Sentnor grew up in Hanson, Massachusetts, in Boston's South Shore, the oldest of three children born to Richard and Lee Sentnor.[3][4] She began playing soccer at age four, and her father coached her first team.[5] She scored so often as a kid that her father would put her in goal or let her score only with her non-dominant left foot, which helped her develop equal comfort off both feet.[6][7] She joined Hingham club South Shore Select at age six and later trained at times with the Boston Bolts boys' team.[6][8] She also played the indoor soccer variant of futsal, which helped develop her touch in limited space.[9][10] She joined the varsity team at Thayer Academy in eighth grade and graduated early in 2021.[6][11]
North Carolina Tar Heels
Sentnor playing for North Carolina in 2023
Sentnor tore her ACL minutes into her first preseason game for the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2021.[12][13] She got back onto the college field in 2022, scoring on her regular-season debut against Wilmington.[14] In her redshirt freshman season, she won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and ended the year with ten goals, the second most on the team.[3][15] She scored five of her goals during the NCAA tournament to help North Carolina reach the national title game, where they lost to UCLA. She was named to the All-ACC first team and national all-tournament team.[3]
Sentnor contributed a team-high eleven goals and seven assists in the 2023 season.[3] She scored or assisted in each of her last seven college games, including four goals and three assists in four games of the NCAA tournament, and was involved in all three of her team's goals in their national quarterfinal loss to BYU.[3][16] She was named the ACC Midfielder of the Year, first-team All-ACC, and third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American.[17] Despite turning professional after the season, she continued studying online to complete her degree in 2024.[18]
Club career
Utah Royals
Sentnor was selected first overall in the 2024 NWSL Draft by the Utah Royals, who were returning to the NWSL after a four-year absence; she and North Carolina teammate Savy King were the top two picks.[19] She was signed to a three-year contract.[20] She debuted in the starting lineup of the opening matchday against the Chicago Red Stars on March 16.[21] She scored her first professional goal on March 22, shooting from the corner of the penalty box off a long dribble in a 2–1 home win over the North Carolina Courage.[22] She was deployed as a winger at the start of the season, scoring or assisting on five of her team's first seven goals, before moving to a more playmaking role as an attacking midfielder at the end of June.[23][24] In the month of July, she was named both NWSL Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month after leading the bottom-of-the-league Royals to win their group in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.[25] She finished her rookie year with 3 goals and 4 assists in 21 regular-season games as the Royals placed 10th out of 14 teams.[26] She was named the club's Offensive Player of the Year and was one of three players nominated for NWSL Rookie of the Year.[27][28]
International career
Youth national team
Sentnor was selected to the train with the United States under-14 team at the age of 12 in June 2016, the youngest player called into camp.[29] At age 13, she scored five goals in two friendlies for the under-15s in Germany in November 2017.[8][30] She also played for the under-16s that year and was under consideration for the roster for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, but ultimately not selected to join players three years above her age group.[8] She was the most valuable player of the invitational Weifang Cup at the under-15 level in China in 2018.[31] She was the youngest player for under-18 team when she scored two goals in two friendlies against England in 2019.[32] She was part of the under-17 team at the start of 2020, but her age group's CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship and FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8]
Wearing the captain's armband, Sentnor led the United States to third place at the U-20 Women's World Cup, the country's best result since 2012.[34][35] She scored her second of three goals at the tournament in a 3–2 overtime win against Mexico in the first knockout round.[36] In the quarterfinals, trailing Germany 2–0, the United States came back in the last moments of regulation with a goal from Jordynn Dudley and an own goal forced by Sentnor in the 90+8th and 90+9th minutes; in a penalty shootout, Sentnor converted her opening kick as the United States advanced.[37] After falling to eventual champions North Korea in the semifinals, Sentnor opened scoring in the third-place match, a 2–1 victory over the Netherlands.[35] She was awarded the Bronze Ball as the third-most outstanding player of the tournament.[38]
_054_(Sentnor).jpg)
_071_(cropped).jpg)
