Apple Valley-born Michelle Alozie and Nigeria Women’s World Cup soccer team defeat Australia

Apple Valley-born Michelle ChinwenduAlozie and the Nigeria Women’s World Cup soccer team beat the Australian squad on Thursday night.

Alozie, a 26-year-old Yale graduate, is part of the 23-player Nigeria Super Falcons team that defeated Australia 3-2 during the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 match at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.

The game was played in the Australian Eastern Standard Time Zone, 17 hours ahead of the Pacific Time Zone and Apple Valley, where Alozie played soccer for Granite Hills High School.

During the World Cup match, teammates Uchenna Kanu, Osinachi Ohale and Asisat Oshoala scored for Nigeria, who now top Group B with four points — the same as high-powered team Canada.

Australia’s 64% possession meant nothing in the end, thanks to some clinical Nigerian finishing and heroic defensive might, according to Aljazeera.

Nigeria fired off six shots with five reaching the target compared to the Matildas, who registered a whopping 17 shots, of which only six reached the target.

Nigeria will square up against Ireland on Monday.

The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, which began on July 20, is being held in Australia and New Zealand.

Holding off Canada

The 0-0 draw with Canada in Melbourne on July 20 was a first for Nigeria in a World Cup opener, giving the team confidence that its defense could hold up against Australia, according to Aljazeera.

During the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Canada won the gold medal by beating the U.S. in the semifinals along the way.

“Everyone is throwing their bodies on the line, defenders, forwards and midfielders,” said Alozie, about the match with Canada. “We are defensively sound and we can do that with a really big team.”

The 23-player roster American Coach Randy Waldrum selected contains 12 players who are making a Women’s World Cup debut, including Alozie, a defender for the Houston Dash of the National Women’s Soccer League.

Soccer and medicine

Alozie told FIFA that she spends her morning training with Houston Dash and her afternoons at Texas Children’s Hospital as a research technician studying acute leukemia and cancer.

“I’ll probably be done with training around 1 p.m.,” she said. “I’ll head straight to the children’s hospital, get there around 1:30 p.m., probably have our team meetings, and then just go about my day until about 5 p.m.”

Alozie said “passion” is the reason that she can sustain her soccer and medical careers at the same time.

“It’s not necessarily a field that I thought I was going to find myself in but it is so amazing to be able to have an impact on children’s lives,” Alozie told FIFA. “Childhood cancer isn’t something that’s researched that much. Being able to be a part of that and be a part of that research is just such a blessing.”

She added that thankfully biology was something that she was good at in school and so medicine just seemed like the correct option there.

“It’s just amazing to meet these young kids that I’m helping find a cure for their cancer,” Alozie said. “It means everything to me.”

Alozie said being Nigerian, soccer — or football — is “really just in our blood,” adding that her fascination with medicine is the career path that will remain when she can no longer run on the field.

Alozie's parents are from Imo State, an area in Nigeria that’s the third-smallest in geographical size and one of the most densely-populated areas in the country. Alozie is permitted to play for Nigeria per the FIFA rule about a player's parents being born in the associated country, according to SBNATION.

Attending Yale

Alozie attended Yale University, where she earned her bachelor's degree in molecular biology. She also played soccer for the Yale Bulldogs, according to the university.

In 2017, Alozie was namedIvy League Co-Offensive Player of the Year, one of her many collegiate accomplishments.

After suffering an athletic injury at Yale, which ended her senior season, she transferred as a graduate to the University of Tennessee, where she played for the Tennessee Volunteers.

In 2021, Alozie joined the Houston Dash, where Alozie's childhood friend Ally Prisock, 26, who was born in Fontana, was playing.

Alozie told university officials that she chose to attend Yale “because it was a place where I can get a world-renowned education while continuing my passion for soccer.”

Granite Hills 

Alozie is the Granite Hills’ record holder for most goals in one season (44) and in one game (7), She was the 2012 Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-league selection.

She also ran track and is the school record holder in the 100 (12.1) and 200 (25.6) meter dashes.

In 2015, Alozie attended Granite Hills when she told the Daily Press that she started playing soccer as a pre-schooler because her uncle made her.

At that time, Alozie confessed her dream college as Yale and her career goal as a cardiologist.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Apple Valley-born Michelle Alozie in Women’s World Cup soccer match