While some may debate the long-term future of the organization, National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women’s soccer is considered the top amateur competition in the world. The road to the American professional ranks largely flows through various American university campuses, with many players earning their degrees before making the jump. After a heralded youth career, Lia Godfrey spent an extended stretch on campus marked by a deluge of honors and entered the National Women’s Soccer
League with the expectation to contribute immediately. The 24-year-old San Diego Wave midfielder has delivered with a flurry of finishes that propelled her side to the top of the table.
Born in Fleming Island, Florida, Godfrey competed at the club level with Clay County Sol, United Soccer Alliance, and Jacksonville FC. She received a bevy of awards, including U.S. Soccer Development Academy East Region Player of the Year and Best XI along with United Soccer Coaches All-American honors in 2017 and 2019. TopDrawerSoccer ranked her as a four-star recruit and the tenth-best player in her class, with the midfielder displaying a “unique skill set that can solve pressure, score goals from range, and create by her dribbling and her passing.”
Godfrey then matriculated at the University of Virginia and contributed four goals and nine assists in her first season (shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic), receiving Second-Team All-America, Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, and TopDrawerSoccer Freshman of the Year. The next fall saw her contribute three goals and 12 assists while nabbing Second-Team All-America and All-ACC First Team, followed by eight goals and five assists as a junior en route to winning the ACC regular-season title and reaching the national quarterfinal, resulting in First-Team All-America and All-ACC. After missing the 2023 campaign with a “serious knee injury,” the 2024 comeback included two goals and three assists. Her time in Charlottesville concluded with a return to form, tallying 11 goals and four assists and being feted with First-Team All-America, ACC Midfielder of the Year, and All-ACC First Team.
“She’s just such a difference-maker, because she can create things on her own and she can combine well with others,” said UVA head coach Steve Swanson. “You have someone who can get assists or create assists, and someone who can score goals … I think having her gives us another presence, another creator, playmaker, goal-scorer, and we need those … She understands our style, she understands our system, and she’s one of the best midfielders, if not the best, in the country.”
After exhausting her eligibility and “proving herself to be one of the most exciting midfielders at the collegiate level,” Godfrey signed with San Diego Wave on a two-year deal with options for 2028 and 2029. The expectation was for her to “step in [immediately],” breaking into the group during the preseason friendlies. Meeting expectations, she opened the schedule with a substitute appearance and then scored in the next fixture, entering the starting lineup and going on a run with a trio of finishes in three consecutive matches in a span of seven days, as well as a goal and an assist to clinch a 3-2 comeback over Denver Summit.
The first finish was a match-winner in a 2-1 victory topping the Utah Royals, receiving the ball just inside the box and quickly placing a shot into the bottom right corner. The following week, she converted the eventual game-clincher in the 27th minute of the 3-1 win over the Portland Thorns, slamming home a pass from close range. The third opened the scoring in the 2-0 decision beating Chicago Stars, receiving a pass while charging down the left, making a hesitation move to avoid the defender, and slotting the ball into the net. The goal against Denver was a fast give-and-go through the opponents before sliding her effort past the goalkeeper. The league rewarded her with Player of the Week, Rookie of the Month, and a place in the Team of the Month, putting her as the early favorite out of the gate for Rookie of the Year.
“It’s been a really good transition from college to the pros here in San Diego,” said Godfrey. “Credit to this staff, players, [and] the team. They’ve made it so seamless for me just in terms of the competitive and welcoming environment that we have here in San Diego.”
At the international level, Godfrey began representing the United States in the Under-15 group. At a mere 14 years of age, she was the youngest player in program history at the 2016 U-17 World Cup, playing seven minutes in the opening 6-1 victory over Paraguay during the run that ended in the group stage. An anterior cruciate ligament tear kept her off the roster for the 2018 competition, and her most recent duty came with the Under-23 team in 2023.
Standing at five feet, four inches tall, Godfrey is a center midfielder who gets highly involved on both sides of the ball, with successful dribbles and duels, regular tackles and interceptions, and accurate and frequent passing. A “difference-maker, creator, and goal-scorer,” she “plays big” with a combination of blue-collar defensive work and skill in the attack despite “not being the strongest player on the court.” With “playmaking instincts and technical polish,” her impact can be felt whether deploying in an advanced or deep-lying role, with a very efficient conversion rate on minimal shooting. Her movement in the final third is, at times, sublime, picking the correct angles on runs and breaking at the right possible second.
“Even in her debut minutes, there were signs of what was to come,” wrote Jenny Furrer for SDFC Nation. “She played with urgency, embraced physical challenges, and showed a willingness to operate across the front line. That positional flexibility has carried into the regular season, where she has been just as comfortable linking play in midfield as she is making decisive runs into the box … Whether dropping deeper to connect play or drifting wide to combine with runners, she is constantly involved. Defensively, she has also contributed. Tracking back, applying pressure, and winning duels, she has shown a willingness to do the less visible work that helps sustain San Diego’s high press.”
Godfrey got a late start to her professional career, with reasonable expectations of making an immediate impact considering her experience in the collegiate game. She has done all that and more in the early stages of the NWSL schedule and emerged as an attacking weapon with the ability to shift proceedings and secure three points. Any player can have a hot start and regress to the mean, but her early success during her youth days and obvious talent indicate that her road might lead all the way to the USWNT.
