Sarah Fuller

Vanderbilt

Fuller entered Vanderbilt University on a soccer scholarship in 2017. She broke her foot the summer before her freshman year, causing her to sit out her first season. Back injuries sidelined her as a sophomore, and she played behind two senior goalkeepers the following season. Fuller played in just two games in her first three years. In the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck and five exhibition games were cancelled, depriving her the opportunity to showcase herself to her coaches. Over the summer, she suffered a stress fracture on her other foot. As a senior in 2020, Fuller began the season on the bench. The Commodores began the season 1–2 before she made her first career start against South Carolina in October, recording six saves. She remained the starter, finishing with a 7–2–0 record, 28 total saves, and a 75.5 save percentage. Her 0.97 goals against average led the SEC and was the eighth-best in Vanderbilt history in a single season. In the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament, Fuller recorded a rare goalkeeper assist after booting a free kick that almost travelled the length of the field, leading to a goal in a 4–2 win against Tennessee. On November 22, 2020, she had three saves in the championship game against Arkansas, helping the No. 7 seed Commodores win 3–1 and claim their first SEC Tournament title since 1994. She graduated in May 2021 with a degree in Medicine, Health, and Society.

North Texas

On November 13, 2020, North…

On February 7, 2022, Fuller was announced as the first-ever signing by Minnesota Aurora FC ahead of the inaugural USL W League season. In 13 appearances, she conceded 8 goals and led the Aurora to the USL W League 2022 championship match, losing to Tormenta FC 2–1 after extra time. She retired from soccer after the season.

Due to COVID-19, Vanderbilt's football team had limited options at placekicker for its upcoming game against the Missouri Tigers on November 28, 2020. Their starting kicker had already opted out of the season due to coronavirus concerns, and contact tracing had sidelined its other kickers. The Commodores' punter was also an option to kick, but he also served as the team's holder, requiring a new holder if he were to kick. With no men's soccer team at Vanderbilt, Commodores football coach Derek Mason turned to the women's team and Fuller. Contacted the day after her soccer team's SEC title game, she agreed to try out for the 0–7 football team instead of returning home to Wylie for Thanksgiving. Mason opted to use her as the kicker for the road game in Columbia, Missouri, and she was the only kicker to travel with the team. Vanderbilt trailed Missouri 21–0 at the half. Unhappy with the team's lack of enthusiasm on the sidelines, Fuller gave a halftime speech, encouraging her teammates to cheer each other on and support one another. Coaches told her afterwards that they had been wanting to say something similar for a while. She opened the second half with a kickoff, a squib kick by design that travelled 30 yards. Fuller became the first woman to play football in a Power Five conference, considered the elite conferences in college football, as well as the third female to play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Commodores lost the game 41–0. With their offense rarely…

Fuller was born to 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m) Brandon and 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m) Windi Fuller. Both of Fuller's grandfathers are 6 feet 5 inches (1.96 m) tall. She began playing soccer when she was five years old. From elementary through junior high school, Fuller was the tallest student—boy or girl—in her class. Growing up in Wylie, Texas, she attended Wylie High School, where she was a starter for two years at goalie and named the 2017 District 6-6A Goalkeeper of the Year. Fuller was able to kick the ball over 60 yards (55 m) in games. Her leg strength impressed the school's football coaches, who would tell her soccer coach that they could use her on their team.