Katie Meyer, 22, the goaltender for the Stanford women’s soccer team, has tragically passed away in a campus residence, reported the New York Post. “Katie was extraordinarily committed to everything and everyone in her world,” Stanford vice provost for student affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and athletic director Bernard Muir said in a message on the university’s communications site, not revealing the cause of death.
“Her friends describe her as a larger-than-life team player in all her pursuits, from choosing an academic discipline she said ‘changed my perspective on the world and the very important challenges that we need to work together to overcome’ to the passion she brought to the Cardinal women’s soccer program and to women’s sports in general.”
They added, “Fiercely competitive, Katie made two critical saves in a penalty shootout against North Carolina to help Stanford win its third NCAA women’s soccer championship in 2019. Katie was a bright shining line for so many on the field and in our community. There are no words to express the emptiness that we feel at this moment. We are reaching out to all of you in our community, because this impacts all of us.”
She was a California native
Born in Burbank, California, Katie was the daughter of Steven and Gina Meyer. She also had one older sister, Samantha, and a younger sister, Siena. Katie was a senior at the school and was majoring in International Relations with a minor in history, a field she said “changed my perspective on the world and the very important challenges that we need to work together to overcome,” per the school’s communications website.
She helped Stanford win its third NCAA women’s soccer championship in 2019
some tough replies under this one…
but if you told my 9-year-old-gk self that ESPNFC would show a SAVE SHE MADE? i think she’d find a way to get over a few mean comments. girl power forever.ᵃˡˢᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ ᵃʳᵉⁿᵗ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶜʳᵉᵃᵗⁱᵛᵉ https://t.co/yNcFMVZXrs
— katie meyer (@kdmeyer19) April 5, 2020
In addition to her various successes as a goaltender, Katie lead her team to win the NCAA championship in 2019, with an epic save during penalty kicks with North Carolina that made history. Her uproarious celebration of victory was recorded by ESPN and labeled as a definite “Big Mood” as Katie celebrated and proudly displayed her Stanford pride.
“[I]f you told my 9-year-old-gk self that ESPNFC would show a SAVE SHE MADE? i think she’d find a way to get over a few mean comments,” Katie wrote on Twitter about the memorable moment. “[G]irl power forever.”
She had numerous career highlights as a soccer player
Katie’s viral moment against North Carolina may have gained her some unprecedented glory, but she already had numerous successes under her belt. After playing soccer all throughout high school and winning various awards, she also participated in domestic camps for U16, U17, and U18 national teams and participated in national tournaments. After being redshirted as a freshman at Stanford, Katie went on to make a plethora of saves throughout her years on the team and, as a Team Captain, helped her team make two College Cup appearances, become two-time Pac-12 Champions, and, of course, become 2019 NCAA champions.
All of her accomplishments can be seen here.
She strongly supported other female athletes
In addition to he success on the field, Katie was fiercely supportive of other women athletes, littering both her Twitter and Instagram feeds with clips, photos, and messages of women’s sports.
She linked to the Just Women Sports page in her Instagram bio, which is a page that solely focuses on highlights and news from the women’s sports world. She also, as seen in the above photo, showed her support for her friends, posting about their success and achievements in their chosen profession.
She was just starting her own positivity-focused show
Katie was on track to starting a major new project: a show of her own called “Be The Mentality,” where she would talk to guests chosen by her to talk about “their lives, their passions, everything under the sun.” The first episode featured her father, and she noted it was a project she was working on for “two years.” We’re completely disheartened to see a valuable project get cut short by the soccer player’s untimely death.
Our prayers and thoughts are with the Meyer family over this devastating loss.