Abigail Crosby Brighton (born March 29, 2002) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Serie A Femminile club Juventus. She played college soccer for the Vanderbilt Commodores, earning All-American honors.
Brighton was born in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to John and Stephanie Brighton, and raised in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.[2] She has an older brother, James, who played college soccer for Clemson. Brighton attended Heritage Academy in Hilton Head, where she captained the soccer team from 2012 to 2018.[3] She played club soccer for Tormenta FC.[4]
Brighton was a five-year starter for the Vanderbilt Commodores, scoring 10 goals and making 15 assists in 93 appearances (92 starts). In her freshman season in 2020, which was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped lead Vanderbilt to their first SEC tournament title since 1994. In the opening round, she scored and assisted in a 4–2 win against Mississippi State (her rocket against Mississippi State made SportsCenter's top 10 plays), and she scored the last goal in a 3–1 victory over Arkansas in the final. Vanderbilt lost to Penn State in their opening game in the NCAA tournament. She finished the season with 3 goals and 2 assists in 16 games and was named to the SEC all-freshman team.[2][5]
Brighton made a career-high five assists in 21 games in her junior season in 2022, including the tying assist in a 1–1 draw against Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament, before making her penalty kick as they advanced in a shootout. In the NCAA tournament, she assisted the only goal in a 1–0 win against Clemson in the first round before losing to Northwestern in the next game. She became team captain of the Commodores in her senior year. She returned for a fifth and final season (granted to college athletes because of the pandemic) in 2024. In her last NCAA tournament, she led Vanderbilt to an upset win against top-seeded defending champions Florida State in the second round, assisting on the second goal in a 3–3 draw and making the winning penalty kick in the ensuing shootout. Vanderbilt lost to Penn State in the next round.[2][6] Described as "arguably the spine of the team" for her facilitating play, Brighton was named to the All-SEC second team in her last two seasons and third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American in her last season.[2][7]
Italian club Juventus announced on January 8, 2025, that they had signed Brighton to her first professional contract on a two-and-a-half-year deal.[8] She made her professional debut three days later, substituting for Eva Schatzer in a 3–0 win against Sampdoria.[9] She was a starter in seven of the team's eight championship round league games, helping Juventus secure its sixth Serie A Femminile title.[10][11] On May 17, she started in the final of the 2024–25 Coppa Italia, where Juventus completed the domestic double with a 4–0 win against Roma.[12]
Brighton was called into United States national under-14 team training camp in 2016 and later invited to virtual camp at the under-20 level in 2021.[13][14] She was called into training camp with the United States under-23 team, practicing alongside the senior national team, in March 2025.[15]
Juventus
Vanderbilt Commodores
Individual
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