Angel City FC announce inaugural preseason roster

Angel City FC unveiled their first-ever preseason roster on Tuesday, with the club set to kick off their inaugural training camp. 25 players total were listed — a much smaller group than most teams around the league, although the final roster for the season will probably be somewhere around 26 players.

As a result, most of the names listed are players we know about, with just three players who were not drafted, signed outright or acquired via trade: forward Katie McClure, who has played for the Washington Spirit and Racing Louisville, goalkeeper Sydney Cassalia, who went undrafted out of Army in 2021, and goalkeeper Maia Perez, who wrapped up her college career at the University of Hartford last spring. Draft picks Lily Nabet and Miri Taylor do not appear to be under contract yet.

Here’s the full roster listed by Angel City FC:

Goalkeepers: Sydney Cassalia (NRI), DiDi Haračić, Brittany Isenhour, Maia Perez (NRI)

Defenders: Vanessa Gilles (INTL), Sarah Gorden, Paige Nielsen, Ali Riley, Allyson Swaby, M.A. Vignola

Midfielders: Hope Breslin, Katie Cousins, Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel (INTL, NYR), Savannah McCaskill, Lily Nabet, Cari Roccaro, Miri Taylor (INTL), Dani Weatherholt

Forwards: Simone Charley, Claire Emslie (NYR), Jun Endo (INTL), Tyler Lussi, Katie McClure, Christen Press, Jasmyne Spencer

Key: Non-Roster Invitee (NRI), International Player (INTL), Not Yet Reported (NYR)

The only real obvious point at this point is to wonder about Julie Ertz. Presumably one of the stars of the team were she to play for ACFC, there has been complete radio silence since her NWSL rights were traded to Angel City from the Chicago Red Stars after an injury-plagued 2021. She may be taking her time, she may not be joining Angel City at all, or she may do so after a delay. Obviously, the big story is the players who are joining up, but the absence of Ertz is one to watch for the time being.

Angel City announced they will be training at Pepperdine University in Malibu for an indeterminate period, before moving into their training center (they are promising details on that on the way...).

So we’ll see how things shape up, how many of the players not yet under contract will earn a deal, and who else may join up before the NWSL Challenge Cup gets underway on or around Mar. 19.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.