Orlando Pride Sign U.S. International Defender Hailie Mace

The Orlando Pride continued their roster building ahead of the 2026 season today by adding defender Hailie Mace. The club announced today that the former Kansas City Current player has signed a three-year contract that will keep her in purple through 2028.

“We are thrilled to have Hailie join our squad and contribute to this team both on and off the field,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said in a club press release. “Hailie is exactly what we look for when we want to bring players in with her versatility, quality on the ball and experience in this league. Really excited to see what she is able to bring and can’t wait for her to get integrated with the squad.” 

The 28-year-old native of Ventura, CA spent the last five seasons with the Kansas City Current, where she scored five goals and added 11 assists in 95 appearances (79 starts), logging more than 7,000 minutes played. She was originally drafted out of UCLA by Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC) with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft but opted not to sign and instead started her professional career with Melbourne City in Australia’s top flight as a guest player, scoring a goal in her debut against the Newcastle Jets. After two appearances as a guest player, Mace signed with FC Rosengard in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan in February of 2019, where she played in 16 games and scored four goals. Rosengard won the Damallsvenskan on Oct. 30, 2019.

Following her contract in Sweden, Mace signed her first NWSL contract in after Sky Blue traded her rights to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for midfielder McCall Zerboni. The UCLA product registered an assist on a Debinha goal in her first match with the Courage in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. She played only six matches with the Courage, scoring two goals, before going on loan to Kristianstads DFF in Sweden from August to November 2020, helping the club finish in the top three, qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She scored five goals in 10 matches with Kristianstads.

The Courage sent Mace to Kansas City on July 22, 2021, in a blockbuster trade, along with Kristen Hamilton and Katelyn Rowland, in exchange for Amy Rodriguez and $60,000 in Allocation Money. Her debut with Kansas City coincidentally came against her old Courage teammates on July 23, 2021. Mace re-signed with the Current on Dec. 19, 2022 to a three-year contract that expired at the end of the 2025 season. She announced on social media in November that she would not return to the Current, and now she’s landed in Orlando.

Mace is tied for the Current’s career assist record (11), and she is coming off a season in which the club won the Supporters’ Shield while setting NWSL single-season records in clean sheets (16), consecutive shutout minutes (869) — breaking the record Orlando set in 2024 — and consecutive shutouts (9). She was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team after the 2025 season, in which she appeared in 24 matches (including playoffs), starting 16 and playing 1,639 minutes. She did not score a goal in 2025 on just five shots (one on target), but she recorded five assists for the Shield winners. Mace completed 80% of her passes in 2025, with 93 accurate long balls (46.7%), nine key passes and a successful cross.

Adept with the ball at her feet, Mace was successful on 59.1% of her dribble attempts. She won 35 tackles on the year, won 51.8% of her duels, and racked up 42 interceptions and six blocks. Mace committed 24 fouls, won 17 from the opposition, and was booked twice.

On the international stage, Mace has earned nine caps with the United States Women’s National Team, debuting on April 8, 2018, in a friendly against Mexico — a wild 6-2 win. Mace was the only college player named to the 20-player roster for the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, playing 90 minutes in a shutout win over Panama en route to the U.S. winning the tournament. She previously has participated in U.S. Youth National Team camps at the U-20 and U-23 levels.

Mace played both as a forward and a defender at UCLA, and competed at Inter&Co Stadium (then known as Orlando City Stadium) previously in the 2017 Women’s College Cup, where she was an All-Tournament selection for the NCAA women’s soccer tournament. Mace’s UCLA side lost the final 3-2 to rival Stanford in the final. During her four years at UCLA, Mace made 79 appearances (74 starts), playing 6,342 minutes, scoring 24 goals, adding 12 assists, and putting 76 of her 148 shots on target. She was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in 2017.

What It Means for Orlando

The addition of Mace is a good one, as she’s a skilled player, but it’s also not in an area of need. Mace has versatility, but projects mainly as a defender at the professional level (she moved from center back to forward during her UCLA career). She has played a lot of right back and some center back in a three-player back line — a position in which the Pride currently have Oihane and Cori Dyke, with Emily Sams also playing there at times.

It’s possible this is a signing with another roster move already in mind, which we’ll find out in due time. The Pride are up to 24 players under contract after yesterday’s roster status update. Unless there are more moves to come, it appears that Orlando will continue forward with Kerry Abello at left back, with Dyke or someone else serving as the backup in that spot following Carson Pickett being out of contract.