After the Vancouver Rise signed Shannon Woller as their first player in club history on Monday, they were not done with the player announcements.
The Rise are planning to announce one player each this week. On Tuesday morning, they announced Jessica De Filippo as the second player in club history. She already has a lot of familiarity with Vancouver.
New Rise forward was Part of Whitecaps girls Elite
De Filippo joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite Academy last July. She started seven matches in all competitons and most notably, she scored both goals in the Vancouver’s League1 Canada Inter-Provincial Championship semifinal. That was a 2-0 win. The 23-year-old forward then went on to start all of the Whitecaps matches in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup last fall.
“Jessica is a talented attacking player who we’re excited to see grow in our environment,” said Vancouver Rise sporting director Stephanie Labbe in the press release. ““At only 23-years-old, she has already gained a great deal of experience playing in top professional leagues. I’m excited to see her scoring goals in front of our fans.”
23-years-old but already has experience
Prior to joining the Whitecaps Girls Elite academy, De Filippo played professionally for several clubs.
She started at the semi-pro level with Lakers du Lac St-Louis in the Première ligue de soccer du Québec (now League 1 Quebec) in 2018. De Filippo was named an All-Star in 2019.
After stops with the NWSL Chicago Red Stars reserve team and a return to the PLSQ with As Laval, De Filippo made her professional debut with Turbine Potsdam of the Frauen-Bundesliga in the 2022-23 season. She scored two goals in 11 matches.
Then it was off to Spain. De Filippo played 18 matches with Sporting de Huelva in Liga 1 scoring one goal.
De Filippo also spent some time in the NCAA. After spending the 2019-20 season at University of Louisville, she transferred to University of Arkansas to play for the Razorbacks. In her final season there, the native of St. Lazare, Quebec lead the Razorbacks with 12 goals.
Expect De Filippo to be one of the key figures for the Rise in their inaugural season.
