Emily Margaret Colton (born June 23, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for USL Super League team DC Power FC. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, helping both teams to national title game appearances.
Colton grew up in Carlsbad, California, the daughter of Jeffery and Debra Colton, and has two sisters. She and her twin sister, Abbie, began playing soccer when they were five years old. Colton played club soccer for City SC in San Diego for twelve years before moving to LA Galaxy San Diego. She attended La Costa Canyon High School, where she played basketball. Coming out of high school, she was ranked by IMG Academy as the fifth-best player of the 2021 class.
Colton played three seasons for the North Carolina Tar Heels and started all 67 games for the team, scoring 10 goals and providing 8 assists. In her freshman season in 2021, she led the Tar Heels in scoring with 7 goals in 18 games and named to the TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI second team. In her sophomore season in 2022, she helped North Carolina to the finals of both the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament. In the national title game, she assisted Avery Patterson's second goal in a loss to UCLA. Her junior season in 2023 ended in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
Colton transferred to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons for her fourth and final season in 2024, joining her sister Abbie. She started all 24 games and scored 7 goals with 7 assistsâÂÂboth marks tied with or behind only Caiya Hanks and Emily Murphy. Her assist against No. 2âÂÂranked Virginia and her lone goal against No. 1 Stanford made Wake Forest the first team to defeat the top two ranked teams consecutively. She also helped defeat defending national champions Florida State 4âÂÂ1, ending their 32âÂÂgame unbeaten streak. She ranked second in the nation in TopDrawerSoccer midseason player rankings. In the NCAA tournament, she helped lead Wake Forest to its first national title game in program history, beating Stanford 1âÂÂ0 in the semifinals before losing 1âÂÂ0 to her former team North Carolina in the final. She was named second-team All-ACC, third-team United Soccer Coaches All-American, and second-team TopDrawerSoccer All-American at the end of the season.
USL Super League club DC Power FC announced on January 31, 2025, that the club had signed Colton to her first professional contract on a two-year deal. She made her professional debut on February 23, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 3âÂÂ3 draw with the Carolina Ascent. She recorded her first professional assist on April 26, setting up Gianna Gourley in a 1âÂÂ0 win against Brooklyn FC.
On August 30, 2025, Colton scored her first professional goal for DC, opening a 2âÂÂ2 draw against the Spokane Zephyr. On January 7, 2026, she signed a one-year contract extension through the following season.
Colton was called into training camps with the United States under-15 team in 2018 and the under-17 team in 2019. With the under-20 team, she won the 2022 Sud Ladies Cup and the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, which qualified the team for the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. In the qualifiers, she scored 3 goals and led the United States with 5 assists in 7 games and was named to the all-tournament team.
North Carolina Tar Heels
United States U-20
Individual