Neeku Purcell

Neeku Purcell
Purcell with the Seattle Reign in 2026
Personal information
Full name Neeku Kazemi Purcell
Date of birth (2003-10-07) October 7, 2003
Place of birth Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Dallas Trinity
(on loan from the Seattle Reign)
Number 35
Youth career
2016–2022 OL Reign Academy
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022–2023 UCLA Bruins 27 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024–2025 Brooklyn FC 17 (0)
2025– Seattle Reign 0 (0)
2026– → Dallas Trinity (loan) 0 (0)
International career‡
2018 United States U-16
2019 United States U-17 3 (0)
2019 United States U-18 1 (0)
2022 United States U-20 7 (0)
2025– United States U-23 2 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of May 10, 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 14:07, March 8, 2026 (UTC)

Neeku Kazemi Purcell (born October 7, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for USL Super League club Dallas Trinity, on loan from Seattle Reign FC. Born in Seattle, she played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins, winning the national championship as a backup in 2022. After one season as a starter at UCLA, she began her professional career with Brooklyn FC in 2024. She then signed with the Reign in 2025, becoming the first non-loan transfer from the USL Super League to the NWSL. She has represented the United States at the youth level, appearing at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Early life

Purcell was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, one of two twin sisters born to Elham Kazemi and Mark Purcell. Both of her parents went to UCLA. She attended the Northwest School, where she played basketball and lettered in three seasons.[1] She played club soccer for the OL Reign Academy from its inception in 2016.[2] She was rated by TopDrawerSoccer as the eighth-best player of the 2022 class, part of UCLA's second-ranked recruiting class.[3]

College career

Purcell made 8 appearances (all off the bench) for the UCLA Bruins in her freshman season in 2022, serving as the understudy to Lauren Brzykcy. She appeared briefly in the first round of the NCAA tournament but was unused in the rest of the competition as UCLA won its second national championship.[1][4] In her sophomore season in 2023, she started all 19 games and kept 11 clean sheets (including 4 combined shutouts). UCLA won the Pac-12 Conference and earned a one seed in the NCAA tournament, where the team was upset by UC Irvine in the first round.[1][5]

Club career

Brooklyn FC

Brooklyn FC announced on August 6, 2024, that the club had signed Purcell ahead of the inaugural season of the USL Super League.[6] She made her professional debut on September 29, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win against Lexington SC. She eventually won the starting job over Sydney Martinez and finished the fall series with consecutive shutouts against Lexington on December 7 and Dallas Trinity on December 14.[7] Brooklyn were leading in the standings at the winter break, but the club proved unable to continue its form and ended the season in sixth place.[8] Purcell finished the season with 4 clean sheets in 17 appearances.[9]

Seattle Reign

On June 3, 2025, Purcell joined hometown club Seattle Reign on a short-term goalkeeper replacement contract.[9] The move was the first-ever non-loan transfer of a player from the USL Super League to the NWSL.[10] She was unused as the third-stringer behind starter Claudia Dickey and backup Maddie Prohaska.[11]

On December 8, 2025, Purcell signed a one-year contract extension with the Reign.[12] With the departure of Prohaska, Purcell began her second season as Dickey's primary backup until veteran Cassie Miller returned from injury.[13] On July 1, 2026, she signed a two-year contract extension with the Reign through 2028.[14]

On August 3, 2026, Purcell returned to the USL Super League, joining the Dallas Trinity on loan until the end of the year alongside Reign teammate Sofia Cedeño.[15]

International career

Purcell was called up to the United States youth national team at the under-15, under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-20 levels.[16] She started all four knockout rounds for the United States at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, conceding no goals as they won the tournament.[17] She started the country's second game at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, a 3–0 loss to the Netherlands, as the United States did not make it out of the group stage.[17] She was called up by Emma Hayes into Futures Camp, practicing alongside the senior national team, in January 2025. She was the only USL Super League player called into the camp.[7]

Honors and awards

UCLA Bruins

United States U-20

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Neeku Purcell". UCLA Bruins. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  2. ↑ "OL Reign Academy Player Neeku Purcell Called Up to U-20 U.S. Youth National Team". Seattle Reign FC. February 15, 2022. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  3. ↑ Clark, Travis (August 16, 2022). "Final 2022 Women's DI Recruiting Rankings". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  4. ↑ Whitaker, Grace (August 18, 2023). "UCLA women's soccer starts off the season strong with win against Georgia". Daily Bruin. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  5. ↑ Friedman, Isabelle (November 10, 2023). "UC Irvine cuts No. 1 seed UCLA women's soccer's NCAA run short with late-game shot". Daily Bruin. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Goalkeeper Neeku Purcell and Forward Mackenzie George join Brooklyn FC after collegiate success". Brooklyn FC. August 6, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Leigh, Andrew (January 8, 2025). "Brooklyn FC's Neeku Purcell invited to USWNT Futures Camp". Hudson River Blue. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  8. ↑ Leigh, Andrew (May 24, 2025). "Brooklyn FC season ends with no playoffs, no wins in Brooklyn". Hudson River Blue. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Seattle Reign FC Signs Goalkeeper Neeku Purcell as Short-Term Replacement Player". Seattle Reign FC. July 3, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Always an inaugural team member, always a part of Brooklyn.🖤🤍". Twitter.com. Brooklyn FC. Retrieved June 5, 2025.
  11. ↑ "2025 Seattle Reign FC Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Seattle Reign FC Signs Academy Product Neeku Purcell". Seattle Reign FC. December 8, 2025. Retrieved December 8, 2025.
  13. ↑ "2026 Seattle Reign FC Stats". FBref.com. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Seattle Reign FC Signs Goalkeeper Neeku Purcell to Multi-Year Extension". Seattle Reign FC. July 1, 2026. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Seattle Reign FC Loans Sofia Cedeño & Neeku Purcell to Dallas Trinity FC". Seattle Reign FC. August 3, 2026. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Neeku Purcell". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved January 8, 2025.
  17. 1 2 Neeku Purcell at Soccerway
  18. ↑ "USA Wins Concacaf Women's U-20 Championship With 2-0 Victory Over Mexico". www.ussoccer.com. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
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