Joanna Lohman
Joanna Christie Lohman (born June 26, 1982) is a retired American professional soccer midfielder/defender who last played for the Washington Spirit of the American National Women's Soccer League.[2] She previously played for the Washington Freedom and Philadelphia Independence. In addition, she served as the general manager of the Washington Freedom Futures, the Washington Freedom Soccer Club's W-League team. Lohman is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team and author of the book Raising Tomorrow's Champions: What the Women's National Soccer Team Teaches Us About Grit, Authenticity and Winning that was released on March 3, 2021 by Inspire Digital Media.[3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joanna Christie Lohman[1] | ||
| Date of birth | June 26, 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2000 | Bethesda Scorpions | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2003 | Penn State Nittany Lions | 101 | (41) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2002 | Maryland Pride | ||
| 2006 | Washington Freedom | 0 | (0) |
| 2008 | Bälinge IF | ||
| 2009 | Saint Louis Athletica | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 | Washington Freedom | 7 | (0) |
| 2010–2011 | Philadelphia Independence | 33 | (5) |
| 2011–2012 | Espanyol | 21 | (3) |
| 2012 | D.C. United Women | 5 | (0) |
| 2013–2014 | Boston Breakers | 39 | (3) |
| 2013 | → Apollon Limassol (loan) | ||
| 2015–2018 | Washington Spirit | 52 | (6) |
| International career | |||
| 2000–2005 | United States U-21 | ||
| 2001–2007 | United States | 9 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life edit
Lohman grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and attended Springbrook High School. In 1999, she was named an All-Met selection, and won the Maryland Gatorade high school girls soccer Player of the year [4][5]
Penn State edit
Lohman was captain of the Penn State Nittany Lions from 2002 to 2003 and was the first four-time First Team All-Big Ten selection in the school's history. She earned a 3.98 GPA while obtaining her business degree at Penn State, resulting in her also being a four-time Academic All-American.[6][7] In 2004, she was named Pennsylvania's NCAA Woman of the Year.[8] In 2005, she was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which recognizes one male and one female student from the graduating class of each Big Ten member school, for demonstrating joint athletic and academic excellence throughout their college career.[9]
In 2002, Lohman was a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist and earned first-team NSCAA All-America honors for the second-straight year.[10]
Club career edit
Lohman was selected by the Saint Louis Athletica during the 2008 WPS General Draft.[11] Lohman did not want to leave the DC area, however, so Athletica traded Lohman's rights to the Washington Freedom in January 2009.[5] She appeared in seven games with the Freedom during the 2009 season.[12]
In September 2009, Lohman traveled to Japan with Freedom teammate, Rebecca Moros to train with NTV Beleza, a professional team based outside of Tokyo.[12]
As a free agent, Lohman signed to the Philadelphia Independence for the 2010 season. She ended the season with 24 appearances and 5 goals.[13] Lohman was tied as the second-leading goal scorer and started 20 of 24 games.[14]
Lohman returned to the Independence during the 2011 season, making 10 appearances.[13]
During the 2011–2012 off-season, Lohman and her teammate, Lianne Sanderson, joined RCD Espanyol de Barcelona in Spain.[15][16]
After the folding of the WPS in early 2012, Lohman and Sanderson joined D.C. United Women in the W-League for the 2012 season.[17] Lohman played in five games, for a total of 391 minutes.[18]
In February 2012, she and Sanderson joined Boston Breakers in the new National Women's Soccer League. The duo went on loan to Cypriot club Apollon Limassol after the American season had finished, to play in the UEFA Women's Champions League.[19]
In September 2014, Lohman was waived by Breakers and was selected by Washington Spirit for the 2015 season.[20] In her first year with the Spirit, the midfielder played in 17 out of the Spirit's 20 regular season matches. In 2016, Lohman played in all 20 regular season matches plus the semifinal. She scored four goals, tied for second most on the team, and notched one assist. Lohman memorably scored the opening goal of the historic 4th NWSL season in dramatic fashion with a bicycle kick in the 3rd minute against Boston Breakers on April 16, 2016.[21]
During the 2017 season opener against North Carolina Courage, Lohman suffered an ACL injury keeping her from playing the remainder of the season.[22]
In March 2018, Lohman returned to the pitch following her ACL repair as a halftime substitute in the Spirit's 2018 season opener against Seattle Reign. Lohman scored the Spirit's lone goal in a 2–1 defeat.[23]
On April 8, 2019 Lohman announced her retirement from professional soccer. The Spirit retired her number 15 during a ceremony during the club's first LGBT pride-themed night on June 22.[24][25]
International career edit
From 2000 to 2005, Lohman was a member of the U-21 US national team and served as captain of the squad through 2003–2004.[26] In 2002, she helped lead the team to three Nordic Cup championships, earning MVP honors.[27]
Lohman trained with United States women's national soccer team during the 2004 Olympic Residency Training Camp and has nine caps with the senior team.[28] She made her debut with the senior team in 2000–2001 during the Algarve Cup in a 1–0 defeat to Italy.[29] In 2006, she helped the team defeat Australia 2–0 during the Peace Queen Cup.[30]
Honors and awards edit
- First Team NSCAA Academic All-American (2001–2003)
- Two-time Herman Trophy and Honda Sports Award Finalist (2002–2003)
- First Team All-Big Ten (2000–2003)
- Big Ten Player of the Year (2003)
- Three-time NSCAA All- American selection and CoSIDA Academic All-American (2001–2003)
- 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year[31]
Personal life edit
Lohman married Melodie George in Washington, D.C., in September 2021.[32] George works for the United States Chamber of Commerce. In August 2022, Lohman announced on Instagram that that couple was expecting their first child in December.
From 2010-2015, while playing for the Philadelphia Independence, Lohman was in a relationship with Philadelphia teammate and English international Lianne Sanderson.[8] The couple moved to Spain together and founded JoLi Academy, a training centre for young female footballers in India.[33][34][35]
Lohman helped launch an organization called GO! Athletes that aims to encourage schools to create safer spaces for lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and questioning athletes.[16][36] She is an out and proud athlete who wants to inspire and advocate for equality.[37]
In February 2015 Lohman was confirmed to be in a relationship with Lucy Keener from Baltimore, which lasted until August 2016.[38]
During the 2016 NWSL offseason, Lohman traveled to Botswana to run a U.S. State Department program called "Girl Power", using the shared experience of sport to promote gender equality.[39][40]
Lohman is vice president of Tenant Consulting, LLC, a commercial real estate firm in the Washington metropolitan area. She helped create the first "carbon neutral calculator" for office buildings, resulting in an invitation to meet former Vice President Al Gore.[41][42]
References edit
- ^ . United States Soccer Federation. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
- ^ . Washington Spirit. Archived from the original on September 24, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ "Raising Tomorrow's Champions - What the Women's National Soccer Team Teaches Us About Grit, Authenticity and Winning". Raising Tomorrow's Champions. from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ . Athletes for Hope. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b Terino, Paul (April 11, 2009). "Joanna Lohman of the Washington Freedom Finds Success Away From the Soccer Field". Washington Post. from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . JoLi Academy. Archived from the original on June 22, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "An interview with Women's Professional Soccer players Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson". After Ellen. from the original on July 8, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- ^ . June 17, 2005. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021.
- ^ . Pennsylvania State University. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "About Joanna Lohman". Joanna Lohman. from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ a b "Independence's Lohman went to great lengths to improve". Philly.com. from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "Philadelphia Independence". Soccerway Women Soccer. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . Changing the Game. Archived from the original on April 22, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . Philly Soccer News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "Catching up with former Philadelphia Independence and Penn State midfielder Joanna Lohman". Philly.com. October 18, 2012. from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
- ^ "Ex-Springbrook star joins D.C. United Women". Gazette.net. Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . USL Soccer. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ Leonidou, John (September 11, 2013). "Ambitious Apollon sign Sanderson, Lohman". Uefa.com. UEFA. from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- ^ . NWSL. September 15, 2014. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- ^ "Joanna Lohman — Washington Spirit". washingtonspirit.com. from the original on June 30, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ Steven Goff (April 17, 2017). "A fourth Washington Spirit player in 8 months has torn an ACL". Washington Post. from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
- ^ "Recap: Despite Lohman goal, Washington Spirit open 2018 with 2–1 loss to Seattle Reign FC". blackandredunited.com. March 25, 2018. from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ Goff, Steven (April 8, 2019). "Joanna Lohman, Washington Spirit's 'Rainbow Warrior', retiring after long soccer career". The Washington Post (Press release). Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ Alfaro, Carlos (July 11, 2019). "Following her retirement, Spirit's Lohman gets back to work". The Montgomery County Sentinel. from the original on July 21, 2023. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ "w/ U-21 WNT midfielder Joanna Lohman". US Soccer. from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . Women's Professional Soccer. Archived from the original on January 26, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ . United States Soccer Federation. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- ^ . Soccertimes. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2013.
- ^ . US Soccer. Archived from the original on November 16, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ "Tiffany Weimer Named Big Ten Freshman of the Year". Penn State Athletics. November 8, 2002. from the original on November 22, 2022. Retrieved November 22, 2022.
- ^ Schultz, Ken (September 29, 2021). "Soccer star & LGBTQ activist Joanna Lohman gets married". Outsports. from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- ^ . She Kicks. December 14, 2011. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved March 13, 2012.
- ^ Henderson, Val (December 19, 2011). "Soccer players change lives of girls through sport". ESPN. from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
- ^ Glenn Moore, Lianne Sanderson seizes England spotlight on her own terms March 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The Independent, February 12, 2015
- ^ . GO! Athletes. Archived from the original on January 10, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
- ^ "Joanna". Out For The Win. December 11, 2017. from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
- ^ "Lucy Keener (@lucykeener) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. from the original on August 20, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ "Update on Joanna Lohman's African Adventure — Washington Spirit". washingtonspirit.com. November 8, 2016. from the original on September 16, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ "The Lowdown: Is Joanna Lohman the most interesting player in NWSL? – Equalizer Soccer". equalizersoccer.com. February 28, 2017. from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
- ^ "Studley broker Craig Lussi starts new firm". Washington Business Journal. from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved December 25, 2012.
- ^ Steinberg, Dan (December 3, 2009). "Former soccer player Joanna Lohman a step closer to reaching her dream of being Redskins' GM". Washington Post. from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2012.