Early life

Shannon Ann MacMillan was born in Syosset, New York. She attended San Pasqual High School in Escondido, California. She has one older brother, Sean.

University of Portland

MacMillan played for the University of Portland, where she won the Hermann Trophy for the best female collegiate soccer player of the 1995 season. She earned All-America honors from 1992-95.

Playing career

Club

MacMillan was one of the founding players of the Women's United Soccer Association, playing three seasons for the San Diego Spirit.

International

While still in college, MacMillan joined the US National Team in 1994 as a midfielder. By 2000, she moved to forward.

In the Olympic semifinal against Norway in 1996, she scored the game-winning goal in overtime. In the Olympic final against China, she collected a Mia Hamm shot that rebounded off the post and put it in for the first goal of the match.

She was a "super-sub" on the US WNT's 1999 Women's World Cup team and the 2000 Olympic team. She earned a spot on the roster for the 2003 Women's World Cup team after making a miraculously quick recovery from an ACL tear suffered just four months before the tournament began.

In 2002, MacMillan scored 17 goals and was voted the U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year.

She retired from international play in 2006 at the age of 31. She finished her international career with 60 goals and with 175 caps, the tenth most of any woman in history up to that time. She was the sixth-leading goal scorer in 2005.

Honors and awards

MacMillan was awarded the MAC Hermann Trophy Award in 1995. She was voted U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year in 2002. She was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame on September 25, 2007.

Coaching career

In 2007, MacMillan became an assistant coach for the UCLA women's soccer team.

On January 7, 2010, she was named Director of the Competitive Program at the Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks Soccer Club.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]