| Sarah Griffith | |
| Full Name: | Sarah Elaine Griffith[1] |
| Birth Date: | 30 April 1999 |
| Birth Place: | Naperville, Illinois |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Chicago Red Stars |
| Clubnumber: | 15 |
| Collegeyears1: | 2017–2021 |
| College1: | Purdue Boilermakers |
| Collegecaps1: | 72 |
| Collegegoals1: | 26 |
| Years1: | 2022– |
| Clubs1: | Chicago Red Stars |
| Caps1: | 28 |
| Goals1: | 2 |
| Years2: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs2: | → Newcastle Jets (loan) |
| Caps2: | 11 |
| Goals2: | 4 |
| Club-Update: | March 29, 2024 |
Sarah Elaine Griffith (born April 30, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She has previously played for Newcastle Jets of the A-League Women.
Griffith was a ball girl for the Waubonsie Valley High School girls' soccer team, and later graduated from the school.[2] [3] [4]
Griffith initially committed to play college soccer at Illinois State, later de-committing and committing to play at Purdue.[5]
She played at Purdue from 2017 to 2021.[6] She scored her first collegiate goal on August 27, 2017, against Indiana State.[7]
In 2018, Griffith was diagnosed with spondylolisthesis; she would undergo spinal surgery as she redshirted the 2018 season.[8] [9]
She was named to the All-Big Ten Conference second team for the 2020–21 season.[10]
On August 19, 2021, she scored a goal against Kentucky which was featured on SportsCenter,[11] and on August 29, 2021, she recorded a hat-trick against Ball State.[12] For the 2021 season, she was Big Ten Forward of the Year and All-Big Ten first team;[13] she was also named United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team and set a Purdue record with 16 goals.[14]
As a student at Purdue University, Griffith majored in psychological sciences.[6] [15]
In December 2021, Griffith was selected by the Chicago Red Stars in the third round of the 2022 NWSL Draft.[2] She made her NWSL regular season debut on April 30, 2022, playing 80 minutes against Racing Louisville FC.[16] She scored her first goal for the club against Orlando Pride on May 22, 2022. On July 10, 2022, she scored against North Carolina Courage in the stoppage time.[17]
On November 1, 2022, it was announced that Griffith was signed on-loan by Newcastle Jets for the 2022–23 A-League Women season.[18] On November 26, 2022, Griffith scored a hat-trick in a match against Western Sydney Wanderers leading the team to a 4–2 victory.[19] In mid-February 2023, Griffith returned from her loan early to prepare for the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season.[20]
Griffith was born to parents Peter and Melissa, and was raised with an older brother, Noah, who played college soccer for Illinois Tech,[21] and a younger brother, Aaron.[5]
| Season | League | Cup[22] | Playoffs[23] | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Chicago Red Stars | 2022 | NWSL | 19 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 26 | 2 | ||
| 2023 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||||
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 2[24] | 1 | 8 | 1 | |||||
| Newcastle Jets FC | 2022–23 | A-League | 11 | 4 | — | — | — | 11 | 4 | ||||
| Career total | 42 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 55 | 7 | |||
Individual[6]