Messiah Bright was acquired by Angel City FC during the off-season after coming off a strong rookie campaign with the Orlando Pride and an outstanding college career. She was impressed by the playoff-contending run the ACFC had last season and looks forward to helping the team thrive.
“I think Angel City made a lot of statements last year,” Bright said. “They proved themselves and everyone in the league that they can play at the highest of the highest levels.”
As Bright contributes to the team, she is continuing to learn what it means to be a professional athlete. One improvement that she noticed during her pro career is her mentality. In the offseason, Bright went on a mental health retreat which helped her to manage her stressors.
“Knowing how to handle adversity and putting yourself above that speaks so much volume,” Bright said. “I also showed what I can bring just within a year span. I definitely think that there is still a lot more work to be done on my end but I look forward to getting better each and every day.”
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A rookie highlight was when she scored two goals against the Chicago Red Stars, Orlando ultimately won 5-0. The performance helped Bright become the first NWSL player to win Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month honors during the same month.
“I’ve made those shots plenty of times, like there’s a lot of things that I’ve done in college that I haven’t really shown yet at my professional level,” Bright said. “It’s just knowing my abilities as a player to get those moments off in the best situations.”
Bright is the all-time leader in goals and points with 118 at Texas Christian University. Some of her accolades included 2021 Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player, 2019 Big 12 Championship Offensive MVP, and 2018 Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year. The Horned Frogs reached the NCAA Tournament all five years Bright competed for them. It was a part of seven consecutive appearances TCU had in the NCAA Tournament.
“We had that underdog mentality, which I think is what helped propel us so far,” Bright said. “We ended up winning our conference for the first time ever in program history and then going back and winning the tournament championship, we had back-to-back.”
While playing at a high level, Bright was committed to her studies. The result was becoming a three-time All-Big 12 Academic First Team honoree.
“My family, we’re very oriented when it comes to education and education is important at the end of the day,” Bright said. “I always had that motivation that soccer comes second, especially in college because I wanted to pursue getting a degree and finishing out my goals.”
The ACFC will battle the Kansas City Current on 3/30 at 12:30P.M. on ESPN. Their next home game will be on April 21 at 4:30P.M. against the North Carolina Courage.
