Melissa Tancredi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Melissa Tancredi

Tancredi in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Melissa Palma Julie Tancredi
Date of birth	(1981-12-27) December 27, 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Ancaster, Ontario, Canada
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	Burlington Sting
College career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2000–2004	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	82	(14)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004	Detroit Jaguars	10	(2)
2005–2006	Atlanta Silverbacks	15	(7)
2007	Jersey Sky Blue	2	(0)
2007	River Cities Futbol Club	0	(0)
2009	Saint Louis Athletica	14	(0)
2010	Vancouver Whitecaps	9	(5)
2011	Piteå IF	8	(2)
2012	Dalsjöfors GoIF	5	(2)
2014–2015	Chicago Red Stars	21	(5)
2016	KIF Örebro DFF	16	(8)
2018–2019	North Shore GSC Renegades		(5)
2019–2022	Fusion FC		(13)
Total		172	(31)
International career‡
2004–2017	Canada	125	(27)
Medal record Olympic Games Bronze 2012 London Team Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team Pan American Games Bronze 2007 Rio de Janeiro Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of September 7, 2016 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of November 23, 2019

Melissa Palma Julie Tancredi (born December 27, 1981) is a retired Canadian soccer player. She played as a forward for the Canada women's national soccer team. Melissa is famous for winning two bronze medals at the Olympic Games. She helped Canada win bronze in 2012 at the London Olympics and again in 2016 at the Rio Olympics. Her nickname is "Tanc."

Early Life and Soccer Beginnings

Melissa Tancredi was born in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. She started playing soccer when she was just four years old. In high school, she played soccer, volleyball, and ran track. She was even named the soccer MVP (Most Valuable Player) and senior athlete of the year!

Melissa also played for the Burlington Sting club team. She helped her team win the Canadian title and the Ontario Cup. In 1999, she was named the MVP for the Burlington Sting.

College Soccer Star

Melissa went to the University of Notre Dame in the U.S. from 2000 to 2004. She studied anthropology and pre-medicine. During her first year, she had an injury that kept her from playing soccer.

But she came back strong! In 2003, Melissa was named a First Team All-American. She was also named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. In 2004, she helped lead her team to win the NCAA National Championship. She was again named First Team All-American and Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

Playing for Clubs

After college, Melissa played for several professional soccer clubs.

• In 2004, she played for the Detroit Jaguars. She scored two goals and had two assists in ten games.
• From 2005 to 2006, she played for the Atlanta Silverbacks Women. She was even named to the 2005 W-League All-League team.
• In 2009, Melissa played for the Saint Louis Athletica.
• In 2010, she joined the Vancouver Whitecaps. She was the top scorer for her team with six goals and two assists. The Whitecaps had a great season, staying undefeated and reaching the W-League's final four.
• In 2011, she played for Piteå IF in Sweden.
• In 2012, she played for another Swedish team, Dalsjöfors GoIF.
• From 2014 to 2015, she played for the Chicago Red Stars.
• In 2016, she played for KIF Örebro DFF in Sweden.

Representing Canada

Tancredi playing for Canada in 2011

Melissa Tancredi also played for the Canadian national teams. She was part of the Canadian U19 national team.

She made her first appearance for the senior Canadian national team in 2004. She played as a central defender in all five games of the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Melissa was part of the Canadian team that finished second in the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup. In 2007, she scored one of the fastest goals in World Cup history! It happened just 37 seconds into a game against Australia at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Olympic and World Cup Achievements

Melissa won a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. She also played in three World Cup tournaments: 2007, 2011, and 2015.

Her biggest achievements came at the Olympic Games.

• She was a key player for the bronze medal-winning teams at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics.
• In the London games, she scored four goals.
• In the Rio games, she scored two goals, including both goals in a 2–1 win against Germany. This win helped Canada finish at the top of their group.

Overall, Melissa played in 24 matches and scored 8 goals across her three World Cup and three Olympic appearances.

After Soccer

Melissa Tancredi announced her retirement from soccer in January 2017. After her soccer career, she became a Doctor of Chiropractic. She now practices in Vancouver, Canada.

Career Statistics

Club Statistics

International Statistics

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tancredi goal.

List of international goals scored by Melissa Tancredi

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	July 14, 2007	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Uruguay	6–0	7–0	2007 Pan American Games
2	September 20, 2007	Chengdu, China	Australia	1–0	2–2	2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
3	April 2, 2008	Ciudad Juárez, Mexico	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	6–0	2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
4	April 6, 2008	Ciudad Juárez, Mexico	Costa Rica	1–0	1–0	2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
5	April 9, 2008	Ciudad Juárez, Mexico	Mexico	1–0	1–0	2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
6	April 12, 2008	Ciudad Juárez, Mexico	United States	1–0	1–1 (a.e.t.)	2008 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
7	June 14, 2008	Suwon, South Korea	Argentina	4–0	5–0	2008 Peace Queen Cup
8	August 12, 2008	Beijing, China	Sweden	1–2	1–2	2008 Summer Olympics
9	March 10, 2009	Larnaca, Cyprus	Russia	2–0	2–0	2009 Cyprus Women's Cup
10	September 30, 2010	Toronto, Canada	China	2–1	3–1	Friendly
11	October 29, 2010	Cancún, Mexico	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	1–0	2010 CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying
12	January 21, 2011	Yongchuan, Chongqing, China	China	1–2	3–2	2011 Four Nations Tournament
13	January 23, 2011	Yongchuan, Chongqing, China	United States	1–1	1–2	2011 Four Nations Tournament
14	September 17, 2011	Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.	United States	1–1	1–1	Friendly
15	January 21, 2012	Vancouver, Canada	Cuba	2–0	2–0	2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
16	January 27, 2012	Vancouver, Canada	Mexico	2–0	3–1	2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
17	February 28, 2012	Larnaca, Cyprus	Scotland	5–1	5–1	2012 Cyprus Women's Cup
18	June 30, 2012	Sandy, Utah, U.S.	United States	1–1	1–2	Friendly
19	July 25, 2012	Coventry, England	Japan	1–2	1–2	2012 Summer Olympics
20	July 28, 2012	Coventry, England	South Africa	1–0	3–0	2012 Summer Olympics
21	July 31, 2012	Newcastle, England	Sweden	1–2	2–2	2012 Summer Olympics
22				2–2
23	February 14, 2016	Houston, Texas, U.S.	Trinidad and Tobago	2–0	6–0	2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
24	February 16, 2016	Houston, Texas, U.S.	Guatemala	1–0	10–0	2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying
25				9–0
26	August 9, 2016	Brasília, Brazil	Germany	1–1	2–1	2016 Summer Olympics
27				2–1

Honours

Canada

• Summer Olympic Games: Bronze Medal, 2016