PLAYER PROFILE – Sofia Manner is a Finnish professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for AFC Toronto. The 6’1” goalie, born and bred in Helsinki, Finland, grew up in Finland and played college soccer with Stony Brook University and Lynn University in the U.S.
Sofia Manner: AFC Toronto’s Important Goalkeeper
Childhood
Sofia Manner played soccer at a very young age. She has played the game with her older brother, as she said in Kevin Hurren’s IN Magazine article:
“I always fangirled my brother as he was playing soccer, so of course I wanted to play as well,” she says. “I did try gymnastics with my sister as well, but I just didn’t have the same kind of passion.”
She would go on to talk about what it meant to play with boys older than her, to which she stated this in the same article:
“I felt it was more exciting to save goals than score them, especially at that time.”
Manner was developed in the Finnish football (soccer) system, which included playing with FC Honka of Finland in her youth, according to the AFC Toronto website. Also, in her youth, she played for Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (HJK) from 2009-16, and played for the Finland youth teams (U16, U17, and U18 teams).
College
Stony Brook Seawolves (2017-19)
She played for three years with the Stony Brook Seawolves (Stony Brook University). In 2017, her freshman year, she started 20 times and played in 21 games, with a 10-10 record and five shutouts earned.
Manner helped the Seawolves win the 2017 America East Women’s Soccer Championship, helping the program get its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012. Then in 2018, her sophomore year, she started all 19 games and played a total of 1,601 games. She was named the 2018 America East Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-Conference, recorded a league-high seven clean sheets, and finished second in the league with 82 saves.
Then in 2019, her last year, she was part of the United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region Third Team, United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region, America East Goalkeeper of the Year, America East First Team All-Conference, and recorded nine clean sheets this season, and made career-high eight saves in wins against Northeastern on Aug. 22 and Maine on Sept. 22. She also achieved an undergraduate recognition award for outstanding achievement in athletics.
Manner also excelled academically at Stony Brook as she did a multidisciplinary studies major. She earned America East Fall Honor Roll in 2018 and earned a bachelor’s degree in December 2020 with a Senior Academic Achievement Award.
Source: Stony Brook Seawolves
Her name was scattered in the record books for the school, as Tobias Bischof had this to say about her on the Stony Brook Seawolves website:
“Sofia is an outstanding player and person,” Bischof said. “She truly will be missed on and off the field. Her presence on the field led to her receiving numerous awards, and I’m sure it will translate into her being a successful professional player. I can’t wait to follow her professional career and wish her all the best.”
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Lynn Fighting Knights (2021)
Manner played one season with the Lynn Fighting Knights (Lynn University). There, she started in all thirteen games, earned 65 saves and achieved three shutouts. She recorded a season-high of eight saves in three separate games against FGCU, No.1 Flagler, and Barry. Manner also saved a penalty kick against Saint Leo.
Despite her short time with the Fighting Knights, Flagler head coach Ashley Martin said this about her as they won a 4-3 game at Saints Field Wednesday night on the Flagler Athletics website:
“Lynn played a fabulous game today,” Flagler head coach Ashley Martin said.
Source: Lynn Fighting Knights Website
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Professional Sports Teams
Manner played for a few professional sports teams, including two Finnish teams, with one of them being Ungmennafélagið Fjölnir, where she played 11 games for them in the 2022 season.
FC Honka Women (2021, 2023)
Manner’s first team she played for professionally was FC Honka. Her time growing up in Finland got the attention of then FC Honka goalkeeper coach, Eemeli Ihalainen, who said this about Manner (Source: Stony Brook Athletics):
“It’s great to get Sofia on this team,” FC Honka goalkeeper coach Eemeli Ihalainen said in Finnish. “Sofia has been familiar to me since her school years at Heryk. I already saw her potential then. Sofia has good basic skills as well as good kicking technique. I expect Sofia to take leaps in her development over the next season. She is very active and willing to develop herself.”
She made some big saves for her team, including the one she made in 2023 as seen above. Manner also earned the Kansallinen Liiga Goalkeeper of the Year in 2023. All of this helped Manner make the NWSL with the Orlando Pride FC.
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Orlando Pride (2024)
Manner’s signing with the Orlando Pride of the NWSL was huge for Finnish soccer. As mentioned by Sakari Lund of yle, the transfer fee from the National League (top-tier league in Finland) to the NWSL (top-tier league in the U.S.) was the biggest transfer fee in National League history.
This is what Haley Carter, Orlando Pride’s vice president of soccer operations and general manager, said in Lund’s yle article:
Manner had a positive start with Pride, as her debut came on July 7, 2024, when the Pride defeated the Monterrey Femenil in the second leg of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup via a penalty shootout.
This result included Manner getting a key save for Orlando in the penalty shootout. She would also win both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in 2024.
However, after that game mentioned above, Manner would not make any more appearances for the Orlando Pride SC and has since decided to take her talents north of the border to Canada, to play with AFC Toronto.
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AFC Toronto (2025-Present)
The Finnish goalkeeper signed with AFC Toronto just before its first-ever season in the NSL. There was a lot of excitement, as Billy Wilson, sports director of AFC Toronto, said this:
“One of the things we were looking for is a goalkeeper that can really command her area,” Wilson said. “We think that there’s still a gap in the game in North America in dealing with those crossed balls and being able to dominate the penalty area.
Manner is enjoying herself with AFC, as she said in Kevin Hurren’s IN Magazine article:
“Teamwise, that’s the biggest difference: I have more close friendships here.”
She has played a key role for the team, including playing a big role in AFC Toronto, which won its first-ever game in the NSL against the Calgary Wild FC back on May 1.
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Games Coming Up For AFC Toronto
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AFC Toronto is now getting ready to play in the NSL playoffs, as they have now hoisted the inaugural NSL trophy with the Supporters’ Shield.
They will now get prepared to face the Montreal Roses FC, with the first game between the two teams being shown live on CBC and TSN at the Stade Boréale in Laval, Quebec, before playing the second leg at York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario, which will be televised live on TSN and RDS.
The first game will be shown on November 1 at 12:00 pm ET, while the second game will also be televised live on November 9 at 2:00 pm ET, according to the Northern Super League X Account.
Note: It remains unclear if Sofia Manner will be able to play due to injury. Their starting goalkeeper right now, Sierra Cota-Yarde, will be playing for Portugal in the international break, which could mean Manner could play for the club if healthy in game one against the Montreal Roses FC on November 1.
Photo provided by AFC Toronto on May 1, 2025.
