Born in Fountain Valley, California, to Hanh and Alex Nguyen, Nguyen grew up in the nearby neighborhood of Costa Mesa. She played club soccer for the SoCal Blues, captaining the team and winning two league titles.[1] She helped the Blues record a 29-match unbeaten streak, the highest in program history.[2] Nguyen attended Mater Dei High School, a private Catholic school in Santa Ana. She graduated from Mater Dei early to enroll at UCLA in the spring of 2021.[1]
College career
UCLA Bruins
Nguyen was a backup goalkeeper in all three of her seasons with the UCLA Bruins. After failing to earn any playing time as a freshman, she made her collegiate debut on August 25, 2022, with Nguyen and all three other of the Bruins' goalies earning a portion of minutes in a 6–0 victory over Cal State Northridge.[3] She looked on from the bench as UCLA went on to win the 2022 national championship, beating North Carolina in double overtime.[2] As a junior in 2023, Nguyen made 3 appearances, keeping a clean sheet in each match. She played a career-high 27 minutes against Oregon State in October 2023. She departed from UCLA having contributed to two Pac-12 conference championships along with the national title.[1]
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Ahead of the 2024 season, Nguyen transferred to Texas Tech University.[2] She cemented herself as the Red Raiders' starting goalkeeper, missing only 2 of Texas Tech's 22 games due to injury. She was named to the All-Big 12 first seam at the end of the year after having recorded 10 clean sheets and 61 total saves,[4] including a penalty kick save against West Virginia in October 2024.[5] She received two Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week honors, with her first one coming at the tail end of 3 straight shutouts in conference play.[4][6] She helped Texas Tech reach the NCAA tournament and made 9 saves in the Red Raiders' second-round defeat to top-ranked Duke.[4]
In the offseason after her first year at Texas Tech, Nguyen played for FC Olympia of the pre-professional USL W League. She captained the team to the W League national playoffs after FC Olympia finished atop the Northwest Conference. At the end of the season, Nguyen was selected as the team's most valuable player.[7]
Nguyen returned to Texas Tech for a second season in 2025.[8] She started all 21 games for the Red Raiders, posted a career-best goals against average, and was named to the All-Big 12 second team.[4] In the NCAA tournament, she saved Linda Ullmark's penalty shootout attempt, but conceded all 4 other spot-kicks as Texas Tech lost its Round of 32 match to reigning champions North Carolina on penalties.[9] Nguyen ended her Texas Tech tenure with a career goals against average of 0.83 that ranked as fourth-lowest in program history. Despite only playing two seasons for the Red Raiders, she also ranked tenth in all-time program saves, with 127.[4]
Club career
In the summer of 2025, Nguyen returned home to Southern California to train with Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League.[10] After graduating from college, Nguyen was announced to have signed her first professional contract with Angel City on January 14, 2026, penning a six-month deal with the club.[11][12]
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