Gotham FC is back with a bigger star than ever. But will that be enough to defend the National Women's Soccer League championship?
On Friday night, Gotham will host the San Diego Wave at Red Bull Arena to begin the NWSL Challenge Cup in a rematch of last season's final. The 2024 regular season begins on Saturday.
Gotham is based in Hanover, but Metuchen defenseman Kristen Edmonds is the only local player on the roster. Heading into the season, San Diego and Utah each have three Jersey girls.
Here are 17 NWSL players with ties to New Jersey.
angelina alonso costantino
Orlando Pride M (Jersey City)
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▪ Angelina signed with Orlando in December after appearing in 28 games over three seasons with the OL Reign.
▪ Born in Jersey City and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Angelina captained the Brazil U-20 team and made her full national team debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
paige monaghan
Utah Royals F (Roxbury)
▪ Monahan, the All-Daily Record Soccer Player of the Year at Roxbury University, was selected by the Utah Royals in the National Women's Soccer League Expansion Draft on Dec. 15. Monaghan, a five-year NWSL veteran, has nine goals in 79 games for Gotham. FC and Racing Louisville.
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kristen mcnabb
San Diego Wave M/D (Montville)
▪ McNabb, selected by the Reigns out of Virginia in the 2017 draft, played in 76 games and had two goals and two assists. She was traded to San Diego in the December 2021 expansion draft. McNabb, 29, played in 38 games for the Wave, and she started 13 games and played the full 90 games last season.
Gabby Provenzano
Portland Thorns M (Sargentsville)
▪ Provenzano, the Thorns' No. 22 pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft out of Rutgers, signed a one-year contract extension in January. She has appeared in nine matches in all competitions.
▪ At Rutgers, Provenzano had five goals and three assists in 103 games. She was named Big Ten Defender of the Year as Rutgers won its first title in league history in 2021.
Daniel Colaprico
San Diego Wave M (Freehold Twin)
▪ Colaprico, selected No. 9 by Chicago in 2015, was named NWSL Rookie of the Year. She was loaned to Australia's Adelaide United and Sydney FC for a total of three seasons. After she played in 152 games and scored six goals with Chicago, Colaprico signed with San Diego. She played in 23 games last season.
▪ Colaprico, a Red Bank Catholic and Virginia graduate, graduated as the Cavaliers' all-time leader in assists (44) and appearances (100).
Alana Cook
Seattle Reign D (Far Hills)
▪ Mr. Cook signed with Paris St. Petersburg. Jermaine graduated from university and transferred to OL Reign in June 2021. She has started all 38 games heading into her third season in the NWSL.
▪ Cook has 23 caps for the U.S. women's national team since making her debut in November 2019.
▪ Cook, the 2015 NSCAA Pennington College Player of the Year, was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at Stanford. She was named first team All-America as a senior. Cook started 93 games and had five goals and seven assists.
kristen edmonds
Gotham D (Metuchen)
▪ Edmonds, 36, has played for the Starnan Women in Iceland, WFC Russianka in Russia, the NWSL's Western New York Flash, Orlando Pride and Kansas City Current. She joined Gotham as a free agent in December 2022. She played in 20 games last season.
▪ As a freshman at Rutgers in 2005, Edmonds had six goals and six assists, becoming the first freshman since Carli Lloyd to be the team's leading scorer.
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jilissa harris
Houston Dash D (Metuchen)
▪ Harris, a center back at the University of South Carolina, set the NCAA Division I all-time minutes played record (9,395). She is No. 1 at the University of South Carolina and ranks third all-time with 107 games played. She was selected by Houston 22nd overall in January 2023 and played seven minutes as a rookie.
▪ Harris led Red Bank Catholic in goals as a freshman, sophomore and junior, totaling 40 goals and 26 assists.
casey murphy
North Carolina Courage G (Bridgewater)
▪ This is Murphy's fourth season at Courage. She has played in 61 games and has 26 shutouts.
▪ Murphy, Rutgers' all-time shutout leader, was named Big Ten Goaltender of the Year and All-Big Ten First Team in 2017. She was the 13th overall pick after that season, but she signed with France's Montpellier instead of Sky Blue. Murphy returned home where she was named the league's top goalie, and she signed with the Reign in May 2019.
▪ Murphy redshirted her junior year to play in the U-20 Women's World Cup. She scored her shutout win in a 3-0 win against Australia in Sydney on 27 November 2021, in her full international debut. Murphy, the tallest female goaltender in USWNT history at 6 feet 1 inch, recorded seven shutouts and an undefeated streak in her first nine games. She started and has now kept 14 clean sheets in 18 appearances.
casey fair
Angel City F (Warren Toop)
▪ Farr, who was the youngest player at last summer's Women's World Cup at 16 years and 26 days old, signed with Angel City in mid-January. Born in South Korea, her family immigrated to the United States when she was one month old, and she settled in New Jersey in 2020. She had 25 goals and seven assists in 18 games as a freshman at Pingree.
sidney schneider
Chicago Red Stars G (Dayton)
▪ Schneider came to Chicago from AC Sparta Prague of the Czech Women's First League and appeared in 15 games. She was drafted by Washington in the third round in 2021 out of UNC Wilmington.
▪ Schneider, one of the Red Stars' three goaltenders, will likely back up Alyssa Naher at this summer's Olympics. Schneider has played for the Jamaican women's national team since 2018, and she competed in the 2019 and 2023 Women's World Cups.
emma sears
Racing Louisville F (New Brunswick)
▪ A three-time All-Big Ten selection, Sears had 25 goals and 15 assists in 83 games over five seasons at Ohio State. She signed a one-year contract earlier this month after being selected 28th overall.
Born in New Brunswick, Sears moved to England and California before her family settled in Dublin, Ohio, before her freshman year of high school.
Frankie Tagliaferri
Utah Royals M (Colts Neck)
▪ Tagliaferri played in 13 games in two seasons at the University of North Carolina. He had two goals and one assist in the 2023 Challenge Cup.
▪ Tagliaferri, a two-time Gatorade New Jersey Player of the Year, had 81 goals and 41 assists at Colts Neck. She led the Big Ten in scoring with 29 points during her senior season at Penn State. After transferring to her home base of Rutgers in her fifth year of eligibility due to COVID-19, she recorded a team-best 13 goals and nine assists in 25 starts and earned All-America honors. was selected for the first team.
Amira Ali
San Diego Wave F (Vorhees)
▪ Ali has four goals and one assist in 38 games with San Diego.
▪ Named the Courier-Post girls soccer player of the year after her junior season at Eastern in 2015, Ali finished her high school career with 99 goals and 53 assists. Ali is the Rutgers coach's only four-time All-American; she had 44 goals (including 17 game-winners) and 19 assists in 103 games.
emily gray
Utah Royals M (Sewell)
▪ Gray had 34 goals and 43 assists in three seasons with Washington Township. Gray became the second-leading scorer of all-time and helped Virginia Tech earn three NCAA Tournament berths.
▪ The No. 3 overall pick out of North Carolina in 2022 had two assists in three games. Her 2023 season was interrupted by an ACL injury. The 23-year-old signed with Utah as a free agent.
ziara king
Seattle Reign F (Sicklerville)
▪ King, drafted eighth overall out of Utah State in 2020, is in his third season with Seattle. She played in 30 regular season games (14 starts) and recorded three goals and two assists.
▪ King, a 2016 graduate of Winslow Township High School, ranks third at North Carolina State in starts (88), goals (48) and points (115).
brittany ratcliff
Washington Spirit F (Williamstown)
▪ Ratcliffe signed a three-year free agent contract with Washington in January.
▪ Ratcliffe played at Paul VI and then the University of Virginia. Known for her bright orange hair ribbon, she has nine goals in 94 games (46 starts) across Boston, Kansas City, Utah and North Carolina.