Coriana Janet Ruggiero Dyke (born September 20, 2000) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for the Orlando Pride of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).

Dyke played college soccer for the Penn State Nittany Lions and was named Big Ten Defender of the Year in 2023. She was drafted by the Pride in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, winning the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship in her rookie season.

Early life

Dyke was born in San Jose, California, to Annette and Peter Dyke. She has an older sister, Camryn, who played college soccer at Notre Dame. Her family moved to Littleton, Colorado, when she was seven. She captained her club soccer teams in the academy programs of the Colorado Rush at the under-16/17 level and the Colorado Rapids at under-19. She was named United Soccer Coaches All-American in 2017 and second-team TopDrawerSoccer All-American in 2019. She attended Valor Christian High School and committed to Pennsylvania State University as a sophomore.

College career Dyke started all 108 games for the Penn State Nittany Lions over her five years with the team, accruing the most appearances in program history. In her freshman season in 2019, she came into the program as the replacement for graduate Emily Ogle as the team's starting defensive midfielder. She helped the team win the Big Ten tournament that year and was named to the Big Ten all-freshman and TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI teams. In her sophomore year in 2020, the team won the Big 12 regular season title.

During her senior season in 2022, Dyke was described by Penn State head coach Erica Dambach as "the franchise ... We go through her". She scored her first career goal that year against Liberty and finished the season with four goals. She helped lead the team to the Big Ten championship and was named to the all-tournament team. Dyke returned for a fifth year in 2023, contributing to the team's solid defense at central midfielder or center back. She recorded a career-high five goals and six assists. Penn State made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. In her fifth and final season, Dyke was named the Big Ten Defender of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten, second-team United Soccer Coaches All-American, first-team TopDrawerSoccer All-American.

Club career Dyke was drafted by the Orlando Pride with the 22nd overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NWSL Draft. She was signed to an initial one-year contract, then extended an additional year during her rookie season. Dyke made her professional debut on April 16, coming on as a late substitute for Angelina in a 3–2 win against the Washington Spirit. Head coach Seb Hines deployed Dyke at multiple positions before Dyke established herself as the starting right back after Brianna Martinez went out with an injury. On September 28, she registered her first NWSL assist when her long cross connected to Carson Pickett's header for the opener in a 3–1 win against the Houston Dash. She finished her rookie regular season with 21 appearances (11 starts) as the Pride claimed the NWSL Shield with the best record in the league. She started all three playoff games and played the full match in the NWSL Championship, a 1–0 victory over the Washington Spirit on a goal from Barbra Banda.

In February 2025, Orlando extended Dyke's contract for a further two years, keeping her with the club until 2027. She scored her first professional goal on June 7, 2025, scoring the 1–0 game-winner against the Houston Dash with the final kick of the match.

International career

Dyke was first called into training camp with the United States youth national team at the under-14 level in 2014. She trained with the under-16 and under-17 teams the following year. She was selected to play friendlies with the under-16 team in 2016, the under-18 and under-19 teams in 2017, and the under-20 team in 2018. While in college, she was called up to the under-23 team for friendlies against NWSL teams in the 2022 preseason.

Career statistics

ClubSeasonLeagueCupIncludes NWSL Challenge CupPlayoffsIncludes NWSL playoffsOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsOrlando Pride2024NWSL210—302Includes the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup0260202522100203Includes the CONCACAF W Champions Cup02712026231———231Career total662005050772

Honors and awards Orlando Pride NWSL Championship: 2024 NWSL Shield: 2024

Penn State Nittany Lions Big Ten women's soccer tournament: 2019, 2022

Individual Big Ten Defender of the Year: 2023 Second-team All-American: 2023 First-team All-Big Ten: 2023 Big Ten tournament all-tournament team: 2022 Big Ten all-freshman team: 2019

References

External links

Cori Dyke at Colorado Rush (archived)