Houston Dash – Women's Soccer Express

NWSL: 2025 Regular Season — Opening Day Rosters (Updated)

Wednesday, March 12, was the deadline for the fourteen teams of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League to publish their initial regular season rosters, which are required to have at least 22 and no more than 26 active players.

This post is a compilation of those rosters, presented in a standard format. For each club, there are three separate lists, organized by position:

Active Roster: Players who should be available for gameday roster selection. However, some players may have minor injuries that do not necessitate being named to an injury/illness list and could be unavailable. In most cases, players that have short-term or other non-standard contracts have been noted, but some may have been missed as not all clubs provided such details in their roster press releases. Additionally, players who occupy international slots have been noted.
Extended Absences: Players who are unavailable due to injury or other reasons. This includes players on the season-ending and 45-day injury/illness lists as well as those on maternity leave and mental health leave. (This list also includes players who have not yet reported to their respective clubs. It is unclear whether those players count toward the number of active players.)
Out on Loan: Players who have been loaned to another team for at least the start of the 2025 regular season. The club that they are currently playing for and the length of the loan is included in parentheses after each player’s name.

NWSL News of Note: Houston Dash sign midfielder Evelina Duljan, Utah Royals reveal two more invitees, Jaime Frias hired as Dash assistant coach

Here are the notables for Monday, February 10th, and Tuesday, February 11th:

The Houston Dash have signed free agent Evelina Duljan to a one-year contract. Duljan was with the Orlando Pride in 2024.
The Utah Royals have at least two more unannounced invitees, based on a preseason match line-up posted via their x.com account. One of those players looks to be defender/forward Itala Gemelli, who finished up her NCAA career last fall with the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Dash have also added an assistant coach to Fabrice Gautrat’s staff: Jaime Frias, who was the head coach of the women’s soccer team for the University of Houston since 2022.
Also, the Boston 2026 franchise has placed $25 million in escrow, which is a preliminary financial requirement for the renovation of White Stadium.

NWSL News of Note, Internal Moves: Courage trade Haley Hopkins to Current, Yazmeen Ryan inks new deal with Dash, Kelli Hubly joins Bay FC

Leading the intra-NWSL notables for the end of January is the trade of forward Haley Hopkins from the North Carolina Courage to the Kansas City Current.

Meanwhile, United States Women’s National Team forward Yazmeen Ryan has signed a new contract that should keep her with the Houston Dash through the 2027 NWSL season.

In free agency news, center-back Kelli Hubly, who had spent the previous eight years with the Portland Thorns, is staying on the West Coast after signing a two-year deal with Bay FC.

Additionally, the San Diego Wave and Gotham FC both announced the hiring of assistant coaches.

NWSL News of Note, Outgoing Moves: Jenna Nighswonger acquired by Arsenal, Crystal Dunn signs with PSG, Tarciane traded to Lyon, Adriana transfers to Saudi Arabia, Elexa Bahr returns to América de Cali, Victoria Pickett loaned to Toronto

The last days of January and the first days of February saw a pair of major transfers out of the NWSL:

Brazilian center-back Tarciane leaves the Houston Dash for Olympique Lyonnais after just nine months in the NWSL.
Another Brazilian, Adriana, has been traded from the Orlando Pride to Al Qadsiah FC of the Saudi Women’s Premier League.

According to news reports, Lyon paid over $825,000 to the Dash for Tarciane, while Orlando received $500,000 for Adriana.

In United States Women’s National Team player news:

Jenna Nighswonger is officially no longer a Gotham FC player and now wears the red and white of Arsenal.
Another now-former Gotham player, Crystal Dunn, who was released by the club last week, has signed with Paris Saint-Germain, joining two other USWNT players.

Additionally, two clubs sent players on loan for the calendar year:

Forward Elexa Bahr returns to her previous club, Colombia’s América de Cali, for the remainder of her Racing Louisville contract.
The North Carolina Courage have loaned Canadian midfielder Victoria Pickett to AFC Toronto of the Northern Super League.

NWSL: The Houston Dash add six more non-roster invitees

On Saturday, the Houston Dash announced (press release) that they had invited six more recent collegiate players, bringing their total number of current non-roster invitees to 11.

Among the new six are Wisconsin defender Aidan McConnell, who was a United States youth international and played in the 2022 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, and Penn State defender Mieke Schiemann, who has German youth international experience and was with Turbine Potsdam II before making the move to NCAA soccer.

Houston’s New Non-Roster Invitees:

Goalkeepers (0): n/a
Defenders (2): Aidan McConnell (Wisconsin, 4 seasons), Mieke Schiemann (Penn State, 4 seasons; DFB Datencenter profile)
Midfielders (3): Kate Colvin (Texas A&M, 5 seasons), Alexis Fowlkes (Houston, 2 seasons; Texas Tech, 2 seasons), Juliet Moore (Houston, 2 seasons; Mississippi State, 2 seasons)
Forwards (1): Makhiya McDonald (Texas A&M, 4 seasons)

Colvin previously trained with the Dash in 2019, while still in high school (news article), when she was with Dash’s youth club.

NWSL News of Note: Chawinga and the Thompson sisters extend through 2028, Gotham signs UCLA’s Sofia Cook, Royals acquire Nuria Rábano, Lily Woodham will remain on loan, Lexi Missimo stays local

Leading the player notables for Wednesday, January 29th, are the news that 2024 NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga has extended through the 2028 NWSL season with the Kansas City Current and that both Thompson sisters, Alyssa and Gisele, have done the same with Angel City.

Meanwhile, tThe Utah Royals have added another Spanish player: Outside-back Nuria Rábano, who was teammates with Ana Tejada at Real Sociedad.

In other player news, Gotham signed another rookie, UCLA’s Sofia Cook, to a multi-year deal, and the Seattle Reign have extended the loan of Welsh international Lily Woodham to Crystal Palace.

Also, Texas standout Lexi Missimo will not be taking her talents to the NWSL or Europe anytime soon after signing with her hometown club, the Dallas Trinity, of the nascent USL Super League.

NWSL News of Note: Naomi Girma to Chelsea, Messiah Bright traded from Angel City to the Dash, Jenna Nighswonger set to leave Gotham for Arsenal

The big news of the weekend was the official introduction of Naomi Girma in Chelsea Blue on Sunday, after a trade from the San Diego Wave, which reportedly involves the largest transfer fee in women’s soccer history.

Girma may not be the only United States Women’s National Team player heading to England, as it appears that Jenna Nighswonger will be traded from Gotham to Arsenal.

In other player news, forward Messiah Bright will be playing for her third team in three years after being traded from Angel City to the Houston Dash.

NWSL: 2025 Preseason Rosters, Part 6 — Bay FC, Chicago Stars, Houston Dash, North Carolina Courage, and Portland Thorns

Five additional clubs — Bay FC, the Chicago Stars, the Houston Dash, the North Carolina Courage, and the Portland Thorns — have released their initial preseason roster for the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League season, leaving just Gotham FC as the only team to not officially publish their roster list.

The most curious nugget from those five clubs’ press releases is a note that Chicago Stars and United States Women’s National Team forward Mallory Swanson will not be with the Stars “for the start of training camp” due to unspecified “personal reasons”. Chicago’s roster release also included a quote from Swanson. At this point in time, this situation is just something to note and is only a slightly significant story.

All five clubs have at least one non-roster invitee:

Bay FC has just one unsigned player, forward Catherine Paulson, who signed a short-term contract with the club in October 2024 after previously being a National Team Replacement Player.
The Chicago Stars have seven invitees, including two Jamaican internationals: goalkeeper Sydney Schneider, who was with the Stars in 2024, and Ohio State midfielder Peyton McNamara.
The Houston Dash have five non-roster players, including UVA midfielder Alexis Theoret, who was called into a U-23 USWYNT camp back in February 2023.
The North Carolina Courage have invited six recent collegiate players. Among them is defender Emerson Elgin, who won a 2024 NCAA Division I title with the North Carolina Tar Heels last December.
Of the six non-roster players invited by the Portland Thorns, two are goalkeepers: Morgan Messner, who was with the San Diego Wave during the 2024 NWSL season, and Stanford’s Haley Craig.

NWSL: Houston Dash owner Ted Segal exploring “potential investment options”, including sale of controlling interest

On Friday, Sportico‘s Kurt Badenhausen reported that Houston Dash controlling owner Ted Segal has retained investment bank PJT Partners for the purposes of “assess[ing] potential investment options” for the Houston Dash, including a sale of Segal’s controlling interesting in the Dash. Sportico‘s reporting is based primarily on a memo sent to team employees.

Segal is also the majority owner of the Major League Soccer club Houston Dynamo, which, according to the employee memo, is not currently for sale.

The possible investment options include (1) sale of Segal’s controlling interest in the Dash, (2) additional outside investment by adding new equity investors, or (3) no change in the current ownership.

Relocation of Houston’s franchise is not currently an option, according to reports from the NWSL’s recent media day event (Justin Horneker’s Substack).

NWSL News of Note: Alanna Kennedy returns, Dash sign Danielle Colaprico and Duke’s Maggie Graham, Courage acquire Shinomi Koyama, Kyra Carusa extends with Wave, Jen Beattie retires

Leading Tuesday’s notables is the return of Australian international Alanna Kennedy, who has signed with Angel City through the 2025 NWSL season. Her contract also includes a mutual option for 2026.

The Houston Dash announced two midfield signings on Tuesday, bringing in both youth and experience: Free agent Danielle Colaprico, who has been in the NWSL since 2015, and Maggie Graham, who enters the NWSL as a rookie after five seasons with the Duke Blue Devils.

Meanwhile, the North Carolina Courage unveiled their signing of Japanese international midfielder Shinomi Koyami.

Also, the San Diego Wave confirmed that Ireland international forward Kyra Carusa is set to stay another year in her hometown after she exercised her player option for the 2025 NWSL season.

Additionally, former Scotland international Jen Beattie has announced her retirement from professional after one season in the NWSL with Bay FC.