Cox Retires From Pro Soccer

Stephanie Lopez-Cox has announced her retirement from professional soccer, according to her former coach at Elk Grove High School, Seth Boyle.

Boyle says Cox is expecting her second child soon and has told her current professional club, Seattle Reign FC of the National Women’s Soccer League, she is hanging it up.

“She was such an excellent role model to my children and to so many,” Boyle said of Cox. Boyle is now the athletic director at EGHS. 

Stephanie Cox, playing with her daughter prior to a Seattle Reign game recently

Cox will become the coach of the Gig Harbor High School’s girls team in Washington.

"On the field, [Cox] is by far the best left back that I have ever worked with and had the privilege of watching play," coach Laura Harvey said in a Reign FC press release. "A lot of the credit for how successful the team has been over these last two seasons comes down to her."

Since graduating from Elk Grove in 2003, Cox has been a part of two U.S. World Cup women’s soccer teams and one U.S. Olympic squad. She was a part of the Gold Medal-winning team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

She has played professionally with clubs in Los Angeles and Boston, along with two different teams based in Seattle.

While attending the University of Portland, Cox helped lead the Pilots to the NCAA Championships in 2005. It was while at Portland she met her husband, Brian. They also have a girl.

Watch her teammates tribute to her: