Clare Gagne

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Clare Gagne

| image = UNC vs Davidson (Aug 2024) 26 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Gagne with North Carolina in 2024

| full_name = Clare Wilson Gagne{{cite web |url=https://commencement.brown.edu/sites/default/files/2024-05/Full-Commencement-Program-2024.pdf |title=Full Commencement Program 2024 |publisher=Brown University |accessdate=January 26, 2025 |page=12}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2002|02|22}}

| birth_place =

| height = 6 ft 0 in

| position = Goalkeeper

| currentclub = Kansas City Current

| clubnumber = 0

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| collegeyears1 = 2021–2023

| college1 = Brown Bears

| collegecaps1 = 28

| collegegoals1 = 0

| collegeyears2 = 2024

| college2 = North Carolina Tar Heels

| collegecaps2 = 27

| collegegoals2 = 0

| years1 = 2025–

| clubs1 = Kansas City Current

| caps1 = 0

| goals1 = 0

| club-update =

}}

Clare Wilson Gagne is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Brown Bears and the North Carolina Tar Heels. She helped lead the Tar Heels to the 2024 national championship, being named the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

Early life and college career

Gagne grew up in Orono, Minnesota, one of four children born to Stacey Wilson and Steve Gagne. She attended Orono High School, where she captained the soccer team, earned all-state honors two times, and helped reach three state championship games. She played ECNL club soccer for Minnesota Thunder Academy. She was ranked as the fifth-best goalkeeper of the 2020 class.{{cite web|url=https://brownbears.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/clare-gagne/19621|title=Clare Gagne|publisher=Brown Bears|access-date=2025-01-08}}{{cite web|url=https://goheels.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/clare-gagne/25959|title=Clare Gagne|publisher=North Carolina Tar Heels|access-date=2025-01-08}}

=Brown Bears, North Carolina Tar Heels=

Gagne's freshman season with the Brown Bears was cancelled to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and she made only 12 appearances (7 starts) over the next two seasons. In her senior season in 2023, she became Brown's primary goalkeeper, making 16 appearances (15 starts) and keeping 7 clean sheets. Gagne and Brown won the Ivy League regular-season championship all three seasons she played there.{{cite news|url=https://ivyleague.com/news/2023/10/21/brown-womens-soccer-claims-fourth-consecutive-ivy-league-title.aspx|title=Brown Women's Soccer Claims Fourth-Consecutive Ivy League Title|date=2023-10-21|publisher=Ivy League|access-date=2025-01-08}}

Following four years in Providence, Gagne transferred to the North Carolina Tar Heels to play as a graduate student in the 2024 season. North Carolina's Maddie Dahlien, also from Minnesota, helped recruit her after she entered the transfer portal.{{cite news|url=https://www.startribune.com/maddie-dahlien-clare-gagne-khyah-harper-womens-soccer-nwsl-minnesota/601233185|title=Three Minnesotans make history in new era for women’s soccer|last=Hettesheimer|first=Cassidy|date=2025-03-10|newspaper=Minnesota Star Tribune|access-date=2025-03-10}} Gagne started all 27 matches for the Tar Heels and kept 13 clean sheets (third in the nation). She made 74 saves on the season with a career-high 13 in a 4–2 loss to Florida State. In the NCAA tournament, she saved a penalty kick against Santa Clara in a tight 1–0 win in the second round. She ended up allowing only one goal in six games of the tournament, shutting out Duke 3–0 in the semifinals and Wake Forest 1–0 in the final, as North Carolina won their 23rd national title and first since 2012. She was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player.{{cite news|url=https://chapelboro.com/sports/unc-womens-soccer-beats-wake-forest-for-23rd-national-championship|title=UNC Women's Soccer Beats Wake Forest to Win 23rd National Championship|last=Koh|first=Michael|date=2024-12-09|website=Chapelboro.com|access-date=2024-12-09}}

Club career

=Kansas City Current=

The Kansas City Current announced on January 8, 2025, that they had signed Gagne to a one-year contract.{{cite news|url=https://www.kansascitycurrent.com/news/kansas-city-current-signs-trio-of-collegiate-stars-two-u17-w|title=Kansas City Current signs trio of collegiate stars Two U17 World Cup stars and a NCAA National Champion set to join Kansas City|date=2025-01-08|publisher=Kansas City Current|access-date=2025-01-08}}{{cite news|url=https://www.kansascity.com/sports/soccer/kc-current/article298178698.html|title=With NWSL Draft kaput, KC Current signs 3 college standouts, including owners' daughter|last=Sperry|first=Daniel|date=2025-01-08|newspaper=The Kansas City Star|access-date=2025-01-08}}