Casey Murphy
Sport: Soccer
Born: April 25, 1996
Town: Bridgewater
Casey Grace Murphy was born April 25, 1996 in Bridgewater to Jill and Michael Murphy. The Murphys got Casey and her brother Kyle involved in youth soccer before they were in grade school. Casey showed an interest in playing goalkeeper and by the age of 10 she had settled into that position. By the time she joined the Bridgewater-Raritan High Panthers, Casey was also training with the PDA Slammers in the Elite Club National League (ECNL) and a member of the US Soccer 14-and-under roster. She would grow to 6’ in high school.
Casey earned second-team all-state recognition as a sophomore and junior. As a senior in 2013, she had 16 shutouts for Bridgewater-Raritan and was named team MVP as the Panthers won the Group IV state championship. Also in 2013, the Slammers won the ECNL U17 national title. Casey was the top-rated prep goalie in the state when she graduated in 2014. She read the field beautifully, made quick decisions and was fearless in the face of potential contact when she had to smother loose balls. Casey’s big body and long arms and legs enabled her to tip shots other goalies could not, as well as pluck crossing passes out of the air.
Casey accepted a scholarship to Rutgers and started all 20 games as a freshman in 2014. She went 13–6–1 with 10 shutouts and a .64 goals-against average. The Red Knights’ biggest win was a 1–0 shutout of high-scoring Penn State, a Top 10 team that season. Casey was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman squad. In 2015, Casey set a school record with 19 shutouts, lowered her goals-against average to .37 and was named a second-team All-American. She was the Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year and first-team all-conference.
In 2016, Casey too the college season off to play with the Under-20 national team as they vied for the 2016 Women’s U-20 World Cup in New Guinea. She was named a team co-captain prior to the tournament, in which the USA finished fourth. Upon her return to Rutgers, Casey picked up where she left off. She was named 2017 Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year and first-team all-conference again after starting the year with a school-record nine consecutive shutouts. She was also a semifinalist for the Hermann Trophy.
Casey left the school after her red-shirt junior season with a Rutgers-record 45 career shutouts, and signed to play professionally with Montpellier HSC a club in France’s Division I. The plan was to get some seasoning in France and then return to New Jersey to play for Sky Blue FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), for whom she was the #13 pick in the 2018 draft. That plan changed when she was named France’s top goalkeeper and her contract was extended. While with Montpellier, she competed in the French Women’s Cup (advancing to the quarterfinals) as well as the UEFA Women’s Championship League (reaching the quarters again).
Casey fulfilled a lifelong dream in June of 2018, when she was called up to the women’s national team for two matches against China. Following the 2018–19 season in Europe, Casey signed to play with Reign FC in Washington State in the NWSL. The Reign lost just once in their first 16 matches, but struggled late in the year to finish 10–6 with 8 draws. Casey played in 20 games. The team’s season ended in the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs with a 4–1 loss to the North Carolina Courage. Casey was a finalist for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year and earned Save of the week honors in Week 25 for a soaring block of a near-certain goal.
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