Cincinnati Soccer: Vanessa Gilles thriving with Angel City FC

During her career with the Cincinnati Bearcats soccer team, Vanessa Gilles was one of the top defenders in the American Conference. Since becoming a professional in 2017, Gilles has seen a lot of success with multiple clubs and recently scored the first regular season goal in franchise history with Angel City FC in the NWSL.

Cincinnati Soccer: Vanessa Gilles thriving with Angel City FC

Gilles signed with the Los Angeles club after playing in France for more than three years. It is the inaugural season for Angel City FC, who was revealed as an expansion franchise in 2020 and is owned by Mia Hamm, Serena Williams, Natalie Portman and others. Gilles scored on a header to put the team up 1-0 before beating North Carolina 2-1.

Jun Endo also scored for Angel City FC in the win.

Prior to attending Cincinnati, Gilles won a bronze medal with Team Ontario at the 2013 Canada Summer Games. She played with the Bearcats from 2014-2017 and immediately had an impact on the program. Gilles was named AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player en route to winning the conference championship in 2015.

She was also named AAC Co-Defender of the Year as a senior and finished her career with 17 goals in 82 appearances. In 2018, Gilles signed a two-year contract with Girondins de Bordeaux and played in 65 matches in three years before transferring to Angel City FC and becoming the first former Bearcat to join the NWSL in 2021.

Katy Couperus and Julie Gavorski are currently playing professionally in Australia and Iceland.

Gilles has been competing on a national level since she was a teenager and her defensive ability was a big reason why the Canadian women’s national team took home the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. She also knocked in a penalty kick to assure a thrilling victory over Brazil in the quarterfinals before Canada defeated Sweden to secure the gold medal.