Hall of Fame
“Abby” Wambach may be the most well-known girls soccer player to come out of New York State. A graduate of Our Lady of Mercy Rochester (Section V) in 1998, Abby went on to earn a bachelor’s in 2001 from the University of Florida. She was a successful two-sport athlete at Mercy playing five years on the varsity girls soccer team and four years on the varsity girls basketball team. In basketball, she led her school to the Class A Sectional Championship and was named Sectional Tournament MVP. However, soccer is where she built a long, successful scholastic, collegiate and professional career. Abby was named the All Greater Rochester Soccer Player of the Year, Gatorade Circle of Champions New York Player of the Year, NSCAA Regional Player of the Year, NSCAA State of New York Player of the Year, and NSCAA/UMBRO National Player of the Year in soccer during her senior year of high school. That year she also led her team to the NYSPHSAA State Finals and completed her high school career with 142 goals, including 34 her senior year. Wambach then accepted a full scholarship to Florida where she set records for goals (96), assists (50), points (242), game-winning goals (24), and hat-tricks (10) while earning All-American and All-SEC honors in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001. Wambach was drafted second overall by the Washington Freedom of the Women’s United Soccer Association in 2002. Two years after she graduated from college, she became a member of the US Women’s National Soccer team where she played from 2003-2015. She scored 184 goals at the international level surpassing Mia Hamm’s record, and was 2012 FIFA Word Player of the Year. In 2015, she was a key part of the United States’ World Cup Gold Medal team. Off the field Abby has made significant strides as an advocate for women’s rights and equal opportunity.