
Following a storied four years at UCLA in which she established herself as one of the program’s greats, Teagan Micah has quickly moved back into the W-League ranks, inking a deal with Melbourne Victory. Micah’s arrival strengthens an already-strong goalkeeping corps for Victory, with Casey Dumont in outstanding form and Melissa Maizels a capable backup.
Fresh off a second College Cup appearance as UCLA reached the semi-finals of the NCAA Tournament, Micah once again demonstrated her prowess as one of the top goalkeepers in the college ranks to round out an outstanding career. 11 clean sheets in 19 appearances saw Micah set a career-high for shutouts in a season, having made nine in each of her first two seasons and eight in 2018. With 243 career saves and just 68 goals conceded in 83 appearances, Micah finished her time at UCLA conceding just 0.82 goals per game whilst maintaining a save percentage of 78.1%.
Micah’s college career is littered with highlights, including a College Cup semi-final shootout victory over Duke in 2017 and a quite stunning performance against local rivals USC in a 3-2 overtime victory on the final day of conference play in the same season as UCLA eventually reached the championship game before falling to Beattie Goad and Stanford. On a personal level, Micah’s eight Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week awards are the most in the history of the honour, which was first awarded in 2014.
The former Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers goalkeeper also earned a spot with the Matildas on multiple occasions, firstly as an emergency call-up for the 2017 Tournament of Nations before returning to the squad in April 2019. Micah was also named as one of three goalkeepers in the Matildas World Cup squad, but continues to await her first cap for the senior national team.
With just five appearances at W-League level for Western Sydney prior to leaving for UCLA, Micah will be hoping to quickly add to that number as she battles Dumont for the starting spot between the sticks. Having been named to this week’s squad the UCLA legend has the chance to make her debut for Victory against her former club, with the reigning premiers hosting Brisbane Roar at 10:30am on Saturday morning.
Micah’s arrival adds to a burgeoning contingent of former NCAA Division I players in the W-League, joining former Florida International star Amy Jackson at the Victory. Adelaide United quartet Dylan Holmes, Isabel Hodgson, Laura Johns, and Kahlia Hogg all have Division I experience, as do Canberra United’s Rebekah Horsey, Melbourne City’s Aivi Luik, Brisbane Roar’s Isobel Dalton, and Western Sydney Wanderers’ Alexandra Huynh.
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