There are few teams throughout history at any level of professional soccer that had an Olympic gold medalist as their goalkeeper, but that is precisely what San Diego Wave Fútbol Club has at the moment with Kailen Sheridan.
Sheridan was part of the Canadian team that not only upset the heavily favored U.S. women’s national team in the semifinals but also ended up defeating Sweden in the gold medal match at Tokyo last summer.
“I think the international game and the professional game are very different, but the requirements in terms of the physicality, the intensity, and technical ability you still need to bring into the professional game and challenge each other,” said Sheridan.
“When you’re in camp with your national team you’re in such a condensed time and you’re at a hundred all the time trying to push each other. I think something that all the internationals brought is that we’re a new team and we don’t have time. We have to do everything at a hundred right now because all of these teams have history and we don’t.”
That sense of focus was clearly evident based on her performance in San Diego Wave’s inaugural game against Angel City FC on March 19 to open the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup where she came up with saves that are worthy of a highlight reel along with her head coach, Casey Stoney, calling what she saw out of the 26-year-old as “world-class.”
Sheridan played her college soccer at Clemson University making 76 appearances and recording 229 saves with 28 shutouts. In both 2014 and 2015, she was named to the All-ACC first team with her nomination to the team in 2014 being the first for a Clemson player since 2007.
In January 2017, Sheridan was selected as the 23rd overall pick by Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC) at the NWSL College Draft and was later named as an allocated player by Canada Soccer. Besides representing Canada on the senior national team, she has also competed for her nation at the U17, U20, and U23 levels.
Sheridan made her debut for the senior team in March of 2016 at the Algarve Cup held in Portugal. She was an alternate at the 2016 Summer Olympics being called up once again for the Algarve Cup in 2017. Sheridan was added to the roster for the 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship after an injury to goalkeeper Erin McLeod and, on May 25, 2019, she was named to the roster for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“The center backs that I have here are very different than the center backs that I have there,” she added. “It makes you a smarter soccer player for sure. Being able to switch in and out, playing with different people who have different styles. Knowing those styles and tendencies is something you have to pick up on especially under pressure.”
Sheridan arrived via trade from New Jersey to San Diego last December with her most recent competitive match previous to the game against Angel City coming on Feb. 23 when Canada took on Spain in the 2022 Arnold Clark Cup held in England. Now with San Diego, Sheridan is optimistic about what is to come with her new team.
“It’s great to know that we’re on the same page as a group,” she said. “We know that there’s another level for us and that we can compete with the best of the best. The longer we’re together the more those relationships build.”
