| Penelope Hocking | |
| Fullname: | Penelope Elizabeth Hocking[1] |
| Birth Date: | 29 December 1999[2] |
| Birth Place: | Anaheim, California, United States |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Chicago Red Stars |
| Clubnumber: | 55 |
| Youthclubs1: | So Cal Blues |
| Collegeyears1: | 2018–2021 |
| College1: | USC Trojans |
| Collegecaps1: | 72 |
| Collegegoals1: | 54 |
| Collegeyears2: | 2022 |
| College2: | Penn State Nittany Lions |
| Collegecaps2: | 23 |
| Collegegoals2: | 7 |
| Clubs1: | Chicago Red Stars |
| Years1: | 2023– |
| Caps1: | 28 |
| Goals1: | 7 |
| Years2: | 2024 |
| Caps2: | 11 |
| Goals2: | 4 |
| Nationalteam1: | United States U20 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2018 |
| Nationalteam2: | United States U23 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2022 |
| Club-Update: | March 16, 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | April 15, 2023 |
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.[2]
Hocking grew up in Anaheim, California, and played high school soccer for Canyon High School.[3] [4] [5]
She played youth soccer for SoCal Blues, with which she won the 2015 ECNL U15 National Championship.[6]
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.
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.[7] She finished her career with the Trojans with 54 goals scored, at the time the 12th most in Pac-12 history,[8] [9] in her 72 career games played.
In 2022, Hocking transferred to Penn State to play her extra year of NCAA eligibility granted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] [11] She scored seven goals, and her 11 assists tied for the Big Ten Conference lead for the season.[8] [11]
National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Chicago Red Stars selected Hocking with the seventh overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft.[11] [12]
On March 20, 2023, Hocking signed a three-year contract with the Red Stars, with an option for a fourth year.[13]
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.[14] 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.[15]
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.[4] [16] 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.[17]
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.[4] Hocking has a fraternal twin sister, Iliana, and they were the first twins born to a member of the Minnesota Twins.[18] [19] Penelope and Iliana played together at Canyon High School.[5]
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.[20] Iliana was drafted by NJ/NY Gotham FC with the 44th overall pick.[21]
At the University of Southern California, Hocking majored in computer science.[22]
| Season | League | Cup[23] | Playoffs[24] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Chicago Red Stars | 2023 | NWSL | 16 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | 19 | 5 | ||
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Career total | 17 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 5 | |||
Penn State Nittany Lions
Individual