SAN ANTONIO – After a college career playing soccer at Texas A&M and Florida State, Antonian Catholic College Preparatory High School alum Carissa Boeckmann signed with the Portland Thorns this past February.
On Saturday night, in Monterrey, Mexico, in a CONCACAF W Championship Third Place match against Club America, Carissa made her professional debut, which included an assist in the 45th minute.
⚽ Pietra Tordin strikes first for the Thorns! pic.twitter.com/uucpJo5TKX
— Concacaf W (@ConcacafW) May 24, 2025
When KSAT got to chat with Boeckmann a couple of weeks ago over Zoom, we wanted to know how life has changed for her now that she is a professional soccer player.
“So, Florida State did a really good job of creating an environment that everyone is there at a good level,” she said. The way practices were set up and the coaching staff creating those relationships with the players around me and also the staff, I feel like that converted really well to this level,” said Carissa. “I think Florida State did a really good job of prepping me for this, and then here at this level now, I think yeah, just the speed of play that’s a big thing, and the physicality is just like figuring out like what you can do and where you’re at compared to everyone else and how can you help you know?”
What’s the environment like on the team?
“Generally, everyone’s nice and like down to earth, and like you see them on TV and you’re like ‘oh my god,’ and then you meet them, and you’re like, ‘ok, that’s kinda crazy,’” she said. “They’re just as cool as you would think, you know. But yeah, I think everyone’s very humble and like, and some people have really cool habits and hobbies outside of soccer that make them unique.”
Boeckmann and the Thorns will be on the road against Bay FC in San Jose on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
