NWSL News of Note: Wave sign three, including DiDi Haračić; Spirit acquire Sandy MacIver; Racing inks Virginia Tech’s Allie George

Leading the notables for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, is the San Diego Wave, which announced a trio of signings, although only two are expected to be available for the upcoming season:

  • Free agent goalkeeper DiDi Haračić, who was last with Angel City
  • Nigerian midfielder Favour Emmanuel, who most recently played for ZhFK Lokomotiv Moskva in Russia.
  • U-20 Colombian defender Sintia Cabezas, who will be loaned to USL Super League club Lexington SC for the 2025 season.

Haračić was only signed to a one-season contract, while Emmanuel and Cabezas were signed via two-year contracts. Emmanuel’s deal also includes a 2027 mutual option.

In other player news, the Washington Spirit used their freshly acquired international roster spot for Scotland goalkeeper Sandy MacIver, and Racing Louisville added another rookie: Virginia Tech defender Allie George.

San Diego Wave: Free agent goalkeeper DiDi Haračić signs one-year contract

After three seasons with Angel City, goalkeeper DiDi Haračić has joined the NWSL’s other 2022 expansion franchise, the San Diego Wave for the 2025 season (press release).

During the 2024 NWSL regular season, Haračić started all but the first three matches for Angel City (NWSL game log).

Haračić, who turns 33 in April, enters the 2025 NWSL season with nine years of league experience. Before Angel City, she was with Gotham FC (2019-2021), the Washington Spirit (2017-2018) and the Western New York Flash (2014).

Born in Sarajevo, Haračić has been capped nine times by the  Bosnia and Herzegovina women’s national team.

The Wave now have three goalkeepers under contract: 29-year-old Canadian international Kailen Sheridan, who is expected to remain the Wave’s starter, 25-year-old Hillary Beall, and Haračić. The latter two are only under contract for the upcoming season while Sheridan is presently signed through 2026 (Wave press release from 2023).

According to DiDi Haračić’s Loyola Maryland profile, her father, Izet Haračić, played professional soccer in Germany and competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics as a member of a bobsled team for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Olympics.com profile).

Washington Spirit: Scotland international goalkeeper Sandy MacIver acquired from Manchester City, is signed through 2027 with option for 2028

The Spirit have bolstered their goalkeeping corps with the acquisition of Sandy MacIver from Manchester City. MacIver, who turns 27 in June, has been signed to a three-year contract that also includes an unspecified option for 2028 NWSL season (Spirit press release).

On April 5, 2024, MacIver suffered an ACL injury during a Women’s EURO 2025 qualifier (Man City news item, BBC match report). According to Manchester City’s press release announcing MacIver’s departure, she has “return[ed] to full fitness”. Her Manchester City contract would have expired at the end of June.

Originally a standout youth international for England, MacIver made one senior appearance for the Lionesses (player profile) before switching to Scotland (player profile), for whom she has five caps.

With the Young Lionesses, MacIver was awarded the Golden Glove as the best overall goalkeeper at the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup. In that tournament, England finished third, besting France on penalties. MacIver made two saves during the shootout.

Prior to Manchester City, MacIver played for Everton, where she was named the player of the match for the 2020 FA Cup final, despite the Toffees losing 1:3 after extra time to Manchester City (BBC article).

MacIver was in the youth set-ups of Everton and later Manchester City, but chose to play NCAA soccer at Clemson (player profile) before turning professional. For the Tigers, MacIver started 55 of 57 matches.

The Spirit now have four goalkeepers under contract:

San Diego Wave: Nigerian midfielder Favour Emmanuel signs through 2026 with 2027 mutual option

Also on Monday, the Wave signed Nigerian midfielder Favour Emmanuel on a two-year contract that also includes a mutual option for the 2027 NWSL season.

Emmanuel is apparently a defensive/holding midfielder (see description of this YouTube video). The Wave’s press release includes a quote from general manager Camille Ashton that mentions Emmanuel having “defensive abilities”.

The 22-year-old most recently played for ZhFK Lokomotiv Moskva. Previously, she played in her native Nigeria.

Emmanuel was a member of Nigeria’s Under-17 Women’s National Team in 2017, appearing in qualifying matches for the 2018 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup. Nigeria did not qualify for that U-17 WWC, which was the first time it failed to qualify for a youth WWC (Wikipedia).

Racing Louisville: Virginia Tech’s Allie George joins via one-year contract

On Monday, the club announced the signing of another rookie: Louisville native Allie George, who played four seasons for Virginia Tech.

Allie George

George is Racing’s third rookie for 2025, after the signings of Duke’s Ella Hase and Nebraska’s Sarah Weber.

San Diego Wave: U-20 Colombian defender Sintia Cabezas inks two-year deal, will be loaned to Lexington SC

The youngest signee announced by the Wave on Monday is Colombian Under-20 international Sintia Cabezas (press release). The 18-year-old’s contract runs through the 2026 NWSL season. However, she will not immediately join the Wave as she will be loaned to Lexington SC of the USL Super League “for the 2025 calendar year” (Lexington SC roster profile).

Primarily an outside-back for her previous club, América de Cali (ISC agency), Cabezas has been utilized on the left flank by the Colombian U-20 WNT (2024 news article).

At the 2024 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, which was hosted by Colombia, Cabezas appeared in all five of Colombia’s matches and registered one assist.

In 2022, she was profiled in a Colombian news segment (Facebook Video).

Quick Note

On Monday, the Orlando Pride released their initial preseason roster.