Rowan Alexandra Lapi (born April 16, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Elitettan club KIF Örebro. She played college soccer for the Northwestern Wildcats and the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Early life
Lapi grew up in Reinholds, a small town in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She played high school soccer at Cocalico High School in Denver, Pennsylvania, and played club soccer for Penn Fusion, earning DA all-conference honors.
College career
Lapi played four seasons for the Northwestern Wildcats from 2019 to 2022, making 58 appearances and scoring 9 goals. She started all 17 games as a junior in 2021. She again started all 23 games and scored a career-high 6 goals as a senior in 2022, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. In 2022, she helped the Wildcats finish second in the Big Ten, reach the Big Ten tournament semifinals, and earn their first NCAA tournament berth in five years with the highest seed in program history. She reached the NCAA tournament round of sixteen but was injured in the loss to eventual champions UCLA. After four seasons at Northwestern, she graduated with her degree in economics and retained two years of NCAA eligibility.
Lapi transferred to the Penn State Nittany Lions as a graduate student in 2023. She played in 22 games in 2023, helping the team to the Big Ten tournament semifinals and the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. She was named a team captain for her final season in 2024. She played in 19 games, starting 15, and scored 4 goals in 2024, again reaching the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. While at Penn State, she earned her Master of Business Administration and founded the clothing brand Esoteric.
Club career
On December 19, 2024, newly relegated Elitettan club KIF Örebro announced that they had signed Lapi to her first professional contract on a one-year deal. Before the season began, she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a training game against AIK on February 22, 2025, ruling her out for at least five months. In August, she signed a contract extension with KIF Örebro and joined her former college team Northwestern as an assistant coach while recovering from the injury. She rehabbed with the goal to return during the season, but KIF Örebro's coach said in early November that was unlikely.
On March 28, 2026, Lapi made her professional debut as KIF Örebro lost their season opener 3–0 to Elfsborg. On April 25, she scored her first professional goal in a 5–1 victory over Sandviken. On May 16, she scored in her fourth straight game in a 4–3 win over Enskede.
Coaching career
While rehabbing from her knee injury, Lapi returned to her college team Northwestern Wildcats as an assistant coach to Michael Moynihan for the 2025 season.
Honors and awards
Individual
Second-team All-Big Ten: 2022
References
External links