American soccer player
Hailie Jenae Mace (born March 24, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League. She debuted for the United States women's national soccer team in 2018.
Early life
Mace was born and raised in Ventura, California, where she attended Buena High School and played soccer as a forward and also played volleyball.[2] She played youth club soccer for Ventura FC, then moved to Eagles SC of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) in her senior year of high school.[3][4]
UCLA, 2015–2018
Mace lacked recruitment offers during high school, and drew the attention of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) only after her mother created and sent a highlight tape for them. The tape impressed UCLA coach Amanda Cromwell, who traveled to a tournament in San Diego, California, to scout Mace in person. UCLA then offered Mace a soccer scholarship.[3]
Mace played as a center back during her first two seasons with the UCLA Bruins. In 2015, Mace led all Bruin freshmen in games played at 19. In 2016, she started all 22 games for UCLA and helped the team record 9 shutouts.[3]
In 2017, Mace moved from defense to forward. Playing as an attacker, Mace led the Bruins with four game-winning goals, led the Pac-12 Conference with 13 goals, and once again started every game for the Bruins. UCLA advanced to the 2017 College Cup final,[3][5] where they would lose 3–2 to rival Stanford.[5] Mace was named a Hermann Trophy semifinalist, first-team All-American, All-West Region, and All-Pac-12.[5]
Club career
Melbourne City, 2019
Mace was drafted by Sky Blue FC with the second overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft.[6] However, she did not sign with the team and instead joined Australian club Melbourne City FC on a guest-player contract.[7][8] In her professional debut, Mace scored twelve minutes after subbing on and helped Melbourne City win 4–0 against the Newcastle Jets.[9][10]
FC Rosengård, 2019
In February 2019, Mace signed a contract with Swedish club FC Rosengård of the Damallsvenskan for the summer with an option to extend to November,[11] and would wear the No. 16 jersey.[12][13] She debuted for the club on March 8, 2019.[14] In June 2019, FC Rosengård announced that they had extended Mace's contract through the rest of the season to November.[15]
On October 30, 2019, FC Rosengård won the Damallsvenskan.[16]
North Carolina Courage, 2020–2021
On January 10, 2020, Mace's NWSL rights were traded to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for McCall Zerboni.[17] She made her debut in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup against Portland Thorns FC. Mace had an assist to North Carolina's first goal which was scored by Debinha, and the Courage won the match 2–1.[2]
Mace scored her first NWSL goal on May 28, 2021, against Racing Louisville FC in the 75th minute of play, then scored again in the 89th minute to help North Carolina win 5–0.[18]
Kristianstads DFF (loan), 2020
North Carolina loaned Mace to Swedish club Kristianstads DFF from August 2020 to November 2020.[19][20] Kristianstads finished the season in third place and qualified for the UEFA Women's Champions League.[21]
Kansas City Current, 2021–
On July 22, 2021, the Courage traded Mace to NWSL club Kansas City NWSL with teammates Kristen Hamilton and Katelyn Rowland, in exchange for Amy Rodriguez and $60,000 in allocation money.[22] She debuted with Kansas City on July 23, 2021, against her former team in the North Carolina Courage. The game ended in a scoreless draw.[23]
The renamed Kansas City Current announced on December 19, 2022, that the club had signed Mace to a three-year contract.[24]
International career
Youth national teams
Mace has participated in U.S. Youth National Team camps with the under-20 and under-23 national teams.[25]
Senior national team
In February 2018, Mace received her first call-up to the United States women's national team ahead of the 2018 SheBelieves Cup but did not play.[26] The following month, she was called up for two friendlies against Mexico as a replacement for injured defender Casey Short.[27] She earned her first cap on April 8 during the team's 6–2 win over Mexico.[28][29][30] In August of the same year, she was named to the roster for two friendlies against Chile.[31] She made her second appearance for the national team on September 1 during the team's 3–0 win over Chile.[32]
In September 2018, Mace was named to the team's 20-player roster for the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship, the qualification tournament for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.[33] She was the only college player named to the squad.[34] Mace started and played 90 minutes during the team's 5–0 shutout against Panama on October 17.[35]
During the September 2022 FIFA international window, Mace was called up to replace the injured Kelley O'Hara during two friendlies against Nigeria.[36] She was called up once again in October 2022 for the friendlies against the English and Spanish women's national teams.[37]
