Talia Staude

Natalia Alyse Staude ( ;

Staude played high school soccer for the Westminster Schools, a private school in Atlanta, and helped the school win three GHSA titles; she missed her junior season while playing for her club team. She played club soccer for Tophat Soccer Club. She also lettered in high school basketball and swimming.

College career

Staude became a starter for the Virginia Cavaliers during her freshman season in 2019, playing in all 22 games and starting the last 15. She helped Virginia reach the final of the ACC tournament and earn a one seed in the NCAA tournament, earning TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI honors. She played in 18 games, all but one as a starter, as a sophomore in 2020. She scored her first college goal in the first round of the NCAA tournament and played every minute of the tournament as Virginia reached the semifinals.

Staude started all 23 games in her senior season in 2022, playing every minute of all but three of them. She scored in the first round of the NCAA tournament as Virginia made the quarterfinals, losing to eventual champions UCLA. She returned to play a fifth graduate season in 2023 (with an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic). She started all 17 games and scored a career-high 3 goals, including a goal in her final college game against Syracuse. She played 103 games for the Cavaliers, second-most in program history.

Club career The North Carolina Courage selected Staude 24th overall in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, the team's highest pick of the night. She was signed to a three-year contract.

On August 20, 2024, the Courage announced that Staude would be loaned to the Tampa Bay Sun of the new USL Super League for the rest of the year. She made her professional debut four days later, coming on as a second-half substitute against DC Power FC. She featured primarily at right back in 12 appearances (10 starts) for the Sun, who went on to win the inaugural USL Super League title. In late April, Courage head coach Sean Nahas refashioned the defense into a back three and made Staude a starter at left-sided center back for several weeks.

International career

Staude was called into her first training camp with the youth national team at the under-14 level in June 2014. She played with the under-15 team in 2015 and 2016, winning the 2016 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship. She trained with the under-17 team throughout 2017 and 2018. She recorded three assists in one game at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, a tournament the United States won, and played at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. While in college, she played friendlies for the under-20 team in 2019. She played friendlies with the under-23 team against NWSL clubs in the preseasons of 2022 and 2023.

Honors and awards

Tampa Bay Sun USL Super League: 2024–25

Virginia Cavaliers ACC regular-season championship: 2021

United States U-15 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship: 2016

United States U-17 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship: 2018

Individual ACC tournament all-tournament team: 2021