Gotham in November as they finished the season as NWSL champions. She made her professional debut in a 1–1 draw against B.93 on March 16. She ended up making 9 starts and kept 6 clean sheets, helping Odense secure promotion to the top division, before returning to the United States after her last game on June 8.

On June 6, 2024, Carolina Ascent FC announced the signing of McClelland before the inaugural season of the USL Super League. She started in the league's inaugural game as the Ascent won 1–0 against DC Power FC on August 27. She kept 6 clean sheets through 11 games and was the only goalkeeper in the league to start every game in the inaugural fall series. During the winter break, Carolina signed former North Carolina Tar Heels goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak Murphy. Leshnak Murphy won the starting job during the spring and led the Ascent to finish the regular season as Players' Shield winners. McClelland regained the starting job at the start of the following season, before new signing Sydney Martinez took over halfway through the campaign.

On August 7, 2026, it was announced that McClelland had signed a short-term contract with Angel City FC, returning to the NWSL.

International career

She was called into the United States national under-17 team shortly before the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and made the tournament roster as a bench player. She later appeared in friendlies at the under-19, under-20, and under-23 levels.

Individual USL Super League Golden Glove: 2024–25 Second-team All-Big Ten: 2019, 2020 Third-team All-Big Ten: 2018, 2021 Big Ten Freshman of the Year: 2018