Andrea Kitahata

Kitahata was born in San Francisco, one of three children of Ingrid DeMoor and Luther Kitahata, and grew up in Hillsborough, California. She attended San Mateo High School. She captained her club team in the San Jose Earthquakes academy and later won the GA under-19 national title with FC Bay Area Surf. She also played squash growing up and was ranked fourth in the nation at the under-13 level, but gave up the sport after committing to Stanford for soccer. ==College career==

Kitahata was an immediate starter for the Stanford Cardinal as a freshman in 2021, scoring 4 goals and leading the team with 6 assists in 20 games, and earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. Before returning the soccer team, she joined Stanford's intercollegiate squash team under her former club coach Mark Talbott, playing in the team's number eight spot at the MASC and CSA tournaments in the spring of 2023. Kitahata had a strong return to soccer as a redshirt sophomore in 2023, scoring 9 goals with 9 assists in 25 games, again being named second-team All-Pac 12. She became a team captain as a redshirt junior in 2024, leading the Cardinal with 9 goals and adding 6 assists in 23 games. After fielding several professional offers, Kitahata decided to play a fifth season at Stanford in 2025. She scored a career-high 17 goals (second on the team to Jasmine Aikey) and had 10 assists in 25 games, earning first-team All-ACC honors. She co-captained the Cardinal to their first ACC regular-season and tournament titles. She scored four goals in the NCAA tournament as the Cardinal reached the final, again losing to Florida State. ==Club career==

Kitahata starred in the USL W League for the San Francisco Glens, helping lead them to the 2023 NorCal Division and Western Conference titles as the team eventually fell in the National Semifinals. Gotham FC announced on January 8, 2026, that they had signed Kitahata to her first professional contract on a one-year deal. On February 1, she made her professional debut against AS FAR at the Emirates Stadium, playing the last 30 minutes at left back in the 4–0 win for third place at the inaugural FIFA Women's Champions Cup. ==International career==

Kitahata was called into training camp with the United States under-15 team in 2017. She won UEFA Development Tournaments with the under-16 and under-17 teams the following two years. She was also invited to train with the Japan youth national team in 2018. She was going to play for the United States at the 2021 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ==Honors and awards==

Stanford Cardinal • Atlantic Coast Conference: 2025 • ACC tournament: 2025 • Pac-12 Conference: 2022 Individual • First-team All-ACC: 2025 • Second-team All-Pac-12: 2021, 2023 • ACC tournament all-tournament team: 2025 ==References==