New Jersey

Meet 13 female New Jersey soccer players ready for the NWSL’s 2025 season

Published

1 year ago

March 10, 2025

Meet 13 female New Jersey soccer players ready for the NWSL’s 2025 season

New Jersey will be well represented when the National Women’s Soccer League’s 2025 season begins.

Of the 13 players with ties to New Jersey, Utah has three: Paige Monaghan from Roxbury, Emily Gray of Sewell, and Rutgers alumna Madison Pogarch.

Gotham FC, however, whose front office is on the Jersey City waterfront and shares the Red Bulls’ training facility in Hanover, doesn’t have any players who grew up in the Garden State.

Washington defeated Orlando in a shootout in the Challenge Cup on March 7, a rematch of last season’s finale. The regular season kicks off on Friday.

Meet the 13 NWSL players with New Jersey roots:

North Jersey

Paige Monaghan, Roxbury

Utah Royals F

▪ A former All-Daily Record soccer Player of the Year at Roxbury, Monaghan signed a three-year contract extension with Utah on Jan. 7. A six-year NWSL veteran who also played for Gotham FC and Racing Louisville, Monaghan became the 100th NWSL player to notch 100 career NWSL appearances in a 1-0 loss back home against Gotham on Sep. 22.

San Diego Wave M/D

▪ Selected by the Reign in the 2017 draft out of Virginia, McNabb had two goals and two assists in 76 matches. She moved to San Diego in the expansion draft in December 2021. McNabb, 30, has appeared in 69 matches with the Wave over three seasons.

Central Jersey

Danielle Colaprico, Freehold Township

Houston Dash M

▪ Selected ninth by Chicago in 2015, Colaprico was voted the NWSL Rookie of the Year. She was loaned to Adelaide United and Sydney FC in Australia for three total seasons. After five goals and 11 assists in over a decade with Chicago and San Diego, Colaprico signed a two-year deal with Houston on Jan. 21.

▪ A Red Bank Catholic and Virginia alumna, Colaprico graduated as the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in assists (44) and appearances (100).

Alana Cook, Far Hills

Kansas City Current D

▪ Cook signed with Paris-St. Germain out of college, transferring to OL Reign in June 2021. She played 65 matches in Seattle, and was traded to Kansas City in mid-July. Cook, 27, started all 12 matches in KC.

▪ Cook has a goal and two assists in 29 caps with the United States women’s national team since her debut in November 2019.

▪ The 2015 NSCAA High School Scholar Player of the Year at Pennington, Cook was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year at Stanford. A first team All-America as a senior, Cook had five goals and seven assists in 93 starts.

Jylissa Harris, Hazlet

Houston Dash D

▪ Selected by Houston with the 22nd overall pick in January 2023, she appeared in 21 matches over two seasons. Harris signed a new, two-year deal.

▪ A center back at South Carolina, Harris set the NCAA Division-I record for all-time minutes (9,395). She is No. 1 at South Carolina and third all-time with 107 games played. Harris led Red Bank Catholic in goals as a freshman, sophomore and junior, totaling 40 goals and 26 assists.

Emily Mason, Flemington/Rutgers

Seattle Reign D

▪ Mason was the Reign’s first collegiate signing after the NWSL eliminated its draft, inking a one-year deal. She had six goals and seven assists in 82 appearances at Rutgers, helping win the program’s first Big Ten title in 2021. She was a Big Ten first-team honoree in 2022 and 2024.

▪ Mason was named the 2019-20 Gatorade National Player of the Year at Hunterdon Central and won the New Jersey award in 2020 and 2021. She helped Hunterdon Central win the 2019 Group IV title.

▪ Mason was named to the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship Best XI as the United States earned seven straight shutouts en route to gold.

Casey Murphy, Bridgewater/Rutgers

North Carolina Courage G

▪ This will be Murphy’s fifth season with the Courage. She has 44 shutouts in 118 appearances, and is the team’s all-time wins leader.

▪ The tallest female goalkeeper in USWNT history at 6-foot-1, Murphy was undefeated with seven shutouts in her first nine starts, and now has 15 clean sheets in 20 appearances. She was the backup on the USWNT’s gold-medal Olympic team, but did not play.

▪ Rutgers’ career shutout leader, Murphy was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year and first team All-Big Ten in 2017. She was the 13th overall pick after that season, but signed with Montpellier in France instead of Sky Blue. Named the league’s top goalkeeper, Murphy returned home and signed with Reign in May 2019.

Madison Pogarch, Rutgers

Utah Royals D

▪ Pogarch, 27, spent four seasons in Portland and two in San Diego (93 appearances) before signing with Utah prior to the 2024 season. She played 1,884 minutes in 24 regular-season matches.

▪ Pogarch was born and raised in Michigan, transferring to Rutgers for her senior season in 2018 after three years at Central Michigan. She started all 19 matches and was named third team All Big Ten.

Casey Phair, Warren Township

Angel City F

▪ Phair, 17, signed with Angel City in January 2024, and played 24 minutes as a sub in a Summer Cup match against Bay FC.

▪ Born in South Korea, her family relocated to the United States when she was a month old and settled in New Jersey in 2020. Phair had 25 goals and seven assists in 18 matches as a Pingry freshman.

Emma Sears, New Brunswick

Racing Louisville F

▪ A three-time All-Big Ten honoree, Sears had 25 goals and 15 assists in 83 matches over five seasons at Ohio State. Drafted 28th overall by Louisville in 2024, she set the club record with five goals in 26 appearances (12 starts) as a rookie.

▪ Born in New Brunswick, Sears moved to England and California before the family settled in Dublin, Ohio, before her freshman year in high school.

South Jersey

Emily Gray, Sewell

Utah Royals M

▪ Drafted by North Carolina third overall in 2022, she had two assists in three matches. Her 2023 season was cut short by an ACL injury. Traded to Utah in November 2023, Gray made two appearances before being loaned to Odense Boldklub Q in the Danish Kvindeliga for the remainder of the 2024 season.

▪ Gray had 34 goals and 43 assists in three seasons for Washington Township. Second all-time in points, Gray helped Virginia Tech earn three NCAA Tournament berths.

Brittany Ratcliffe, Williamstown

Washington Spirit F

▪ Known for wearing a bright orange hair bow, Ratcliffe has 11 goals in 107 appearances with Boston, Kansas City, Utah, Carolina and Washington. The 31-year-old appeared in her 100th career NWSL match on Nov. 2 against Carolina

▪ Ratcliffe played at Paul VI, then the University of Virginia.

Riley Tiernan, Voorhees/Rutgers

Angel City F

▪ Tiernan signed a two-year contract with Angel City on March 3, after spending preseason on trial. Her older sister, Madison, had five goals in 42 appearances for Gotham from 2017-20.

▪ Tiernan is Rutgers’ all-time record holder with 34 career assists, and also scored 19 goals. She is a four-time All Big Ten honoree. Tiernan also ranks first at Eastern Regional with 85 assists and third with 85 goals. She helped Eastern win the 2018 Group IV title.

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New Jersey

Heavy police presence prompts concern in South Jersey neighborhood

Published

5 hours ago

March 11, 2026

Press Room

Heavy police presence prompts concern in South Jersey neighborhood

MILLVILLE, N.J. (WPVI) — Residents in a Millville, New Jersey, neighborhood spent hours trying to understand what was happening after a New Jersey State Police helicopter circled overhead, and troopers eventually entered a home while searching for a suspect.

Video from a Ring camera shows state police and officers in tactical gear taking over the front porch of a home on the 100 block of Third Street.

Officers are heard speaking into a doorbell camera moments before entering the residence.

A woman who lives in the home and did not want to be identified said she was at work at the time of the incident, but her son was inside when police surrounded the house. She said her son later described the encounter to her.

“My son was here, he was a little freaking out, they actually made him come out with his hands up and guns were drawn,” she said.

The woman said her son told her troopers explained they were pursuing someone on foot in the area.

“They just said they were on a foot pursuit and the guy was jumping the fences behind my house. A construction worker saw him go down my steps, but didn’t know where he went from there. That’s why they need to make sure everything is safe,” she said.

Nearby residents also noticed the heavy police activity.

Michele Brown of Bridgeton said she was walking her dogs when she saw officers in the area.

“It was a lot I didn’t understand what was going on,” Brown said.

Brown said the scene was alarming for people nearby.

“Definitely startling cause you see all these cops with their guns out, and you’re just looking like, ‘Whoa’,” she said.

Action News reached out to New Jersey State Police for more information, but we did not receive a response.

In a statement, Millville police say the suspect was not apprehended after fleeing state police on foot.

There is no suspected threat to the community, the department added.

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New Jersey

Chemistry Class | DEVILS NOW | New Jersey Devils

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17 hours ago

March 10, 2026

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Chemistry Class | DEVILS NOW | New Jersey Devils

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New Jersey

The first of Paramus’ three big mall makeovers is nearly complete

Published

1 day ago

March 10, 2026

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The first of Paramus’ three big mall makeovers is nearly complete

One of three massive redevelopment projects at Paramus’ biggest shopping malls will finish construction this summer. Another will have to wait until 2027.

The two projects will bring hundreds of apartments and thousands of feet of additional retail space to Bergen Town Center and Paramus Park Mall, two of Bergen County’s biggest retail destinations. Both projects are the work of Carlstadt-based Russo Development LLC, which is also building a new headquarters in the borough.

The biggest mall redevelopment in town — a multiyear plan that could bring as many as 1,400 homes to Westfield Garden State Plaza — is also underway under the direction of a different developer. That project is expected to hold an official groundbreaking in the coming weeks.

The construction is “an opportunity for affordable housing to get built, which is certainly a big priority for almost every municipality in New Jersey right now,” Russo Development CEO Ed Russo said in a recent interview. He credited borough officials for making sure “there was additional investment and vibrance that was being added” to Paramus’ commercial center.

Paramus Park housing almost done

First in line for completion is Vermella Paramus, two mixed-use buildings with 360 one-, two- and three- bedroom apartments under construction next to the Paramus Park Mall, west of the Garden State Parkway.

The project will also have 8,000 square feet of onsite retail space. It will be built adjacent to the mall and the new Valley Hospital, according to a description on the company’s website.

One of the buildings will be finished next month, while the second is scheduled to finish construction in June, Russo said last week.

Bergen Town Center project has new name, timeline

The developer, alongside KRE Group, also plans to build two five-story buildings with 426 units and 5,000 square feet of retail at Bergen Town Center, off of Route 4. The project will be called Bergen Chapters, Russo said.

The housing will include 147 one-bedroom apartments to be sold at market rate and another 12 reserved as affordable. The project will also have 1,572 parking spaces, including lots from other areas of the mall property and two parking garages.

A building on the east side of the Bergen Town Center property that currently contains a former Kirkland’s, Red Robin and Recreational Equipment Inc will be knocked down for the project. Recreational Equipment Inc. closed in late January, so the property has only become vacant in the last month, said Russo. He expects the work to finish in late 2027.

Story continues after gallery.

Living at the mall

Paramus’ three big projects fueled speculation that other shopping centers in North Jersey would follow the example, as mall owners looked for ways to survive the rise of online retail.

But there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of mall redevelopment in New Jersey, Russo said.

Paramus’ situation is unique, he noted, with “three good size malls” all within the same town. Spurred in part by state affordable housing mandates, the borough council adopted zoning in 2016 that allowed for mixed-use development along its highway corridor. That was the impetus for the three mall makeovers, Russo said.

Other factors also made the borough’s commercial corridor especially suited for this type of hybrid development, he added.

“Paramus has always been considered, for many decades, as a shopping mecca between the malls, Route 17, Route 4 and the proximity to New York City,” said Russo. “It’s really been a vibrant retail community for many years.”

In addition to fulfilling affordable housing obligations, the zoning helped the borough attract new investment around the malls, boosting their long-term success, he added.

“The retail market has been affected in a larger part of New Jersey over the last number of years,” said Russo. “I think Paramus was very forward-thinking in the zoning that they did years ago.”

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