Tatiana Saunders
Playing for Lewes in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth (1993-07-03) 3 July 1993
Place of birth Rye, New York, United States
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Durham
Number 30
Youth career
New York Athletic Club
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Dartmouth Big Green 58 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018 FH 5 (0)
2018 → ÍR (loan) 6 (0)
2018–2019 Croix de Savoie 18 (0)
2019–2020 Thonon Evian 13 (0)
2020–2022 Lewes 34 (1)
2022– Durham 3 (0)
International career
England U17
2010 England U19 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:05, 24 September 2022 (UTC)

Tatiana Saunders (born 3 July 1993) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Durham playing in the FA Women's Championship after leaving Lewes. Saunders played with the New York Athletic Club, where she was part of the squad that won the 2010 USASA Women's Cup, and was named the 2010 Gatorade State Player of the Year for New York. She played internationally for the England under-17s and under-19s with a perfect 6–0–0 record, and was also on the Dartmouth women's soccer team for four years. After a two-year stint working on Wall Street, Saunders resumed her football career in 2018 and has since played in Iceland and France.

Life and career

By the age of six Saunders was starting to play soccer in Rye, New York.[1] She also played varsity soccer in Rye.[2] She served as captain for her last two years of high school, leading her team to the New York State Class A Championship in 2008 as well as the finals in 2010.[2] During her senior year, Saunders had 16 shutouts, giving up only five goals in 23 games.[2] Her team finished the season 22–1–0, ranking eighth nationally in the ESPN RISE rankings.[2]

At the age of 13 she started playing for New York Athletic Club in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[1] Her squad won the 2010 USASA National Women's Cup, and Saunders was named the 2010 Gatorade State Player of the Year for New York.[2] In 2016 Saunders remained with New York Athletic Club. She was the club's longest-serving player, participating in her eighth season.[3]

Her international football career started as a teen, when she was selected for the England national women's under-17 and under-19 teams. She kept a perfect 6–0–0 record across all appearances.[1] Saunders appeared as goalkeeper for the England U19s during qualifying matches for the 2011 Women's U19 European Championships in Italy, and travelled with the team to countries including Moldova and Macedonia.[4] Her England teammates included Danielle Carter and Nikita Parris.[4]

From 2011 to 2015 Saunders attended Dartmouth College, where she played regularly for the Dartmouth Big Green women's soccer team.[5] Over her college career, she started 57 games as goalkeeper and finished with a career record of 26–24–14.[2] Saunders was an All-Ivy First Team honoree in 2012 and an All-Ivy Second Team honoree in 2014.[5] She was named to the NSCAA All-Region Second Team her sophomore season.[5]

After graduation Saunders worked in finance on Wall Street for two years.[4] She was unable to play professionally due to work commitments, and longed to return to football.[4] When Icelandic team FH women's football contacted her agent looking for a goalkeeper, she agreed to a tryout in January 2018.[4] In February, she signed a contract to play for FH women in the Pepsi League starting in the summer.[5] She played five matches for FH, finishing the season on loan at Reykjavik Athletic Club (ÍR) in the second tier Inkasso League.[6]

For the 2018–2019 season she joined the Croix de Savoie FA (Ambilly Feminin), in France.[7] For the 2019–2020 season, she played for the Thonon Evian Grand Genève F.C. women's team in the Division 2 Féminine.[7] Saunders says her most memorable match was playing against Olympique Lyonnais Féminin in the Women's French Cup in front of 3,000 fans.[1]

Saunders (left) playing for Lewes in 2021

In 2020, Saunders joined Lewes FC Women, taking the number one shirt as goalkeeper.[8] She was one of eight new players who made up Lewes' squad of 20 players (which included goalkeeper Laura Hartley) under manager Simon Parker.[9] Lewes offers equal pay to its women's and men's teams – the first professional or semi-professional football club in the United Kingdom to do so.[10][11]

In June 2021 she signed a new deal with Lewes.[12] In 2020, Saunders said that she was pursuing an MBA degree simultaneously with her football career.[1]

During the final match of the season in May 2022 she scored a goal against Liverpool. Her goal kick went over the head of her opposite number goalkeeper, Charlotte Clarke, to give Lewes a 2–1 win.[13] In August 2022 she was playing for Durham.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tatiana Saunders: Lewes FC goalkeeping and a finance career". Sportageous. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1 – Tatiana Saunders". Dartmouth Sports – Women's Soccer. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  3. ↑ Moran, Alisha (18 August 2017). "Summer Soccer News". The Winged Foot Magazine: 36. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tatiana Saunders: The goalkeeper who gave up a job on Wall Street to follow her football dream". English Players Abroad. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Former Dartmouth Player Saunders Signs with Iceland FH". Dartmouth College Athletics. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Arnarsson, Arnar Daði (1 August 2018). "Saunders í ÍR á láni (Staðfest)" (in Icelandic). Fotbolti.net. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  7. 1 2 "Tatiana Saunders". Croix de Savoie Fans. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Tatiana Saunders – Lewes Community Football Club". Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ↑ "Former England youth international keeper joins Lewes". FAWSL Full-Time. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  10. ↑ "Lewes FC become first professional club to pay women and men equally". The Guardian. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "Lewes: English semi-pro club to pay men and women the same". BBC Sport. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
  12. ↑ "Double delight at Lewes as Saunders and Cleverly sign on again". FAWSL Full-Time. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  13. ↑ "LFC keeper picks up Golden Glove after title triumph". This Is Anfield. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  14. ↑ "All square for Durham Women in riotous Wearside affair". Palatinate. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
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