Stephanie Sparkowski

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Stephanie Sparkowski

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| fullname = Stephanie Elisabeth Sparkowski

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2002|04|18}}

| birth_place =

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=0}}

| position = Goalkeeper

| currentclub = Chicago Stars

| clubnumber = 27

| collegeyears1 = 2021–2024

| college1 = Michigan Wolverines

| collegecaps1 = 39

| collegegoals1 = 0

| years1 = 2022

| clubs1 = Long Island Rough Riders

| caps1 = 2

| goals1 = 0

| years2 = 2025–

| clubs2 = Chicago Stars

| caps2 = 0

| goals2 = 0

| club-update = June 3, 2025

}}

Stephanie Elisabeth Sparkowski (born April 18, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Chicago Stars FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She played college soccer for the Michigan Wolverines.

Early life

Sparkowski grew up in East Meadow, New York, where she attended East Meadow High School.{{Cite web |title=Stephanie Sparkowski - Women's Soccer |url=https://mgoblue.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/stephanie-sparkowski/25694 |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=University of Michigan Athletics |language=en}} She captained the school's soccer team and was a four-year varsity letterwinner.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-11 |title=Star High School Soccer Player Breaking Barriers On The Football Field, Recording Perfect Kicking Record - CBS New York |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/soccer-player-football-long-island/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}} As a senior, she was named a Fall All-American and also received the opportunity to play in the 2019 Allstate High School All-American game.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=United Soccer Coaches Announces 2019 Fall High School All-America Teams |url=https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/united-soccer-coaches-announces-2019-fall-high-school-all-america-teams/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Stieglitz |first=Brian |date=2018-12-13 |title=East Meadow soccer star becomes an 'Allstate All-American' |url=https://liherald.com/fivetowns/stories/east-meadow-soccer-star-becomes-an-allstate-all-american,110106 |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Herald Community Newspapers |language=en}} The very same year, Sparkowski became the first female student to play on East Meadow's football team.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-10 |title=Stephanie Sparkowski switches from soccer pitch to football field |url=https://www.newsday.com/sports/high-school/stephanie-sparkowski-east-meadow-football-girls-soccer-a85009 |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Newsday |language=en}} She played in 7 games as a placekicker, sometimes in a close timeframe with her soccer commitments.{{Cite web |last=Stoll |first=Nicholas |date=2020-12-02 |title=With Sarah Fuller’s historic kick, Stephanie Sparkowski finds inspiration |url=http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/sports-society/with-sarah-fullers-historic-kick-stephanie-sparkowski-finds-inspiration/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}} She also played basketball and lacrosse for her school, as well as soccer with New York's ODP team.

College career

In her senior year of high school, Sparkowski committed to the University of Michigan.{{Cite web |last=Stieglitz |first=Brian |date=2019-11-21 |title=Stephanie Sparkowski signs her National Letter of Intent |url=https://www.liherald.com/stories/stephanie-sparkowski-signs-her-national-letter-of-intent,120123 |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=Herald Community Newspapers |language=en}} She joined the Wolverines in 2021, but did not see any playing time in her first two seasons of college soccer. She made her collegiate debut early in her junior year, appearing in a dominant victory over Central Michigan on September 4, 2022.{{Cite web |title=Six Second-Half Goals Lift U-M over CMU |url=https://mgoblue.com/news/2022/9/4/womens-soccer-six-second-half-goals-lift-u-m-over-cmu |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=University of Michigan Athletics |language=en}} However, she only played in 2 more games and continued to experience time as a backup goalkeeper.{{Cite web |last=Day |first=Jack |date=2022-09-27 |title=Michigan women's soccer loses to Nebraska 1-0 amid key injury |url=http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/ninos-absence-proves-costly-in-1-0-loss-to-nebraska/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}} Following the departure of Izzy Nino in 2023, Sparkowski quickly ascended to a starting position and played in all 18 of Michigan's matches for two seasons in a row. She was responsible for 6 clean sheets in her first year at the helm and also sported an 81% save percentage. The Big Ten Conference recognized her performances with two consecutive Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Week honors in September 2023. During the Wolverines' first-round NCAA tournament loss, she made 7 saves to help prevent a more lopsided defeat.{{Cite web |title=U-M Eliminated from NCAA Tournament by Princeton |url=https://mgoblue.com/news/2023/11/10/womens-soccer-u-m-eliminated-from-ncaa-tournament-by-princeton |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=University of Michigan Athletics |language=en}} The following year, Michigan and got off to a slow start, conceding goals and going winless in the first 6 game of the season. In their seventh match, a home game against Alabama, Sparkowski helped turn the tide and made several saves to help the Wolverines earn a shutout victory.{{Cite web |last=Jain |first=Niyatee |date=2024-09-09 |title=Sparkowski, Michigan prevail for first win of the season |url=http://www.michigandaily.com/sports/soccer/sparkowski-michigan-prevail-for-first-win-of-the-season/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=The Michigan Daily |language=en-US}} Later on in the year, she broke her single-game save record and entered double digits, recording 10 against Penn State. In both of her latter two seasons, Sparkowski was recognized with the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Club career

= Long Island Rough Riders =

During the offseason leading up to her junior year of college, Sparkowski played with the Long Island Rough Riders in the pre-professional USL W League.{{Cite web |date=October 7, 2022 |title=Women’s Rough Riders ‘Round College |url=https://liroughriders.com/womens-rough-riders-round-college/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |language=en-US}} She starred in four regular season matches without conceding a goal against and one playoff game.

= Chicago Stars =

After completing her time with Michigan, Sparkowski joined Chicago Stars FC's 2025 preseason squad as a non-rostered invitee.{{Cite web |date=2025-01-27 |title=Chicago Stars FC Release Preseason Roster {{!}} Chicago Stars FC |url=https://chicagostars.com/first-team/chicago-stars-fc-release-preseason-roster/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website= |publisher=Chicago Stars FC |language=en-US}} Although she was not offered a contract at the start of the Stars' NWSL campaign, she was later met by an opportunity after Chicago goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood was placed on the 45-day injury list. On June 3, 2025, Sparkowski signed her first professional contract with the Stars, inking a roster relief contract to fill in for Wood.{{Cite web |date=2025-06-03 |title=Chicago Stars FC Places Mackenzie Wood on 45-Day Injury List, Signs Stephanie Sparkowski |url=https://chicagostars.com/first-team/chicago-stars-fc-places-mackenzie-wood-on-45-day-injury-list-signs-stephanie-sparkowski/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website= |publisher=Chicago Stars FC |language=en-US}}

International career

Sparkowski has attended various United States youth national team camps, with her first call-up arriving in 2016.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2016-11-15 |title=Spotlight: Rough Riders' Stephanie Sparkowski |url=https://www.sylsoccer.com/news_article/show/721959-spotlight-rough-riders-stephanie-sparkowski |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=USL Youth |language=en-us}} On March 13, 2017, she was invited to an under-16 training camp in San Diego.{{Cite web |title=Roster announced for U.S. U-16 Girls National Team camp in San Diego |url=https://www.soccerwire.com/news/roster-announced-for-u-s-u-16-girls-national-team-camp-in-san-diego/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=SoccerWire |language=en}} Eight years later, Lisa Cole summoned Sparkowski back into the youth national team fold, inviting her to an under-23 training camp starting in March 2025.{{Cite web |title=24 Players Called Up for U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team Training Camp in Los Angeles |url=https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2025/03/24-players-called-up-for-us-u-23-womens-national-team-training-camp-in-los-angeles |access-date=2025-06-04 |website= |publisher=US Soccer |language=en}}

Personal life

On December 2, 2024, Sparkowski got engaged to Jade Gray.{{Cite Instagram |postid=DD2OOuWuAh6 |user=stephaniesparkowski |title=Our little life update December 2, 2024 <3 |first=Stephanie |last=Sparkowski |date=December 21, 2024}}

Career statistics

= Club =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ! rowspan="2" \|Club ! rowspan="2" \|Season ! colspan="3" \|League ! colspan="2" \|Cup ! colspan="2" \|Playoffs{{Efn\|Includes the USL W League Playoffs and NWSL Playoffs}} ! colspan="2" \|Total
Division !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals !Apps !Goals
Long Island Rough Riders \|2022{{Cite web \|title=Long Island Rough Riders - 2022 Playoffs - Roster - #1 - Stephanie Sparkowski - \|url=https://www.uslwleague.com/roster_players/55568812 \|access-date=2025-06-03 \|website= \|publisher=USL W League}} \|USL W League \|4 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \|1 \|0 \|3 \|0
Chicago Stars FC \|2025 \|NWSL \|0 \|0 \| colspan="2" \|— \| colspan="2" \|— \|0 \|0
colspan="3" \|Career total !2 !0 !0 !0 !1 !0 !3 !0

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

! rowspan="2" |Club

! rowspan="2" |Season

! colspan="3" |League

! colspan="2" |Cup

! colspan="2" |Playoffs{{Efn|Includes the USL W League Playoffs and NWSL Playoffs}}

! colspan="2" |Total

Division

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

!Apps

!Goals

Long Island Rough Riders

|2022{{Cite web |title=Long Island Rough Riders - 2022 Playoffs - Roster - #1 - Stephanie Sparkowski - |url=https://www.uslwleague.com/roster_players/55568812 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website= |publisher=USL W League}}

| colspan="2" |—

| colspan="2" |—

colspan="3" |Career total