Michelle Cooper

College career Cooper led the Duke Blue Devils with 12 goals (the most by a freshman in program history) and added 5 assists in 18 games in her freshman season in 2021. In the NCAA tournament, she scored two goals in a 7–1 win against St. John's in the third round as Duke reached the national quarterfinals. She was named the TopDrawerSoccer National Freshman of the Year, first-team All-American, first-team All-ACC, and the ACC Freshman of the Year.

Club career Kansas City Current drafted Cooper with the second overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. The Current had traded Lynn Williams to NJ/NY Gotham FC to acquire the pick. Cooper was signed to a three-year contract. She debuted on March 25, playing the full match in a 1–0 loss to the North Carolina Courage on opening day. On May 17, she scored her first professional goal in a 3–2 loss to Racing Louisville FC in the NWSL Challenge Cup group stage. On June 18, she scored the fastest goal from kickoff in NWSL history in the 22nd second of the Current's 3–2 loss to the Washington Spirit. She finished her rookie regular season with 3 goals and 1 assist in 21 games (17 starts) as the Current placed 11th of 12 teams. She also had 1 goals and 1 assist in 5 starts in the Challenge Cup, helping the Current reach the semifinals.

Cooper scored 1 goal and started all 5 games in the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, helping the Current go undefeated to win the tournament. She finished the 2024 regular season with 3 goals and 2 assists in 21 games (15 starts) as Kansas City placed fourth in the league. She started both playoff games for the Current, assisting Debinha in a 3–2 loss to the Orlando Pride in the semifinals.

International career Cooper played for the United States youth national team at the under-16, under-18, under-19, and under-20 levels. and making the Best XI team.

Cooper was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing alongside the senior national team, in January 2025. She received her first call-up to the senior team for the 2025 SheBelieves Cup in February. On February 20, 2025, she made her senior international debut as a substitute against Colombia. Three days later, she scored her first senior international goal six minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win against Australia.

Career statistics Club

International

National teamYearAppsGoalsUnited States2025 10 12026 4 0 Total 14 1

Scores and results list United States's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cooper goal. + List of international goals scored by Michelle CooperNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1Glendale, Arizona 2–0 2–1 2025 SheBelieves Cup

Honors and awards

Kansas City Current NWSL Shield: 2025 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup: 2024

United States U20 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2022

Individual CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship Golden Boot: 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship Golden Ball: 2022 Hermann Trophy: 2022 NCAA Division I First-Team All-America: 2021, 2022 ACC Offensive Player of the Year: 2022 First-team All-ACC: 2021, 2022 ACC Freshman of the Year: 2021