Samantha Chang (soccer)

Samantha Chang
Chang receives L1O Young Player of the Year award in 2017
Personal information
Full name Samantha Susan Chang
Date of birth (2000-07-13) July 13, 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s) Midfield
Team information
Current team
 HB Køge
Number 7
Youth career
Mississauga SC
Brampton Brams United
Unionville Milliken SC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2022 South Carolina Gamecocks 83 (9)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 Unionville Milliken SC 11 (4)
2019 Unionville Milliken SC 6 (1)
2022 Unionville Milliken SC 3 (2)
2023 Torreense 9 (1)
2023– HB Køge 16 (1)
International career‡
2014 Canada U15 6 (0)
2016 Canada U17 5 (0)
2020 Canada U20 3 (0)
2021– Canada 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of March 29, 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of February 22, 2021

Samantha Susan Chang (born July 13, 2000) is a Canadian soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Danish club HB Køge.

Early life

Chang was born in Mississauga, Ontario, to a South Korean father and a Canadian mother and began playing soccer with the Mississauga Soccer Club at the age of 3, before eventually moving on to playing with Brams United of Brampton and then Unionville Milliken SC.[1]

College career

In 2018, she signed a scholarship to play for the University of South Carolina's women's soccer team.[2] She missed her freshman season in 2018, due to injury. She made her debut on August 22, 2019, recording two assists in a 2-1 victory over the NC State Wolfpack.[3][4] She scored her first goal six days later against the Jacksonville Dolphins.[5] She scored her first NCAA Tournament goal, which was also her first game-winning goal on November 16 against the Samford Bulldogs.[6] In her debut season in 2019, she appeared in 23 games and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.[3] After a gamewinning goal performance against the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2020, she earned SEC and National Player of the Week honours.[7][8][9] She won the SEC title with South Carolina in her senior season, being named to the All-Tournament team.[10]

Club career

In 2017, she began playing for Unionville Milliken's first team in League1 Ontario[11] at age 16, serving as team captain, despite being on a roster with players as old as 25 with NCAA Division 1 experience.[2] She was named the league's Young Player of the Year and a league First Team All-Star.[12] She returned to UMSC in 2019, scoring once in six appearances.[13] She returned to the side in 2022, scoring twice in her season debut against Simcoe County Rovers.[14][15]

In February 2023, she joined Portuguese club Torreense in the Campeonato Nacional de Futebol Feminino.[16] She scored her first goal in her debut on February 4 against Länk Vilaverdense.[17]

In July 2023, she signed with Danish club HB Køge.[18][19] She made her debut on August 26, scoring her first goal as well, in a league match against FC Thy-Thisted Q.[20][21]

International career

Chang has represented Canada at the 2014 CONCACAF Girls' U-15 Championship, scoring the winning penalty kick as Canada won the gold medal and was named to the tournament Best XI.[22] She also represented Canada at the 2016 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and 2020 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship.[23][24]

She was named to the Canadian senior squad for the first time in 2021 for the 2021 SheBelieves Cup,[25] making her debut on February 21 against Argentina.[26][27]

References

  1. ^ Samantha Chang at the Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Pereira, Gene (February 17, 2018). "UMSC soccer duo "the best of the best"". Markham Review.
  3. ^ a b "Samantha Chang profile". South Carolina Gamecocks.
  4. ^ "Gamecocks Storm Back to Defeat No. 21 NC State". South Carolina Gamecocks. August 22, 2019.
  5. ^ "Bahr Continues Hot Start in 6-0 Victory". South Carolina Gamecocks. August 28, 2019.
  6. ^ "Gamecocks Handle Samford in NCAA Tournament Opener". South Carolina Gamecocks. November 16, 2019.
  7. ^ "Gamecocks' Sam Chang Named College Player of the Week". Southeastern Conference. October 20, 2020.
  8. ^ "Samantha Chang Earns Numerous National Honors". South Carolina Gamecocks. October 20, 2020.
  9. ^ "Samantha Chang named SEC Offensive Player of the Week". ABC Columbia. October 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Davidson, Neil (January 11, 2023). "Canadian midfielder Samantha Chang ready for next step on soccer adventure". Toronto Star.
  11. ^ "Samantha Chang 2017 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  12. ^ "Toronto FC III's Rollocks And Unionville Milliken's Chang Win 2017 League1 Ontario Young Player Of Year Awards". League1 Ontario. November 6, 2017.
  13. ^ "Samantha Chang 2019 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  14. ^ "Samantha Change 2022 L1O Stats". League1 Ontario.
  15. ^ Bates, Matt (May 23, 2022). "L1O Weekly Rewind". League1 Ontario.
  16. ^ "Samantha Chang alarga opções para o meio-campo" [Samantha Chang expands midfield options]. S.C.U. Torreense (in Portuguese). February 6, 2023.
  17. ^ "Canadians Cloé Lacasse and Samantha Chang score in Portuguese women's league". Canadian Soccer Daily. February 4, 2023.
  18. ^ "Welcome Samantha". HB Køge (in Danish). July 25, 2023.
  19. ^ Kamper, Anders (July 26, 2023). "To nye til mestrene" [Two new to the masters]. Sjællandske Nyheder (in Danish).
  20. ^ "Spændt Chang før sæsonåbner: "Vi føler os klar"" [Excited Chang before season opener: "We feel ready"]. HB Køge (in Danish). August 25, 2023.
  21. ^ "Canadisk debutant skaffer HB Køges mestre smal sejr" [Canadian debutant gives HB Køge's champions a narrow victory]. Ugeavisen (in Danish). August 26, 2023.
  22. ^ Colpitts, Iain (September 11, 2014). "Chang plays big role in CONCACAF win". Mississauga News.
  23. ^ Adams, Cam (February 23, 2020). "Gamecock women's soccer player Samantha Chang selected to Canadian U20 women's national team". The Daily Gamecock.
  24. ^ "Canada Names Samantha Chang to U20 CONCACAF Roster". South Carolina Gamecocks. February 6, 2020.
  25. ^ Davidson, Neil (January 25, 2020). "Bev Priestman includes six uncapped players in her first roster as Canada's women's soccer coach". The Globe and Mail.
  26. ^ "Canada gets first win of 2021 with 1:0 victory over Argentina". Sport Information Resource Centre. February 22, 2020.
  27. ^ Muller, Brad (March 5, 2021). "Chang Fulfills Lifelong Dream While Inspiring Others". South Carolina Gamecocks.