Lexi Missimo Explained

Lexi Missimo
Full Name:Alexis Missimo
Birth Date:2003 1, mf=yes[1]
Birth Place:Grapevine, Texas, U.S.
Position:Midfielder
Currentclub:Texas Longhorns
Clubnumber:10
Youthyears1:2008–2020
Youthclubs1:Solar SC
Collegeyears1:2020–
College1:Texas Longhorns
Collegecaps1:66
Collegegoals1:44
Nationalyears1:2016
Nationalteam1:United States U-14
Nationalyears2:2017
Nationalteam2:United States U-15
Nationalyears3:2018–2020
Nationalteam3:United States U-17
Nationalyears4:2021–2022
Nationalteam4:United States U-20
Nationalcaps4:7
Nationalgoals4:3
Nationalyears5:2023–
Nationalteam5:United States U-23

Alexis Missimo (born January 30, 2003) is an American college soccer player who plays as a midfielder for the Texas Longhorns. She has represented the United States at the youth international level, mostly recently with the under-23 team. She was named the TopDrawerSoccer Player of the Year after her 2023 college season.

Early life

Missimo played youth soccer for Solar Soccer Club of Dallas, Texas, beginning at age five. She helped win the USYS national under-13 championship in 2016[2] and reached the ECNL under-15 national championship game the next year.[3] Between 2017 and 2019, Missimo scored 100 goals in 62 games in the Girls' Development Academy.[4] [5] Playing up four age groups in 2017–18, she led the Solar under-18/19 team in goals and helped them reach the national championship game, receiving conference Best XI recognition.[6] [7] She led Solar to win the national under-16/17 championship in 2019, receiving the Golden Boot as the playoffs' top scorer with 11 goals and being named the region's player of the year.[8] She was a two-time United Soccer Coaches All-American (2018–2019) at the youth level.[9]

College career

Missimo verbally committed to Texas when she was in seventh grade.[10] She was the number one recruit for the class of 2021,[11] [12] but elected to graduate from Southlake Carroll High School in three years in 2020 and enrolled at the University of Texas in the fall of that year.[13] She had offers to go pro out of high school from Arsenal and Manchester City, the latter of which she had trained with.[14] [15] She scored in her college debut on March 5, 2021, a 4–0 win over Texas State. She scored two goals in a 4–0 win over Baylor on March 31. She finished the abbreviated spring season with three goals and two assists in three games.[16]

Missimo started all 22 games during her freshman fall season in 2021, recording nine goals and 14 assists. Her assist total led the Big 12 Conference and tied the Texas program record for assists in a season. She was named the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year and recognized with All-Big 12 first-team, Big 12 all-tournament, and Big 12 All-Freshman honors.[17]

During her sophomore season in 2022, Missimo played in 17 games after suffering an injury early in the season that forced her to miss six games. Despite the absence, she led the Big 12 and set the Texas program record for assists in a season with 15, which ranked third in NCAA Division I that season. Texas won the Big 12 regular season championship and reached the conference tournament semifinals. Missimo contributed an assist in the Longhorns' first-round NCAA tournament win over Texas A&M, and the team's season ended a 1–0 loss to Duke in the next round.[17]

In her third full season with Texas in 2023, Missimo earned All-American honors and was named the TopDrawerSoccer National Player of the Year. She scored 26 goals and recorded 20 assists.[17] She became the first player in the history of the Texas program to record a 20–20 season. She led the Big 12 in goals, assists, and points for the season.[18]

She announced following the 2023 season that she would return for her senior year.[19]

International career

Missimo began training with the United States youth national team at the under-14 level in March 2016.[20] She made her international debut at the youth level on May 12, 2017, with the national under-16 team in a 4–0 win over Croatia.[21] She scored her first youth international goal for the under-15 team against Germany on November 1, 2017.[22] She and club teammate Trinity Byars led the under-16 team with five goals each at the Torneo delle Nazioni in 2018, which they won.[23]

Missimo played up two age groups with the national under-17 team in the lead-up to the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup,[24] but did not make the roster for the World Cup. She was a key player in the build-up to the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, scoring three goals and adding two assists in two tournaments in Europe in 2019.[25] [26] [27] [28] She had both assists in the 2–0 win over England in Florida on February 22, 2020, which was the final game for the team before the qualifying event.[29] However, the World Cup and the Concacaf Women's U-17 Championship were canceled due to the covid pandemic.

Missimo was named to the national under-20 team for the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship.[30] She scored three goals in seven appearances while leading the United States to the championship and was one of four Americans to make the tournament's Best XI.[31] Prior to the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, she announced on social media that she removed herself for consideration for the roster to focus on her sophomore college season.[32] She was called into camp with the under-23 team in 2023.[33]

Personal life

Her parents are Derek Missimo and Susan Missimo. Her father is the all-time leading scorer (56) and all-time points leader (138) for North Carolina[34] and coached her youth club teams.[35] Her mother was a four-year letter winner for Texas Christian from 1991 to 1994. She has an older sister Gabriella, who was part of the Texas Longhorns women's soccer team in 2019.[36]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National team roster, 2022 Women's Under 20 Championship: USA . . 20 . February 22, 2022 . July 20, 2022 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220226230933/https://stconcacafwp001.blob.core.windows.net/media/3dcl4m40/22_wu20-championship-final-rosters.pdf . February 26, 2022.
  2. Web site: 2016-08-02 . 2016 US YOUTH SOCCER CHAMPIONS • SoccerToday . 2021-06-02 . SoccerToday . en-US.
  3. Web site: 2017-02-15 . ECNL Girls . 2021-06-03 . ECNL Girls . en-US.
  4. Web site: Solar Soccer Club . 2021-06-03 . solr.ussoccerda.com.
  5. Web site: https://www.girlssoccernetwork.com/staging/news/club/ussda-player-of-the-year-awards/ . 2021-06-02 . www.girlssoccernetwork.com.
  6. Web site: SOLAR SOCCER CLUB TO FACE LAFC SLAMMERS FOR FIRST-EVER U.S. SOCCER DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY U-18/19 GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIP – Solar Soccer Club . 2021-06-03 . www.solarsoccerclub.com.
  7. Web site: Girls Development Academy end-of-season awards, Best XIs announced . 2021-06-02 . SoccerWire . en.
  8. Web site: Solar SC captures Girls Development Academy U-16/17 championship . 2021-06-02 . SoccerWire . en.
  9. Web site: Coaches . United Soccer . United Soccer Coaches Announces 2019 Youth All-Region and All-America Teams United Soccer Coaches . 2021-06-03 . en-US.
  10. Web site: A Seventh Grader Just Verbally Committed to Women's Soccer at University of Texas . 2021-06-10 . www.vice.com . 29 July 2016 . en.
  11. Web site: Alexis Missimo – No. 1 Player – class of 2021 . 2021-06-02 . TopDrawerSoccer.com . en.
  12. Web site: Club Soccer Player Rankings . 2021-06-02 . TopDrawerSoccer.com . en.
  13. Web site: Soccer announces eight signees in 2021 recruiting class . 2021-06-03 . University of Texas Athletics . en.
  14. Web site: . Faces in the Crowd . 2021-06-03 . Sports Illustrated Vault SI.com . en-us.
  15. Web site: 2020-05-19 . The same path as Hamm, Wambach or going pro straight out of HS: an emerging trend, and choice, two Dallas-area soccer prodigies face . 2021-06-03 . Dallas News . en.
  16. Web site: Texas Soccer Stats (PDF) . 2021-06-03 . University of Texas Athletics . en.
  17. Web site: Lexi Missimo – Soccer . 2022-03-25 . University of Texas Athletics . en.
  18. Web site: Big 12 2023 Women's Soccer Stats .
  19. https://twitter.com/MissimoLexi/status/1744495359533986297
  20. Web site: Alexis Missimo . 2021-06-02 . TopDrawerSoccer.com . en.
  21. Web site: U.S. U-16 Girls National Team defeats Croatia 4–0 . 2021-06-02 . SoccerWire . en.
  22. Web site: 2017-11-04 . USA U15 GIRLS DEFEAT GERMANY TWICE . 2021-06-03 . SoccerToday . en-US.
  23. Web site: Youth: U.S. U-16 girls rout all foes at Torneo delle Nazioni . 2021-06-13 . www.socceramerica.com . 29 April 2018 . en.
  24. Web site: U.S. U-17 Women's National Team plays Korea Republic to 4–4 draw . 2021-06-10 . SoccerWire . en.
  25. Web site: U-17 WNT Opens UEFA Development Tournament in Portugal with 4–0 Victory Against Mexico . 2021-06-10 . www.ussoccer.com . en.
  26. Web site: U-17 USWNT Falls 4–3 To Spain At Friendly Tournament In Sweden . 2021-06-03 . www.ussoccer.com . en.
  27. Web site: U.S. U-17 WNT Downs Sweden 2–1 To Open Friendly Tournament . 2021-06-10 . www.ussoccer.com . en.
  28. Web site: U-17 WNT at UEFA Development Tournament . 2021-06-10 . Twitter . en.
  29. Web site: U.S. Soccer . U.S. U17 WNT sweeps England . 2021-06-10 . Twitter . en.
  30. Web site: Soccer's Missimo & Byars named to U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team . 2022-03-25 . University of Texas Athletics . en.
  31. Web site: Soccer's Missimo named to CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship Best XI . 2022-03-25 . University of Texas Athletics . en.
  32. https://twitter.com/MissimoLexi/status/1545938249067159553/photo/1
  33. Web site: U.S. Under-23 Women's Youth National Team Will Start 2023 Programing with Trip to Paris for Two Matches Against the France U-23 WNT | U.S. Soccer Official Website .
  34. Web site: media guide 2020 (PDF) . 2021-06-03 . University of North Carolina Athletics . en.
  35. Web site: Dad coach leads Solar's decade of dominance Club Soccer Youth Soccer . 2021-06-03 . TopDrawerSoccer.com . en.
  36. Web site: Gabriella Missimo – Soccer . 2021-06-03 . University of Texas Athletics . en.