The Houston Dash acquired midfielder Maegan Kelly as a free agent, the club announced today.
Kelly returns to the NWSL after finishing a successful 2019 season with Italian side C.F. Florentiawhere she logged seven goals in 10 appearances. The Kansas native spent part of the season in NWSL with Reign FC as a national team replacement player, making her debut against the Washington Spirit in May before signing with Florentia in July.
The midfielder brings vast international experience, having played in Iceland, Finland, Italy, Cyprus and the United States. Drafted in the 2014 NWSL College Draftout of Marquette, Kelly began her NWSL career with FC Kansas City but did not feature for the club before moving to Stjarnan in Iceland’s first division. In 2015, she transferred to Åland United in Finland before joining Apollon Ladies FC in Cyprus for the 2016 campaign.
She returned to FC Kansas City in 2017 after spending three seasons overseas, logging her first NWSL goals with five in 22 appearances.Kelly moved with the team to Utah ahead of the 2018 season before returning to Europe to join Florentia.
A CanadianAmerican, Kelly has made five career appearances for the Canadian Women’s National Team. She received her first senior call up to the national team and earned her first cap on November 2017 in a friendly against the United States in Vancouver.
Kelly joins a Houston side that finished the 2019 season with a 7-5-12 record under first-year head coach James Clarkson. The Dash expect to kick off their 2020 campaign in mid-April. The 2020 schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
With this transaction, the Dash now have 24 players on their active roster ahead of the 2020 NWSL season.
