The Houston Dash have signed midfielder Brianna Visalli as a free agent to a two-year contract, the club announced today.
Visalli joins Houston after spending two seasons in England’s FA Women’s Super League, most recently sporting Birmingham City’s No. 10 in the midfield and tallying five appearances before the season was cut short due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, the British-American spent the season with West Ham United scoring one goal in 20 appearances.
The 24-year-old was drafted with the 19th overall pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft by the Chicago Red Stars after a successful four-year career at Pepperdine University. Visalli scored 26 goals for the Waves, setting the school record for games played by an outfield player with 83 appearances (81 starts). As a senior, Visalli was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, given annually to the nation’s top player, and the West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
The midfielder has represented the United States at the youth international level, having earned three international call-ups with the U.S. Women’s Under-23 team in 2018.
Visalli joins a Houston side that finished the 2019 season with a 7-5-12 record under first-year head coach James Clarkson. The National Women’s Soccer League announced on Wednesday that all nine teams will compete in the NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret, a 25-match tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah beginning in late June.
With this transaction, the Dash now have 29 players on their active roster ahead of the 2020 NWSL season.
