The New England Mutiny have announced their first signings for the 2012 Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) Elite League season. Joining Mutiny will be defenders Ella Stephan and Ciara McCormack, defender/midfielder Kelsey Hood, midfielder Kate McCarthy and forward Carrie Patterson. The five bring a wealth of college, national and international experience to the club as New England prepares for the inaugural Elite League season.
A charter member of the WPSL Eastern Division, Mutiny will now take on elite squads with Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) and WPSL experience in the new league. The Boston Breakers and Western New York Flash joined the league following the suspension of the 2012 WPS season, and Chicago Red Stars, who finished second in the WPSL in 2011, previously played in the WPS. WPSL teams ASA Chesapeake Charge, FC Indiana and Aztec MA and the new Philadelphia Fever round out the eight-team league.
Stephan joins Mutiny after four years at Florida State University where she started 68 of 77 games and helped the team to the 2011 NCAA College Cup. She was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll three times and has been an ACC and NSCAA Player of the Week. Stephan has also played with the U.S. U-17 and U-20 teams and is now part of the U-23 Women’s National Team pool. In addition to her college and national team experience, Stephan has played in the W-League with Boston Renegades and Pali Blues.
Canadian-born McCormack played four years of college soccer at Yale University from 1997-2001, before moving on to play W-League with the Boston Renegades, Ottawa Fury and Vancouver Whitecaps Women. She has also played overseas with Fortuna Hjørring in the Danish Elitedivisionen, helping the team to a silver medal in the 2003 UEFA Women’s Cup (the only Canadian-born player to do so). She has also played with Asker IK, Kolbotn IK and FK Donn in Norway’s Toppserien.
McCormack tried out with the Canada Women’s National Team in 2007, but made her national team appearance as part of the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Team in 2008. In addition to her play, McCormack has been heavily involved in working with youth soccer players, founding the organization girlsCAN in 2002 to help provide role models for girls. The organization presents all-girl camps, clinics and seminars across Canada, and in Connecticut.
Hood joins Mutiny with playing experience at the University of Minnesota and the Vancouver Whitecaps. While in college she started 81 of 82 games, playing in all but 10 minutes of a possible 1260 total and helped guide the Golden Gophers to the 2008 regular season Big Ten Championship and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. That year she was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Since graduating, Hood has played with FK Donn in the Toppserien and helped the Whitecaps to the 2011 W-League National Championships semifinals. For her efforts in Vancouver, she was named co-Most Valuable Player and selected for the All-Western Conference Team. Hood was named captain of both the Whitecaps and FK Donn.
In her two years at Boston College, McCarthy has shown her leadership skills in 33 games, including five playoff appearances in 2010. During the 2011 season BC outscored opponents 31-12 while she was on the field. In 2011 she played for the WPSL’s CFC Passion, was named to the All-WPSL Second Team and was a finalist for East Conference Player of the Year.
Perhaps the biggest signing for New England is former WPS Philadelphia Independence forward Patterson. She was a fifth-round draft pick in the 2010 WPS Draft following an outstanding college career at the University of Georgia. Patterson finished her college career as the UGA record holder in goals (44), assists (23) and total points (111). She was named to the All-SEC First Team all four years, the 2007 NSCAA All-America Second Team and the 2009 NSCAA All-South First Team.
Patterson suited up for the Philadelphia Independence of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), as she was selected in the 5th Round (40th overall selection) of the 2010 WPS Draft. Prior to her time in WPS, Carrie played for the Atlanta Silverbacks in 2009, making six appearances with two goals and one assist.
Patterson had a distinguished playing career at the University of Georgia, where she is the all-time leader in goals (44), assists (23) and points (111) for the Bulldogs. In 2009, she was a NSCAA First-Team All-South selection as well as a 2007 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America Second Team and Soccer Buzz All-America Second Team honoree.
“I met with Paul Riley (Head Coach, WPS Philadelphia Independence) about Carrie and he told me it was a no-brainer,” said New England owner Joe Ferrara. “After I talked to Carrie on the phone for ten minutes, I knew why. We have struggled to find a consistent goal scorer the last few seasons, so to get one from WPS fills a big void.”
Ferrara is excited to welcome the five to the team for the 2012 Elite League season.