19 College Soccer Standouts Who’ve Signed in the NWSL So Far
We are all still trying to figure out just what a draft-less NWSL will look like. Now that it’s all about free agents, collegiate call-ups will probably be even more common. With that in mind, here are 19 college soccer standouts who have already signed for the upcoming season.
Angel City – Macey Hodge
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The lone Angel on this list is Mississippi State midfielder Macey Hodge. Hodge was originally committed to Vanderbilt but decided to stay close to her family and hometown of Douglasville, Georgia. Her work as a midfielder is incredibly versatile, having performed as attacking, defensive, and centre back. Hodge is a first-team All-American, All-SEC, and was named SEC Midfielder or the Year.
Bay FC – Karlie Lema
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Karlie Lema will be going for the goal this NWSL season as a striker for Bay FC. A graduate of Berkeley, she committed to the university when she was an eighth grader. While at Berkeley, she was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year. Last year, she appeared with San Francisco Glens FC and earned Player of the Match.
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Bay FC – Taylor Huff
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A midfield and forward hybrid, Huff is one of the finest athletes around right now. Growing up she played not only soccer but volleyball, basketball, softball, and track–even going to State for the 400 meters. Before she even got to college, she was named Ohio Ms. Soccer and Gatorade Ohio Player of the Year during high school. Her college career was split between two universities, Florida State and Tennessee, both of which she played in the NCAA tournament.
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Kansas City Current – Clare Gagne
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Clare Gagne is Kansas City Current’s choice for up-and-coming goalkeeper. A multi-championship winning keeper, this former Minnesota Thunder Academy player was ranked fifth-best ECNL goalkeeper in 2020. She is joining Current fresh off a national championship with the Tar Heels, where she was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player. Before coming to North Carolina as a graduate student, Gagne was the primary keeper for Brown during her senior year. Brown won the Ivy League regular season championship every year Gagne was there.
Kansas City Current – Mary Long
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An attacking midfielder and forward, Mary Long, is making the Kansas City Current a family affair. Daughter to the club’s co-owners, Angie and Chris Long, this former Duke Blue Devil got her start with the KC Athletics and Slammers FC HB Køge. With the Blue Devils, she made it to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament, and with the USWNT played in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
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Kansas City Current – Katie Scott
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The final selection (so far) for the KC Current is Katie Scott from Penn State. Scott has proved herself at just about every position on the field, from outside back up to forward. She began as an offensive player with Internationals SC, a team two hours away from her hometown but the only nearby ECNL team. In high school, she continued on her club team but also played basketball for her school. She is a FIFA bronze medalist along with her new teammate, Mary Long.
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Gotham – Ryan Campbell
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Future goalkeeper for Gotham Campbell is a former Stanford Cardinal. She was a multi-sport athlete and champion soccer player in high school, earning the CIF Southern Section state championship three times in a row. Initially committed to start for UCLA, Campbell instead signed on to become the backup keeper for Stanford. Campbell succeeded the late Katie Meyer as the starting goalkeeper in the 2022 season and did a stellar job earning Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year in 2023.
Gotham FC – Sarah Schupansky
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Forward Schupansky is headed to Gotham by way of the University of Pittsburgh. Schupansky is the first Panther program player to be named first-team All-ACC. It was with Schupansky in goal that the Panthers made it to the NCAA championship for the very first time as well. This keeper also has USL W League experience, jumping in the net for Racing Louisville FC just this last summer.
Gotham FC – Khyah Harper
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University of Minnesota Golden Gopher forward Khyah Harper is joining Gotham on a one-year contract. She began her collegiate career with a splash, scoring back-to-back hattricks in her first two games. She helped the Golden Gophers get back into the NCAA tournament after a six-year absence.
Gotham FC – Lilly Reale
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South Shore Select won the Honda Sports Award in her sophomore year at UCLA, and she will bring that winning energy to Gotham. Originally committed to Boston College, Reale pivoted to UCLA and began in the 2021 season. An amazing center-back, she has been named Pac-12 Defender of the Year (twice, keeping company with Naomi Girma), the most outstanding defensive player in the 2022 NCAA tournament, and the Big Ten Defender of the Year.
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North Carolina Courage – Brooklyn Courtnall
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Brooklyn Courtnall will be defending for the NC Courage at the beginning of the NWSL season. After her AYSO days, Courtnall began playing for Real So Cal, a DA team, in high school. Though she plays for the Canadian national team, Courtnall was raised in LA and went to USC, choosing to be a Trojan rather than following her sister and fellow student-athlete to UCLA. She was named to the first-team All-American after her senior year.
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Portland Thorns – Pietra Tordin
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Brazil-born and Miami raised, Pietra Tordin is the newest Portland Thorn. Growing up, she played on boys’ teams because there were no girl’s leagues in her area. After taking a year off in high school Tordin returned to the game by joining her school’s team as well as Sunrise Prime FC. From there, she went to Princeton, where she was a starter and lead goal scorer by the end of her first year. This forward/midfield hybrid player was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year at the end of her final season.
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San Diego Wave – Trinity Byars
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Byars was the first of this batch to receive her professional call-up. She is a forward from the University of Texas at Austin and a former Solar SC member. Byars is the leading scorer in Longhorn history and has been a member of the USWNT since U-16.
San Diego Wave – Quincy McMahon
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Professional sports is the family business for Quincy McMahon. Her father is a special teams coordinator in the NFL, and she is the Gatorade Player of the Year for Indiana. From her club team, Indiana Fire Juniors, she moved to the West Coast to become a UCLA Bruin. As a starter in her freshman year, she saw the second most playtime of anyone on the team in her junior year. Her presence at UCLA was unique and so valuable because she could be switched from either defending wing or up to forward.
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Seattle Reign – Maddie Dahlien
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Dahlien puts points on the board, no matter the level of play. This Tar Heel has been a top scorer on any team she’s joined. Her 37 goals helped her high school soccer team make it to the state semifinals in her senior year to make for 92 career goals while at Edina High School. She continued to score for the Tar Heels, becoming a starter in her junior year. She is on contract with Seattle for three years.
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Seattle Reign – Emily Mason
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New Jersey native and Rutgers grad Mason is a defender who gets the job done. Mason received A Gatorade National Player of the Year award as well as two New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year awards. She was a starter throughout Rutgers’s journey into the NCAA tournament and had several goals on her regular season record.
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Utah Royals – Mia Justus
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Hopeful future keeper for the Royals, Mia Justus, played for two top programs in college soccer. First with the Florida State Seminoles, she kept eight clean sheets her freshman year and four shutouts her sophomore year but transferred to the Longhorns for more playtime. That turned out to be the right move because she became the Longhorn’s starting keeper and the Big 12 championship most valuable player of the tournament. Goalkeeping is in Justus’s blood; she is a cousin of legendary USMNT goalie Tim Howard.
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Washington Spirit – Deborah “Kante” Abiodun
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Kante is a Nigerian midfielder scouted from her home club, Rivers Angels, to join the Pittsburgh Panthers in 2023. Playing alongside fellow recent NWSL signee Sarah Schupansky, Abiodun was named All-ACC twice during her time with Pittsburgh. Abiodun plays midfield for the Nigerian National Team under the same coach she had at Pittsburgh.
Washington Spirit – Emma Gaines-Ramos
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Though she will start her professional career on the injured list, Emma Gaines-Ramos is the newest member of the Washinton Spirit. Coming off of a season-ending knee injury, Gaines-Ramos will be eligible for play this upcoming season. She’s a great ball mover and a forward with a foot. We’re excited to see how she does with Spirit.
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