Penelope Hocking

Penelope Elizabeth Hocking (born December 29, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Chicago Red Stars in the National Women's Soccer League.

Youth career
Hocking grew up in Anaheim, California, and played high school soccer for Canyon High School.

College career
Hocking played NCAA Division I women's soccer for the USC Trojans from 2018 to 2021, and for the Penn State Nittany Lions in 2022.

USC Trojans, 2018–2021
Hocking set a USC Trojans women's soccer record for career goals scored on October 7, 2021, with her 49th, surpassing the previous record held by Isabelle Harvey since 2000. She finished her career with the Trojans with 54 goals scored, at the time the 12th most in Pac-12 history, in her 72 career games played.

Penn State Nittany Lions, 2022
In 2022, Hocking transferred to Penn State to play her extra year of NCAA eligibility granted by the COVID-19 pandemic. She scored seven goals, and her 11 assists tied for the Big Ten Conference lead for the season.

Club career
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Chicago Red Stars selected Hocking with the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft.

Chicago Red Stars, 2023–
On March 20, 2023, Hocking signed a three-year contract with the Red Stars, with an option for a fourth year.

On March 25, 2023, Hocking made her debut for the Red Stars in a 2–3 loss against San Diego Wave FC as a starter. On April 15, in her third start and appearance, Hocking scored her first professional goals as a brace against Kansas City Current in a 4–2 victory.

International career
Hocking played for the United States women's national under-20 soccer team and competed in the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. She was also named to the under-23 roster for training camp in January 2022 and also for the 2022 Thorns Spring Invitational pre-season tournament against NWSL teams in March 2022.

Personal life
Hocking's parents are former Cypress College basketball player Venetta Dorlis and former Major League Baseball player Denny Hocking. Her paternal grandmother was a youth soccer coach. Hocking has a fraternal twin sister, Iliana, and they were the first twins born to a member of the Minnesota Twins. Penelope and Iliana played together at Canyon High School.

Penelope and Iliana were the first sisters selected in the same NWSL Draft. Iliana played collegiate soccer as a midfielder for the Arizona Wildcats, a Pac-12 rival of USC that pitted the sisters against each other. Iliana was drafted by NJ/NY Gotham FC with the 44th overall pick.

At the University of Southern California, Hocking majored in computer science.

Honors
Penn State Nittany Lions
 * Big Ten women's soccer tournament: 2022

Individual
 * Pac-12 Conference Forward of the Year: 2020, 2021
 * Hermann Trophy semifinalist: 2020