Lynn Biyendolo (born Lynn Raenie Williams; May 21, 1993) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team. The NWSL's all-time leading scorer, she was drafted out of Pepperdine University by the Western New York Flash in 2015.
Biyendolo won the NWSL's Most Valuable Player award and her first NWSL Championship with the Flash in 2016. After the franchise moved to become the North Carolina Courage, she helped lead North Carolina to three consecutive NWSL Shields and two Championships in 2018 and 2019. After five seasons in North Carolina, she was traded to the Kansas City Current and then flipped to NJ/NY Gotham FC, where she won her fourth championship in 2023.
Biyendolo made her international debut for the United States in 2016. She has won two Olympic medals with the team, receiving bronze at Tokyo 2020 and gold at Paris 2024.
Born in Fresno, California to Christine and David Williams, Biyendolo attended Bullard High School where she played on the varsity team and earned all-league and all-area honors all four years. She set the school record in scoring with 117 career goals (for boys or girls) and finished her high school career with 47 assists. As a senior in 2011, she was named to the ESPN RISE All-American third team and scored 50 goals. The same year, she helped the team to win county and section titles and was the runner-up at the regional final. She was also named Player of the Year by the Fresno Bee.
Biyendolo attended Pepperdine University from 2011 to 2014 where she played for the Waves. During her freshman season, she started in all 20 games and finished third on the team with six goals and led the Waves with eight assists. Her 20 points ranked second on the team. She was named West Coast Conference (WCC) Freshman of the Year and earned Soccer America Freshman All-American first team, NSCAA All-West Region second team, All-WCC second team and WCC All-Freshman team honors. Biyendolo set a new school record of five consecutive games with a point and tied for second with two multi-assist games.
As a sophomore in 2012, Biyendolo led the Waves ranked third on the team and sixth in the league in goals (8) and points (19). She led the WCC in shots (97) and shots per game (4.6) for the second consecutive season. She scored her first collegiate hat trick on October 23. Her season performance earned her NSCAA All-West Region and All-WCC first team and All-WCC first team honors. In 2013, Biyendolo started the first 15 games of the season and posted 11 goals and 3 assists (25 points) before missing the last few games due to injury. She ranked first in the WCC for goals per game (0.73, also third in the school's history), tied for second in game-winning goals and third in points per game (1.67, also fourth in the school's history). She set a school single-game record for shots with 14 on September 22. Biyendolo earned NSCAA All-West Region first team and All-WCC first team honors and was named the National Player of the Week by the NSCAA and CollegeSoccer360.com after scoring the game-winning goal against Wright State in August and then netting two goals and an assist against Texas A&M in early September. She was also named WCC Player of the Week.
Biyendolo led the Waves with 14 goals and 10 assists in 22 starts during her senior season. Her performance helped lift the team to the third Sweet 16 appearance in the program's history. She was a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, was named first-team All-American by the NSCAA and Soccer America as well as All-WCC first team for the third straight year. Her 14 goals ranked third in the WCC and tied for second highest in the school's history. Her 38 points also ranked second in the school's history. Biyendolo set a new school record for shots with 130 and ranked first in the WCC. She was named WCC Player of the Week three times and Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week after scoring two game-winning goals.
Western New York Flash, 2015–2016
Biyendolo was selected sixth overall by the Western New York Flash during the 2015 NWSL College Draft. She made her debut for the club during the team's season opener against the Seattle Reign FC on April 12, 2015. In her 17 appearances during the season, Biyendolo scored four goals. The Flash finished in seventh place with a 6–9–5 record.
Biyendolo was one of the breakout stars of the 2016 NWSL season. She scored 11 goals which was tied with Houston Dash forward Kealia Ohai for most in the league. Biyendolo was awarded the Golden Boot as she had more assists then Ohai. Biyendolo was named the 2016 NWSL Most Valuable Player and was in the 2016 NWSL Best XI. In the playoffs Biyendolo scored two goals in extra time as the Flash upset the Portland Thorns in the semifinal and advanced to the Championship Game. In the 2016 NWSL Championship Biyendolo scored a game-tying header in the last minute of extra time to force the game to penalties. Biyendolo converted her penalty as the Flash went on to defeat the Washington Spirit.
North Carolina Courage, 2017–2021
It was announced on January 9, 2017, that the Western New York Flash was officially sold to new ownership, moved to North Carolina, and rebranded as the North Carolina Courage. Biyendolo scored 9 goals for North Carolina in 2017 and was named to the Team of the Month for April. North Carolina won the Shield in 2017 but lost to the Portland Thorns in the NWSL Championship Game.
Biyendolo had a very successful 2018 season. She scored 14 goals, which was tied for second best in the league. She was named Player of the Week twice as was named to the NWSL Second XI. North Carolina won its second straight NWSL Shield and Biyendolo was named a finalist for NWSL Most Valuable Player. She played every minute of North Carolina's playoff games in 2018 as the Courage won the 2018 NWSL Championship by defeating the Portland Thorns 3–0 in the final.
Loan to Western Sydney Wanderers
In October 2019, Biyendolo travelled to Australia to join W-League club Western Sydney Wanderers on loan. In February 2020, she terminated her contract early to focus on her international career.
In December 2021, Biyendolo returned to Australia, signing with Melbourne Victory as a guest player on a month-long loan. Her loan ended on January 13, 2022.
On January 10, 2022, Biyendolo was traded to the Kansas City Current from the North Carolina Courage for $200,000 in allocation money, the rights to goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland and a first-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. This reunited Biyendolo with former Courage teammates Sam Mewis, Kristen Hamilton, and Hailie Mace.
Biyendolo was injured on March 18, 2022, suffering a right leg injury, missing the entirety of the 2022 NWSL season.