@fullname - @sport - University of North Carolina Athletics

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

Photo by: Rebecca Lawson

Photo by: Keith Lucas

Alessia Russo

Position:
Forward
Height:
5-9
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Kent, England
High School:
St. Simon Stock Catholic

Dorrance on Alessia: “Before she broke her leg last year she was our MVP. She is a wonderfully creative attacking personality. It is a privilege to coach her. She is so good beating players off the dribble. She’s also extraordinary with her back to pressure. Her strike is amongst the most powerful on the roster. She can score from long range like few players I’ve ever coached. She also has the capacity to change the point consistently and she will be one of our best players and will probably end up starting for us at the 9.”

Junior Year (2019): Hermann Trophy semifinalist • Most Valuable Player of the 2019 ACC Tournament • named first-team All-ACC for the third year in a row • All-ACC Tournament selection • preseason All-ACC selection • team tri-captain • played 24 matches overall, all starts, playing 1,432 minutes • leads the team in goals with 13 and is second in points with 29 • also has three assists • has five braces this season and seven for her career • leads Carolina with six game-winning goals • has 27 career goals, tied for 40th in UNC history • 16 of her career goals have been game-winning tallies • 59.3 percent of the goals she has scored in her career have been game-winners • going in the USC game, she had scored six goals and has two assists in the previous five games • played for the England U23 National Team at the Nordic Cup in her native country from August 28-September 2 • started each of the first two games of the season at center forward and has been starting in the twin nines in the 3-5-2 formation since the game at Pitt • played 66 minutes against Indiana and 72 minutes against Duke on opening weekend • returned to starting lineup after Nordic Cup trip in 8-0 win over UNLV • scored her first goal of the season at 4:59 of match against UNLV and added a second goal in the game at 57:41 to put the Tar Heels up 8-0 • added a second brace this season versus Wake Forest, scoring in 79th and 87th minutes • her third brace of the season came at Louisville as she scored in 22nd and 81st minutes • her goal at 21:32 versus Louisville was the game-winning tally • was named to Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week after two-goal performance at Louisville • was fouled twice deep in Pitt territory which set up Brianna Pinto’s game-tying and Taylor Otto’s game-winning goals in 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Panthers • earned her first assist on goal by Rachel Jones at 79:05 of Boston College match • had her fourth brace of the season and sixth of her career in ACC Tournament semifinals versus NC State • scored the game-winner against the Wolfpack at 7:28 and added a second goal at 88:24 • scored the game-winning goal at 101:48 to lift UNC to 2-1 double overtime win over #1-ranked Virginia in ACC Tournament championship game • scored twice in NCAA first round win over Belmont, earning her fifth brace of the campaign • scored the game-winning goal in the NCAA second round game against Colorado, sending a laser into the back of the net at the 47:54 mark • had the first multi-assist game of her career in NCAA Tournament third round against Michigan, assisting on goals by Isabel Cox at 5:56 and 50:01.

Sophomore Year (2018): 2018 United Soccer Coaches first-team All-America selection, the first Tar Heel to make the first team since Crystal Dunn in 2013 • was injured early in second half against Wake Forest, breaking her leg in 50th minute • had surgery on October 29 and was out the remainder of the campaign • 2018 ACC Offensive Player of the Year • first-team All-ACC selection • United Soccer Coaches first-team All-Atlantic Region selection • semifinalist for 2018 Hermann Trophy • named to England roster for U20 World Cup which was held in August 2018 in France • played on an England team which won the bronze medal there • was slated to go to England in November 2018 for a full National Team call up but that was canceled due to her knee injury • named to preseason All-ACC Team • tapped for 45-member MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List • a Soccer America preseason Best XI selection • ranked as the #36 player in the nation in Top Drawer Soccer’s postseason Top 100 list • returned to lineup against Providence after the U20 World Cup, playing 37 minutes and assisting on Julia Ashley’s game-winning goal • started at left wing against Marquette, playing 46 minutes • played in 14 games overall, starting 13 times and playing 867 minutes overall • tied for team lead in goals with six, tied for third on team in points with 16 and shared UNC team lead in game-winning goals with four along with Julia Ashley • 10 of her 15 career goals have been game-winning goals • six of nine goals as a freshman were game-winners and four of her six goals in her sophomore year also were game-winning tallies • played 80 minutes at Florida State, assisting on Rachel Jones’ game-winning goal in 29th minute • scored game-winning goal against Pittsburgh in 17th minute and assisted on Brianna Pinto’s second-half goal against the Panthers • named ACC Offensive Player of the Week on October 2, 2018 • scored game-tying goal on a 28-yard direct free kick against the Louisville Cardinals on September 29 • then scored game-winning goal against the Cardinals less than four minutes later on a breakaway • was spectacular in 2-1 win at Notre Dame, playing 75 minutes • scored the opening goal of the game just 22 seconds into the match against the Fighting Irish and then assisted on Taylor Otto’s game-winning tally in the 86th minute • tallied the game-winning goal against Virginia Tech in the regular season meeting in the 22nd minute of play • scored the game-winning goal against #11 Boston College in the sixth minute
.
Freshman Year (2017): Outstanding youth international player who made a huge impact for the Tar Heels • United Soccer Coaches second-team All-America selection • also named to United Soccer Coaches All-East Region first team • played in 19 games, starting 18 • first-team All-ACC selection • named co-ACC Freshman of the Year • earned honors on ACC All-Freshman Team • tapped as Most Valuable Player of ACC Tournament and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team • named second-team Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI • scored game-winning goal in ACC Tournament semifinals against NC State, tallying from distance in the 56th minute • assisted on Zoe Redei’s game-winning goal in ACC championship match against Duke • missed first Duke game because she was in Europe playing for England in a tournament • missed the FSU and Clemson games while in England in a youth national team training camp • returned to lineup in win at Virginia, scoring game-tying goal in 24th minute in eventual come-from-behind 2-1 win • had nine goals and two assists • led team in goals scored with nine • finished third on the squad in points with 20 • led Tar Heels in game-winning goals with six • played 1,227 minutes in 19 games • started 18 times at forward • scored the game-winning goal versus South Florida on a 22-yard strike in the 74th minute • in the next game against Auburn, she scored again from distance for the game-winning tally in the 29th minute • had her third game-winning goal of season on a 25-yard strike in 16th minute of 7-0 victory over Syracuse • scored the game-winner against Miami in 48th minute • three days after the win over the Hurricanes she scored both Tar Heel goals in 2-0 win against Wake Forest • after the Miami and Wake games, she was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week, the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week and was tapped for Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week on October 10 • she opened the scoring in eventual 4-1 win at BC by scoring on a 35-yard strike in the fourth minute • won top newcomer award in 2017-18 in strength and conditioning area for women’s soccer team • won the 2017-18 Rammy Award for outstanding women’s newcomer in athletic program.

High School: Attended St. Simon Stock Catholic School in Kent, England • played multiple sports from 2010-17 • played midfield and attack in women’s soccer, ran cross country and competed in track and field, cricket and netball.

National Team: Played for England U19s in 2017 and English U20 squad in 2018 • member of England teams from U15 through U20 • coming out of high school she had represented England 50 times and scored 23 times • competed for England in the following events while still a prepster • her debut was November 2, 2012 for U15 team versus Ireland, scoring in 3-1 win at St. Georges Park, England • in April 2013, she played two games for U15s against Holland in Amsterdam • in May 2014, she was capped twice versus Holland for U15s in Amsterdam • in July 2016 at Gothenburg, Sweden, she played in U16 Nordic Cup games versus Sweden, Norway, Holland and Iceland • in October 2014, in the UEFA U17 Euro Championship qualifiers in Kavarna, Bulgaria, she was capped against Moldova, Bulgaria and Russia • captained U16s versus Germany in November 2014 in St. Georges Park, England • capped for U17 Team against Spain, France and Germany in Tri Nation Tournament in February 2015 in Bisham Abbey, England • in April 2015 at Cork, Ireland, was capped in UEFA U17 Euro Championship Elite Round versus Holland, Ireland and Hungary • Kolding, Denmark was the site for June 2015 U16 Nordic Cup games in which she played versus Finland, Holland, Denmark and Iceland • played in Tallinn, Estonia in October 2015 in UEFA U17 Euro Championship qualifiers against Croatia, Estonia and Poland • capped in December 2015 in Dusseldorf, Germany at U17 Tri Nation Tournament versus Germany and France • came to Los Angeles in February 2016 where she competed in U17 U.S. Invitational against Americans, Japan and Korea • the following month in Belgrade, Serbia, she competed in UEFA U17 Euro Championship Elite Round against Serbia, Iceland and Belgium • in May 2016, she traveled to Minsk, Belarus for games against Norway, Belarus, Serbia and Germany in UEFA U17 European Championship finals • team beat Norway in third place playoff game to qualify for FIFA World Cup in Jordan • shared the team’s goal-scoring lead in that tournament with five • played against U.S. U19s in July 2016 at St. Georges Park, England • played for English side in October 2016 in Amman, Jordan in FIFA U17 World Cup, capping against North Korea, Nigeria, Brazil and Japan • named FIFA player of the match versus Brazil on October 8, 2016 • capped in January 2017 twice against Norway as U19 player in St. Georges Park, England • member of team which competed in La Manga, Spain in March 2017 against Holland, France and Italy • in April 2017 she competed in Side, Turkey in UEFA U19 Euro Championship Elite Round in matches against Turkey, Denmark and Czech Republic.

Club: Played for Brighton and Hove Albion WFC in English Women’s Super League • between 2007 and 2010 she played for Charlton Athletic Football Club in their Centre for Excellence • between 2010 and 2016 she competed for Chelsea Ladies FC progressing from their Centre for Excellence to their reserve team and into first team squad • made debut for Chelsea Ladies first team on July 2, 2016 versus the London Bees in the Continental Cup • in January 2017 she moved to Brighton and Albion Cove WFC in order to play in the WSL Spring Series • she scored in her debut versus London Bees on February 11, 2017.

Personal: Full name is Alessia Mia Teresa Russo • the daughter of Mario and Carol Russo • stands 5-9 tall • has two siblings – Luca, age 25, and Giorgio, age 24 • was born in February 1999 in Maidstone, Kent, England • brother, Luca, is pursuing master’s degree at University of Missouri • he competed as a middle distance athlete for Mizzou in cross country and track and field and ran twice for England U20 cross country team • brother Giorgio plays semi-professional soccer for Hythe Town FC in the Ryman League in England • her father played semi-professional soccer for the Metropolitan Police FC • he ranks as the record goal scorer for the club • her mother is an amazing cook and makes soft furnishing • exercise and sport science major.