Rosemary Kathleen Lavelle ( lə-VEL; born May 14, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Gotham FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team.
Lavelle played college soccer for the Wisconsin Badgers, earning first-team All-American honors in 2015, and was drafted first overall by the Boston Breakers in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. After the Breakers folded, she was drafted to the Washington Spirit and played three seasons there. She then played for Manchester City and OL Reign before signing as a free agent with Gotham. She won her first NWSL Championship with Gotham in 2025 and was named the championship MVP. She has been named in the NWSL Best XI three times.
Lavelle represented the United States at multiple youth levels before making her senior international debut in 2017. She started six games for the United States at the 2019 World Cup, scoring three goals, and was awarded the Bronze Ball. The same year, she was named the sixth best player in the world at The Best FIFA Football Awards 2019 and was named to the 2019 FIFA FIFPro World XI. She scored one goal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the way to a bronze medal and won gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Lavelle was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to parents Marty and Janet, and was raised with three siblings, John, Nora and Mary. She played competitive soccer initially with GSSA Sycamore United Club before moving to Lakota United Soccer Club and later with Cincinnati United Premier Soccer Club. She credits her love of soccer to long-time Cincinnati Soccer Trainer Neil Bradford, who began as her trainer at age 8 and predicted her rise to the Women's Soccer National Team as a youth. As part of a third-grade book report, Lavelle chose to write about professional soccer star Mia Hamm.
A four-year varsity girls' soccer player at Mount Notre Dame High School, Lavelle was named Cincinnati's Player of the Year by The Cincinnati Enquirer in her senior year. The same year, she scored 15 goals (38 points) for her team. Lavelle finished her high school career as the team's leading scorer with 57 goals. She was twice-named NSCAA All-Region, as a junior and senior, and received first-team all-state honors. She was awarded the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Sports Women of the Year award in 2013.
Lavelle was accepted to play college soccer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2013. A four-year starter, Lavelle made 19 appearances as a freshman, scoring 6 goals and registering 7 assists on the way to being named Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year. Wisconsin won the Big Ten Women's Soccer Tournament in 2014. Lavelle was named Big Ten midfielder of the year consecutively in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, she was also named first-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), the first Wisconsin Badger to do so since 1991.
Lavelle played with the Dayton Dutch Lions in the USL W-League during the 2014 season. During her college break in the summer of 2015, Lavelle played for the Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League, where she was named in the All-League Team. After the W-League folded she returned to the Lions for the 2016 Women's Premier Soccer League season.
On January 12, 2017, Lavelle was selected number one overall at the 2017 NWSL College Draft by the Boston Breakers. Lavelle started her professional career by scoring two goals in eight games and was named Player of the Month for April. However, after suffering a hamstring injury in June while on international duty, Lavelle missed over two months and finished the season with only ten appearances as a rookie. The Breakers folded before the start of the 2018 season.
A dispersal draft was held by the NWSL to distribute Breakers players across the league. Lavelle was selected first overall by Washington Spirit, who acquired the first pick through a trade with Sky Blue FC. Due to injury and international duty Lavelle appeared in only eleven games for the Spirit in 2018. Despite making only six appearances the following year due to international duty, scoring one goal and recording one assist, Lavelle was named to the 2019 NWSL Best XI in the end of the season awards. With the 2020 season affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Lavelle took part in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, making four appearances and scoring one goal as Washington finished second in the preliminary group but were eliminated in the first knockout round by Sky Blue FC on penalties.
On August 16, 2020, Lavelle was traded to OL Reign in exchange for OL Reign's natural first-round pick in the 2022 NWSL College Draft, $100,000 in allocation money, and further performance-based allocation money with the acknowledgement that she would be signing outside the league.
On August 18, 2020, Lavelle signed with Manchester City of the English FA WSL ahead of the 2020–21 season. She scored her first goal on October 7, 2020, in a 3–1 win over Everton in the 2020–21 FA Women's League Cup, scoring her second goal against Liverpool a month later in the same competition. On January 31, 2021, Lavelle scored her first WSL goal as a substitute during City's 4–0 win over West Ham United.
Lavelle won the 2019–20 Women's FA Cup with Manchester City. She started in the November 2020 final against Everton, and Manchester City would end up winning the match 3–1 in added extra time.
On May 17, 2021, OL Reign announced the return of Lavelle to the NWSL as an allocated player having acquired her playing rights prior to her move to England in August 2020.
In 2022, she scored five goals over 18 starts for OL Reign to help secure the franchise's third NWSL Shield, a trophy given to the club with the most points at the conclusion of the regular season.
Lavelle missed the majority of the 2023 NWSL season due to injury and being rostered for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. She returned for the postseason, helping OL Reign secure a spot in the 2023 NWSL Championship in San Diego. In the title match, Lavelle scored OL Reign's only goal in a 2–1 defeat to NJ/NY Gotham FC.
On January 4, 2024, NJ/NY Gotham FC announced that Lavelle had signed a three-year deal with the club. She was one of four national team players who joined Gotham as free agents that off-season along with Crystal Dunn, Tierna Davidson, and Emily Sonnett. After missing the start of the season due to a lower leg injury, she made her club debut on April 28, coming off the bench and scoring the tying goal in stoppage time to draw 1–1 against Racing Louisville. She showcased an exceptional run of form in her first few months with Gotham FC; over 12 matches before the Olympic break, she scored five goals and was named to the NWSL's Team of the Month for June. She finished the regular season with 7 goals, tied for second-most on the team, as Gotham placed third in the standings. On November 10, she scored the winning goal in the 90+7th minute of the NWSL quarterfinals, a 2–1 victory over the Portland Thorns. It's currently the latest stoppage time goal in NWSL playoff history. In the semifinals, Gotham fell to the Washington Spirit on penalties.
After undergoing ankle surgery in the offseason, Lavelle made her first appearance of the season on June 7, 2025, appearing as a substitute in a 2–1 loss to Kansas City Current. In the 2025 NWSL Championship against the Washington Spirit, she scored the only goal of the game in the 80th minute, securing Gotham's second championship. Her strike from the top of the box was the latest opening goal in NWSL final history, and she was named the championship game MVP.
On September 1, 2026, Lavelle signed a contract to stay at Gotham through the 2029 season through the NWSL's High Impact Player rule.