Sam Staab

Sam Staab's record at Washington Spirit is measured in matches missed, not matches played: the American defender spent three seasons as the NWSL's "Iron Woman," winning the title three times for starting every fixture, and holding the league record for consecutive starts, 105 in a row. That kind of reliability made her trade to Chicago Red Stars, completed on 12 January 2024, land as a shock across the league, coming as Washington Spirit broke up the roster that had won the NWSL championship in 2021 with Staab in the side.

She built her game at Clemson University, where recognition came steadily rather than all at once: a place on the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2015, second-team honours in 2016 and 2017, and finally ACC Defensive Player of the Year in 2018. The step into the professional ranks came at Washington Spirit, and she wasted little time announcing herself going forward as well as at the back, scoring in the 59th minute on her 2019 debut against Sky Blue FC and later netting Spirit's only goal in a 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup match against Portland Thorns.

The consistency that defined her Washington years was interrupted in July 2024, when Staab ruptured her Achilles tendon against NJ/NY Gotham FC and was ruled out for the rest of the season, ending the longest active run of any player in the league.

Her performances earned wider recognition too: a place on the 2023 NWSL Best XI, plus NWSL Player of the Month honours in May and June 2019. International recognition followed a similar path from youth to senior level. After two caps for the United States under-23 side in 2018, she received her first senior call-up in 2024 and made her debut for the United States on 1 June that year in a friendly against South Korea.