Orlando Pride Trade Taylor Kornieck and Emily van Egmond to San Diego Wave FC

The Orlando Pride announced today that the club has traded the rights to Taylor Kornieck and Emily van Egmond to San Diego Wave FC for $125,000 in allocation money and a natural second-round pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft.

“We would like to thank Taylor and Emily for their invaluable time with the club and wish them luck as they embark on a new opportunity that aligns with their personal goals and circumstances,” Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said in a club press release. “Our recruitment processes for 2022 and beyond continue, and the assets we’ve acquired will allow us additional flexibility in building a squad capable of sustained success in our league.”

Kornieck was drafted by the Pride with the third overall pick in the 2020 NWSL Draft. The 6-foot-1 midfielder was the highest-ever selection by the Pride. After the pandemic and a team outbreak resulted in only four games being played in 2020, Kornieck made her debut for the club in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup.

In her lone season as a member of the Pride, Kornieck made 26 appearances (17 starts) and recorded 1,641 minutes. With a veteran attack, Kornieck found herself bouncing from the starting lineup to the bench. She ended the year with three goals, three assists, and was booked twice.

Van Egmond originally signed with the Pride on Feb. 14, 2018 via the league’s Discovery mechanism. In her first two seasons with the club, the Australian international failed to score and registered two assists.

The Pride re-signed van Egmond prior to the 2020 NWSL season, but sent her to West Ham United in England’s FA Women’s Super League after the 2020 NWSL season was canceled. The London-based club signed van Egmond to a permanent deal on Jan. 8 through the end of that season. However, the Pride retained her rights and brought the midfielder back on Oct. 7 until the end of the 2021 NWSL season.

Joining the team for a playoff push, van Egmond made two additional appearances and played 59 minutes. In total, the Australian made 27 appearances for the Pride (19 starts) and recorded 1,785 minutes. She never scored, assisted twice, and was booked three times.

On Dec. 7, the Pride transferred van Egmond to her native Australia, where she joined her hometown Newcastle Jets of the Liberty A-League. The 28-year-old’s contract expired on Dec. 31, but the transfer allowed the Pride to retain her NWSL rights, allowing for today’s trade.

What It Means for Orlando

This move continues a flurry of off-season trades that have already seen the Pride send away Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Jodie Taylor, Alex Morgan, and Brittany Wilson. In return for these moves, the Pride have received Angharad James, $450,000 in allocation money, and four NWSL Draft picks between 2022 and 2024.

Following the 2021 season, the Pride announced that the club was negotiating with van Egmond to bring her back in 2022. However, while the team retained her rights, she was not an official member of the team. Additionally, she would’ve been one of the older players on a team that is looking to rebuild with a young core.

The bigger surprise from this trade is the move of Kornieck. The 23-year-old had spent time in the midfield and forward positions and appeared to be a key player moving forward for the Pride. Especially after last week’s news that the club’s first round pick, Mia Fishel, has chosen to move to Mexico over the Pride, it seemed like Kornieck would be an essential player on the team.

The move does provide the team with more allocation money, something that will be essential moving forward. Allocation money was introduced to the NWSL prior to the 2020 NWSL season and was made even more important when U.S. Soccer announced that the federation would no longer pay the salaries of international players. Instead, teams will use allocation money to pay players down to the maximum amount, similar to Major League Soccer.

So while the move sees the departure of a player that many considered a focal part of the team in the future, the trade does help provide funds that the club can use to potentially bring in an international star from the U.S. National Team. That acquisition might not happen this year as the team enters a rebuilding season, but could prove important in the near future.