Kendall was born and raised in Portland, Oregon and attended Lincoln High School where she was a four-year letter-winner. In 2008, she was named ESPN First Team All-America and the Gatorade State Player of the Year. She was a two-time state player of the year in 2007 and 2008 and was a three-time all-state honoree and two-time Portland Interscholastic League Player of the Year. As a junior in 2007, her high school team went undefeated at 18–0–0 as she scored 12 goals and served 15 assists. Johnson led Lincoln to state titles in 2007 and 2008. The team was ranked third nationally and first regionally in the 2007 NSCAA High School rankings. It was ranked second nationally in 2008. As a senior, Johnson scored 16 goals and provided nine assists as captain of the team. She was also named the team's most valuable player. Johnson played club soccer for FC Portland Sapphire from 2001–2009. The team was USYSARegion IV finalists in 2007, semifinalists in 2005 as well as three-time state champions in 2005, 2007, 2008.
Johnson attended the University of Portland where she played for the Pilots from 2009–2012. As a freshman in 2009, she played in 21 games starting 16, scored three goals and provided three assists. She was named to the All-West Coast Conference Second Team and was on the WCC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, she redshirted the season for medical reasons. During her junior year in 2010, she made 15 appearances for the Pilots, starting 13 games. She scored two goals and provided three assists. She assisted on the game's only goal in a 1–0 victory over Santa Clara and scored the game-winning goal against San Francisco. Johnson posted four points with the game-winner and two assists in Portland's 9–0 victory over University of Texas San Antonio in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. She was named to the All-WCC Second Team and was a WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention. She postponed her senior year in college to play soccer professionally.
On January 14, 2015, Portland Thorns FC acquired the rights to Johnson from Sky Blue FC in exchange for the 25th and 34th overall selections in the 2015 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft.
International career
Johnson has represented the United States at the U-20 and U-23 levels. She was first called into train with the U-20 team in December 2009. She was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2010 CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championship in Guatemala and played at the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Germany.
