Minnesota Aurora FC goalkeeper Sarah Fuller announced her retirement on Tuesday. She spent her only professional soccer season with Minnesota Aurora FC of the USL W League, but is best known for making history as the first woman to score in a Power Five football game when the Vanderbilt Commodores didn’t have a placekicker in 2020.
“I am at a place where I am excited to start a new chapter in my life,” Fuller said in a social media post on Tuesday. “After nearly 20 years on the pitch I have decided to hang up my cleats. Soccer gave me more than I could have ever asked for. I am grateful for the successes and the failures, the people I have met, and the opportunities the beautiful game has granted me.”
In her brief stint on an SEC football field, Fuller handled kickoffs and went 2-for-2 on extra points, both coming in the Commodores’ 2020 late-season loss to rival Tennessee. Her college soccer career included helping Vanderbilt earn the 2020 SEC Tournament title — the first one for the program since 1994.
Although Fuller spent most of her college career at Vanderbilt, she joined the North Texas women’s soccer team in 2021 while she worked on obtaining her master’s in hospital administration. After finishing her education, she became the first-ever signing by Aurora ahead of the inaugural USL W League season in 2022.
On the professional soccer field, she appeared in 13 games for Aurora and only allowed eight goals while registering a .860 save percentage. Her efforts helped her lead the team to the first ever USL W Championship game.
“It has been an honor to be part of such a monumental team,” Fuller said. “My hope is to have inspired others and left the game better than I could it I know my younger self would be proud.”