Cal Sports Report

Alex Morgan Says Farewell in Front of a Big Crowd

Former Cal star Morgan plays her final pro soccer match before nearly a full house at Snapdragon Stadium

Jake Curtis

San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan walks onto the pitch for her final game
San Diego Wave FC forward Alex Morgan walks onto the pitch for her final game / Abe Arredondo-Imagn Images
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A big crowd nearly filled 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium on Sunday evening to say goodbye to former Cal star Alex Morgan.

Morgan was in the starting lineup for the San Diego Wave against the North Carolina Courage, but she played only 13 minutes before being replaced. At that point she hugged each of her teammates, then took off her cleats as a ceremonial indication of her retirement. She then waved to the crowd, tears in her eyes, before leaving the pitch for the final time.

The 35-year-old Morgan, who has scored 123 international goals, announced on Thursday that she was retiring from pro soccer and that Sunday's National Women's Soccer League game between her San Diego Wave squad and the North Carolina Courage would be her final game.

CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, NWSL+, Prime Video, ESPN2, ESPN+ and KUSI televised the game.

Morgan also announced on Thursday that she is pregnant with her second child with her husband, Servando Carrasco.

It was not a perfect ending for Morgan, who failed to convert a penalty kick in the 10th minute on Sunday. She did not score a goal for the San Diego Wave the entire season. When she left the game, the score was tied 1-1, although the result of the game was not really relevant.

Morgan won two World Cups and one Olympic gold medal as a prominent member of the U.S. Women's National Team, although she was not named to the roster of this year's U.S. Olympic team, which recently won a gold medal in France.

She ranks fifth alltime in international goals scored by U.S. women, and she was first among active Americans before her retirement.

But her larger influence has been her outspoken advocacy of women's athletes and utilizing her platform to effect change.

She scored 15 goals for the Wave in 2022 and added seven goals last year. However, she did not score any goals for the San Diego Wave this season.

Morgan was a standout soccer player at Cal. She played in only 12 games for the Bears as a senior in 2010 because she was named to the U.S. National Team during the season. She led the Bears in goals with 14 and in points with 30 despite her short stay that season, and she led the nation in scoring for most of that season.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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