Growing up, Karli Williams’ father had a red truck that said, “On my way to see the Cornhuskers play,’ and a house full of Nebraska memorabilia.
Now, the freshman midfielder/defender is playing soccer for the university she grew up supporting.
“I would grow up going to Husker football games, when I was like 5 years old,” Williams told Hail Varsity of her first Nebraska memory. “We have Huskers football season tickets, so I would get to come to basically one game every year since I was a little girl.”
I am thrilled to announce my commitment to continue my athletic and academic career at the University of Nebraska. Thank you to my family, coaches, teammates and everyone who has helped and supported me along the way! GBR!!❤️🌽 pic.twitter.com/xvlVaXLiFl
— Karli Williams 2025 (@karliiwilliamss) October 23, 2023
Growing up, Williams was a multi-sport athlete playing basketball and softball along with soccer. She decided to continue with soccer in college.
“Honestly, that was just my first love,” Williams said. “That was the first sport my parents put me in when I was little, and it was just like it was a never not soccer type of thing.”
Williams had offers from Oral Roberts, South Dakota State, Omaha and Nebraska. She said that there were a variety of factors that helped her make her decision.
“Nebraska was the first visit I went on, and it was like any other visit I went on after it, I was just comparing it to Nebraska,” Williams said. “The facilities, nothing even came close to Nebraska. The coaches were just so awesome and understanding about time and everything, and they didn’t want to stress you out. The team culture here is really, really, good, and so that’s something that I focused a lot about. But overall, it was just kind of like, I came here and this felt like it was home.”
Williams attended Gretna and Gretna East high schools, where she won two state championships with the Dragons and one with the Griffins. Williams said her favorite high school soccer memory was winning a state championship during her sophomore year.
“It was the last time that it was one school in Gretna, so it was at Gretna when we won that,” Williams said. “So we were still one school, and it was like the last time, when we were all together, and so it felt really good to go out with a win.”
Transitioning from high school soccer to Division I comes with a lot of changes, most notably the physicality and speed of play.
“People here are faster, and the speed of play in general is faster just overall,” Williams said. “You have to be a little tougher, but it’s been really good so far.”
Williams has started in all seven of Nebraska’s matches this season as a true freshman, playing the full 90 minutes in five of them. As the season continues Williams said that she has a specific area that she wants to continue to develop in.
“I’m hoping to, overall, just get more confident as the center back,” Williams said. “Functional communication is a big thing we talk about a lot, and gaining experience on the field helps with that functional communication in order to help my teammates out since I can see the whole field as a center back. So I’m hoping to get more confident with my communication and be able to help in that aspect even more.”
Williams has high hopes for both her and the team in 2025 after a 5-0-2 start.
“I want to keep being able to play, and contribute to my team,” Williams said. “Team goals, I would probably say I want to win the Big Ten regular season, and then also win the Big Ten tournament to hopefully make it to the NCAA tournament.”
Big Ten play begins on Thursday as the Huskers take on Minnesota at Hibner Stadium.
