Abi Brighton

Brighton was born in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to John and Stephanie Brighton, and raised in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She has an older brother, James, who played college soccer for Clemson. Brighton attended Heritage Academy in Hilton Head, where she captained the soccer team from 2012 to 2018. She played club soccer for Tormenta FC. == College career ==

Brighton was a five-year starter for the Vanderbilt Commodores, scoring 10 goals and making 15 assists in 93 appearances (92 starts). In her freshman season in 2020, which was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped lead Vanderbilt to their first SEC tournament title since 1994. In the opening round, she scored and assisted in a 4–2 win against Mississippi State (her rocket against Mississippi State made SportsCenter top 10 plays), and she scored the last goal in a 3–1 victory over Arkansas in the final. Vanderbilt lost to Penn State in their opening game in the NCAA tournament. She finished the season with 3 goals and 2 assists in 16 games and was named to the SEC all-freshman team. Brighton made a career-high five assists in 21 games in her junior season in 2022, including the tying assist in a 1–1 draw against Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament, before making her penalty kick as they advanced in a shootout. In the NCAA tournament, she assisted the only goal in a 1–0 win against Clemson in the first round before losing to Northwestern in the next game. She became team captain of the Commodores in her senior year. She returned for a fifth and final season (granted to college athletes because of the pandemic) in 2024. In her last NCAA tournament, she led Vanderbilt to an upset win against top-seeded defending champions Florida State in the second round, assisting on the second goal in a 3–3 draw and making the winning penalty kick in the ensuing shootout. Vanderbilt lost to Penn State in the next round. Described as "arguably the spine of the team" for her facilitating play, Brighton was named to the All-SEC second team in her last two seasons and third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American in her last season. ==Club career==

On 8 January 2025, Serie A Femminile club Juventus announced the signing of Brighton on a two-and-a-half-year contract. She made her professional debut three days later as a second-half substitute for Eva Schatzer in a 3–0 win over Sampdoria. She made her first professional start in a 6–0 win over AC Milan on February 9. She was subsequently a regular starter as Juventus clinched their sixth league title. On May 17, she started in a 4–0 win over Roma in the Coppa Italia final, completing a domestic double. On September 9, 2025, Brighton signed a one-year extension with Juventus to keep her under contract through June 2028. On October 7, she made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut in a 2–1 win over Benfica. ==International career==

Brighton was called into United States national under-14 team training camp in 2016, and later invited to virtual camp at the under-20 level in 2021. She was called into training camp with the United States under-23 team, practicing concurrently with the senior national team, in March 2025. ==Honors==

Vanderbilt Commodores • SEC women's soccer tournament: 2020 Juventus • Serie A: 2024–25 Individual • Third-team All-American: 2024 • Second-team All-SEC: 2023, 2024 • SEC all-freshman team: 2020 • SEC tournament all-tournament team: 2020 ==References==