Emma C. Sears Bio
Emma C. Sears (born February 23, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States women’s national soccer team. A former Ohio State Buckeye, Sears entered the professional ranks in 2024 when she was drafted by Louisville in the second round of the NWSL Draft. Within two seasons she developed into one of the league’s most productive American attackers and earned her first cap for the senior national team in late 2024.
Emma C. Sears Career
Early Career (2019–2023)
Sears played youth soccer for Ohio Premier and attended Dublin Jerome High School in Dublin, Ohio, where she was a four-year letterwinner and a three-year starter on the girls’ soccer team. She was named first team All-Ohio after both her junior and senior seasons, establishing herself as one of the top attacking prospects in the state before committing to Ohio State University.
From 2019 through 2023, Sears featured in 83 matches for the Ohio State Buckeyes across five college seasons. She scored 25 goals and tallied 15 assists, with her strike against Bucknell University in extra time of the first round of the 2022 NCAA tournament standing out as a signature moment. Sears earned second team All-Big Ten honors in the Spring 2021 and 2022 seasons, then first team All-Big Ten recognition in 2023 while transitioning from a wide forward role into a deeper playmaking position. She graduated from Ohio State with a degree in health science in 2023.
Racing Louisville FC (2024–Present)
Sears was selected 28th overall in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft by Racing Louisville FC and signed a one-year deal with an additional-year option. She made her professional debut as a 66th-minute substitute against the Orlando Pride on opening matchday, March 16, 2024, and scored her first professional goal in a 5–1 win over the Utah Royals on April 20. Two weeks later she earned her first Louisville start against Orlando, then produced back-to-back NWSL Goals of the Week with a tight-angle strike in a 3–3 draw with the Kansas City Current on May 18 and the lone goal in a 1–0 win over the Chicago Red Stars on May 25. On May 22, 2024, Louisville extended her contract through the 2026 season. She finished her rookie year with five goals and two assists in 26 matches, including 12 starts.
In 2025, Sears elevated her game and became the heartbeat of Louisville’s attack. She set a club record with 10 goals during the season and finished as the top American goalscorer in the NWSL while guiding Racing Louisville to its first-ever playoff appearance. Her June 6 strike against the Utah Royals earned her third career NWSL Goal of the Week award, and she was named to the NWSL October/November Best XI after recording her first professional brace against the North Carolina Courage on October 4, 2025. On October 9, 2025, she signed a new contract that will keep her at Louisville through the 2028 season. At year’s end she was named to the 2025 NWSL Best XI Second Team.
United States National Team (2024–Present)
Sears received her first senior national team call-up in October 2024, joining the United States women’s national team for its Olympic gold medal victory tour. On October 27, 2024, she entered a 3–1 friendly win over Iceland as a 55th-minute substitute for Yazmeen Ryan and immediately assisted Lynn Williams on the opening goal before scoring in stoppage time, becoming the first player to score and assist on her USWNT debut since Christen Press in 2013. On October 29, 2025, Sears recorded her first international hat trick in a 6–0 victory over New Zealand, cementing her place as an emerging contributor for the senior national side.
Notable Events and Milestones
Sears’s debut goal and assist against Iceland placed her name alongside Christen Press in the U.S. national team record book, while her 10-goal 2025 club campaign set a new Racing Louisville single-season scoring record and led the franchise to its inaugural playoff berth. Her hat trick against New Zealand in October 2025 marked another landmark in her still-young international career.
Emma C. Sears Career Wins
Across club and international play, Sears has accumulated verified goal-scoring milestones at every level she has represented. She delivered match-winning goals in the NCAA tournament for Ohio State, opened her professional account in her rookie season with Louisville, and broke through with double-digit scoring and a hat trick at the international level in 2025.
NWSL Highlights
In her debut 2024 NWSL campaign, Sears scored five goals and added two assists in 26 appearances, highlighted by back-to-back NWSL Goals of the Week in May. The 2025 season elevated her further, as her club-record 10 goals powered Louisville to its first playoff appearance, earned her a Best XI selection in October and November, and finished with a 2025 NWSL Best XI Second Team honor.
International Highlights
Sears opened her United States women’s national team career with a goal and an assist against Iceland in October 2024, then capped her 2025 calendar with a hat trick in a 6–0 win over New Zealand on October 29, 2025, giving her at least four senior international goals across her first year with the program.
Emma C. Sears Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Sears was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey to Robin and Lindsay Sears and spent parts of her childhood in England and Laguna Beach, California before her family settled in Dublin, Ohio. Her twin sister, Bronwen Sears, played collegiate soccer for the Miami RedHawks, giving the family a clear sporting connection through the women’s college game.
Personal Life
Outside of professional soccer, Sears completed a health science degree at Ohio State University in 2023 and has continued to build her professional career in Louisville under contracts that now run through the 2028 NWSL season.
2025 Season Performance
The 2025 NWSL season represented a defining year for Emma C. Sears at Racing Louisville FC. She set a new club single-season scoring record with 10 goals and led the team to its first playoff appearance, emerging as the top American goalscorer in the league along the way. Her form was recognized with an NWSL Best XI selection in October and November and a spot on the 2025 NWSL Best XI Second Team.
Sears produced memorable individual performances throughout the campaign, including a June 6 goal against the Utah Royals that earned her third career NWSL Goal of the Week and a first professional brace against the North Carolina Courage on October 4. Louisville rewarded her breakout year by extending her contract on October 9, 2025, committing to her services through the 2028 season.
On the international stage, Sears continued her rapid rise with the United States women’s national team, capping her year with her first international hat trick in a 6–0 victory over New Zealand on October 29, 2025. With a long-term Louisville deal in hand and an expanding role for the U.S. program, Sears enters 2026 positioned as one of the NWSL’s premier American forwards.
