Olivia Wingate

Olivia Wingate (born January 20, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Raised in Wilmington, Massachusetts, she played college soccer for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. She was selected by the Courage sixth overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft.

Early life
Wingate was born in Medford, Massachusetts, the second of four children of Carol and Steven Wingate. She grew up in nearby Wilmington. She started playing soccer at age four but also played other sports such as softball, basketball, and ice hockey. She attended Wilmington High School, where she played one season of ice hockey as a forward, leading the team with about 20 goals.

During her first year of high school in 2014–15, Wingate played club soccer for FC Stars of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL), winning the Northeast regional conference. After recovering from a broken leg, she joined her high school soccer team in her sophomore year. She scored 12 goals in about ten games as a sophomore; as a junior, she scored 17 goals and had five assists in 13 games. Both years, the Wilmington Wildcats went undefeated in the regular season, winning league titles, but made early exits from the 2015 and 2016 state tournaments. Wingate, known for her quickness from a young age, was twice named the Middlesex League Player of the Year.

Wingate suffered a knee injury from a collision with an opposing goalkeeper, while playing for her club team in May 2017, that required surgery and sidelined her for more than a year (including all of her senior high school season), up until two weeks before her first college game.

College career
Wingate verbally committed to the University of Notre Dame as a high school sophomore in September 2015 and signed a letter of intent in February 2018. In her first three seasons, she played in all of Notre Dame's 40 games and scored five goals. She "upped her game" in her fourth year in 2021, recording seven goals and five assists in 22 starts. She led the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with a shot accuracy of 0.640 and was named to the All-ACC third team. She scored twice in the 2021 NCAA tournament, tying the game in their second-round win over Purdue and adding another in their third-round loss to Arkansas.

Wingate was "much more of a complete player" by her fifth season, improving her finishing and movement. In 2022, she led Notre Dame in shots and was second in goals (14) and assists (5) in 23 games. On September 1, she scored a hat trick against Wisconsin, with three goals all in the second half, and was named ACC Player of the Week. She received those honors again the week of October 11 after scoring twice and assisting twice over two wins against NC State and Florida State. She was named first-team All-ACC and third-team All-American. She scored three goals in the 2022 NCAA tournament to help Notre Dame reach the Elite Eight before losing to eventual finalists North Carolina.

Club career


The North Carolina Courage had multiple first-round picks in the 2023 NWSL Draft; Wingate said she expected to her name to be called in one of their later first-round spots, but at sixth overall, she was the team's first selection. She was signed to a three-year contract. Wingate debuted for the Courage on April 1, 2023, as a substitute in the season opener versus the Kansas City Current. She scored her first professional goal in a Challenge Cup match on June 14, making it 2–1 in the 92nd minute to defeat the Washington Spirit.

In her first appearance of the 2024 season, Wingate came on at halftime and scored the third goal in a 3–1 win against Racing Louisville FC on July 7.

International career
Wingate first trained with the United States national under-16 team in February 2015. In May 2016, she played three games for the under-16 team and scored two goals in the first women's edition of the Tournament of Nations (Torneo delle Nazioni) in Gradisca d'Isonzo, Italy. In September 2016, she played three games in an under-16 tournament in the Netherlands. She played for the national under-18 team on a three-game tour of England in February 2017.

Honors
North Carolina Courage
 * NWSL Challenge Cup: 2023

Individual
 * Wilmington Town Crier Female Athlete of the Year: 2016, 2022
 * Wilmington Town Crier Female Athlete of the Decade: 2010s