Sport: Soccer
Born: August 24, 1998
Town: Sicklerville, New Jersey
Tziarra Lanae King was born August 24, 1998 in Sicklerville, NJ. A swift and powerful athlete, “Zee” took after he two older brothers and excelled in youth-league soccer. She became the offensive leader of the Winslow Township High varsity as a freshman in 2012. She was also a star sprinter, specializing in the 400 meters. As a junior, Zee scored 37 goals and was named first-team All-South Jersey in soccer—and was a member of the indoor and outdoor state-championship 4×400 relay team. As a senior in 2015, she scored a jaw-dropping 51 goals to finish her prep career with 105 and earn first-team all-state honors. Zee also played club soccer for the Winslow Tiger, coached by her father, Rich, a former college hoops star, as well as futsal (an indoor version of soccer) and led her teams to multiple tournament and regional championships in both. Her friend and teammate, Amirah Ali, was the star of the high school team in Voorhees.
Surprisingly, Zee was not aggressively recruited by top programs. She chose to play for Tim Santoro—a South Jersey guy—at North Carolina State University. She led the Wolfpack in goals as a freshman and helped them reach the ACC title game for the first time in a decade. As a sophomore, she led the team in goals again with 17, five of which were game-winners, and was selected for the US Under-23 team. Zee continued her team-best scoring as a junior and finished her career in 2019 with 48 goals and 155 points. She was first-team All-ACC and earned All-America recognition from several publications. Zee capped her Wolfpack career as the ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year for 2019.
In early January, Zee was selected by Utah Royals FC with the 8th pick in the 2020 National Women’s Soccer League draft. She made her pro debut in June during the NWSL Challenge Cup, which was played in Utah. Zee went into the game as a second-half sub and promptly scored. Following Zee’s rookie year, she was acquired in a trade by the Megan Rapinoe-led OL Reign. Zee was named NWSL Player of the Week after scoring one goal and assisting on another in a 2–0 July win over the Orlando Pride. The Reign finished second in the standing to the Portland Thorns.
In 2022, Zee helped the Reign finish ahead of the Thorns and win the NWSL Supporters’ Shield. In August, she was named MVP of the 2022 Women’s Cup, defeating Racing Louisville 2-1 in the final. Her goal in the semifinal against Mexican side Club America spearheaded a comeback win and she drilled a perfect corner in the final to set up the Reign’s first goal by Olivia Athens. The highlight of Zee’s season was her engagement to teammate Jess Fishlock, a veteran midfielder who has been named Welsh Player of the Year five times.