Andrea Kitahata

Andrea Kitahata
Kitahata with Stanford in 2024
Personal information
Full name Andrea DeMoor Kitahata[1]
Date of birth (2003-01-01) January 1, 2003 (age 21)[1]
Place of birth San Francisco, California, United States
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Stanford Cardinal
Number 20
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– Stanford Cardinal 70 (21)
International career‡
United States U-16
2019 United States U-17 2 (0)
2022 United States U-20 9 (7)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 17, 2022

Andrea DeMoor Kitahata (born January 1, 2003) is an American college soccer player who plays as a forward for the Stanford Cardinal. She represented the United States at the under-17 and under-20 level. She also played one season of college squash for Stanford.

Early life

Kitahata was born in San Francisco, one of three children of Ingrid DeMoor and Luther Kitahata, and grew up in Hillsborough, California. She attended San Mateo High School.[2] She captained her club team in the San Jose Earthquakes academy and later won a GA under-19 national title with FC Bay Area Surf.[2][3] She also played squash growing up and was ranked fourth in the nation at the under-15 level, but gave up the sport after committing to Stanford for soccer.[4] She trained with NWSL club OL Reign the spring before college.[2]

College career

Kitahata started all but one game for the Stanford Cardinal in her 2021 freshman season. She scored four goals and added a team-high six assists, being named to the All-Pac-12 Conference second team and freshman team.[2] She started the first six games of her sophomore season before choosing to take a redshirt for her mental health, grieving the death of her close friend and teammate Katie Meyer earlier in the year. She later appeared in a documentary about mental health called It's Time We Talk About It.[4][5] Before returning to soccer, she filled in on Stanford's squash team in the spring of 2023, under her former club coach Mark Talbott, and played in the team's number-eight spot at MASC and CSA tournaments.[4][6]

Kitahata's return saw her record nine goals and nine assists in the 2023 season, again being named second-team All-Pac 12.[2] She scored three of her goals in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, where Stanford's undefeated season came to an end in the final against Florida State.[7][8]

International career

Kitahata was called into training camp with the United States under-15 team in 2017.[9] She won UEFA Development Tournaments with the under-16 and under-17 teams the following two years. She was also invited to train with the Japan youth national team in 2018. She was going to play for the United States at the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The next year, with the under-20 team, she scored seven goals in six games at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, receiving the Silver Boot as the competition's second-highest scorer. She was selected to the roster at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, where the United States exited in the group stage.[2][10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Squad List: FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Costa Rica 2022" (PDF). FIFA. August 3, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Andrea Kitahata". Stanford Cardinal. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  3. ^ Bandlamudi, Adhiti (October 4, 2020). "This Girls Soccer Team's Funding Was Pulled to Favor a Boys Team, So They Went Solo". KQED. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Ingemi, Marisa (October 4, 2023). "She left Stanford soccer to focus on mental health. Now she's a rising star". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  5. ^ Mastrodonato, Jason (December 1, 2023). "A year after Katie Meyer's death, still-grieving Stanford women on verge of 'a storybook ending'". The Mercury News. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "Andrea Kitahata". Stanford Cardinal. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "Kitahata Brace Guides Cardinal Into Third Round". Stanford Cardinal. November 17, 2023. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Ingemi, Marisa (December 4, 2023). "Florida State rolls past Stanford to win women's College Cup title". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  9. ^ "U.S. U15 GNT roster for California camp". United States Soccer Federation. February 3, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  10. ^ "USA Bows Out Of FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup With 3–1 Loss To Japan". United States Soccer Federation. August 17, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2024.