We keep the player postmortems going as we continue to focus on the defense. This time we take a look at a player that had really settled into her own at the club, before being traded away in the middle of the season. After a breakout 2023 season that saw defender Paige Nielsen really find her footing with Angel City FC, it looked like she was set for another big year in 2024.
Always part of the ACFC family 💪🖤
Thank you, @Paigenielsen & @amandinehenry6.#AngelCityFC announce two strategic trades ahead of the closing of the NWSL trade window. Defender Paige Nielsen has been traded to Houston Dash. Midfielder Amandine Henry will head to Utah Royals FC.— Angel City FC (@weareangelcity) April 20, 2024
Technically, Nielsen could have been included in our Under 500 Club postmortem, but given she would’ve seen far more minutes had she not been traded, and given her 2023, we thought it would be nice to close the chapter with her taking center stage. Paige played just three matches for Angel City this season, not only starting all three matches, but playing the full 90 in each as well. In her short time this season she tallied eight tackles and had three interceptions for the club. She kept a 79% passing success percentage for the club this season as well.
You couldn’t write an ending like this! Paige Nielsen delivers in the final seconds of play and the @houstondash head home with three points! pic.twitter.com/aNCk2YQIMr
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) May 13, 2024
In 2023, Nielsen appeared in 21 matches for the club, tallying more than 1850 minutes, coming away with 27 tackles, kept 78% successful pass percentage, and even had a goal. However, after the slow start to the season, it was painfully clear the club needed to try something to change course and so while it did come out of nowhere, it wasn’t a complete surprise to see one of the better players moved. At the time, the club called the Nielsen trade a “strategic player move” that was said to be done to free up cap space as well as roster space for the club, giving the idea that ‘bigger’ players were set to arrive. Nielsen enjoyed a fruitful rest of the season at Houston Dash, even scoring the lone, game winning goal against Los Angeles in her first meeting since the trade. Here’s hoping she can continue her successful career outside of Los Angeles, though for our sake, less goals against Angel City.
Thoughts on the Paige’s time with the club? Leave a comment below!