# Maribel Flores

Maribel Flores Hernández (born January 8, 2005) is a college soccer player who plays as a forward for the USC Trojans. Born in the United States, she has represented Mexico at the youth international level. She was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year with the Trojans in 2023.

## Early life and college career

Flores was born and raised in Fullerton, California, the daughter of Edith Lopez and Jesus Flores. Her mother played soccer into her twenties, and her father played semi-professionally. Flores was raised by her mother and her grandparents. She attended Troy High School.
Flores began playing recreational soccer at around age five, soon scoring prolifically. She played club soccer for Fullerton Rangers, Strikers FC, and eventually Slammers FC, where she featured alongside future USC teammates Simone Jackson and Aaliyah Farmer. She led the Slammers to the ECNL under-16 national championship in 2021, being named the ECNL National Player of the Year, and the under-19 national title in 2023. She committed to play college soccer at Stanford when she was a junior, but after head coach Jane Alukonis took over at USC, she changed her commitment to the Trojans. She was ranked by TopDrawerSoccer as the No. 18 recruit of the 2023 class.

### USC Trojans

Flores led the USC Trojans with 6 goals and had 5 assists in 18 games (13 starts) in her freshman season in 2023. She helped the Trojans place third in the Pac-12 Conference, behind UCLA and Stanford, in what was the conference's final year, and reach the second round of the NCAA tournament. She was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, third-team All-Pac-12, and second-team Freshman Best XI by TopDrawerSoccer. She missed the start of her sophomore season while at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup before returning to make 15 appearances off the bench. USC topped the Big Ten Conference and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, falling to Wake Forest on penalties.

## International career

Flores was called into the United States youth national team at the under-17 level in 2021. However, she had promised her grandparents that she would represent Mexico and soon received that opportunity. She had a strong debut tournament with 8 goals and 7 assists at the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship, including the tying goal in the 2–1 final loss to the United States. She started all three games at the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, scoring the opener in a 2–1 win against eventual tournament champions Spain, but Mexico failed to get out of the group stage.
The following year, Flores helped lead Mexico to victory at the 2023 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship, starting all five games and scoring three goals during the group stage, before beating the United States 2–1 in the final. She suffered a torn meniscus the following May, but recovered to play in all four games (two starts) at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, helping Mexico finish second in their group before losing 3–2 to the United States in the round of 16.

## Honors and awards

USC Trojans
* Big Ten Conference: 2024
Mexico U20
* CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship: 2023
Individual
* Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: 2023
* Third-team All-Pac-12: 2023