Today, Angel City announced that veteran defender Merritt Mathias has made the decision to retire after a 12-year career in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Mathias, a three-time winner of both the Shield and the Championship, is one of just 11 active players who have played in the NWSL for its whole 12-year history. Spending the last two seasons with Angel City, Mathias was acquired by the club in a 2022 trade with North Carolina Courage.
Since joining ACFC in 2023, Mathias has appeared in 14 total matches in all competitions for the club, tallying 434 minutes on the pitch and earning one assist in the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup tournament. Throughout her career, she has compiled a total of 196 NWSL regular season match appearances and eclipsed 14,000 minutes played while earning 10 goals and 19 assists.
“I didn't go into my 12th year believing it would be my last,” said Mathias. “But as the season went on, I’ve struggled a lot with illness and injury. That’s part of sport, and I’ve come back from injuries before, but with my diagnosis [of type 2 diabetes], it takes longer for my body to heal in the way that it needs to. I do not want to continue to do the thing that I love and only get to do it a minimal amount of time because the rest of my time is spent rehabbing or coming back from something.
“I’ve had to reflect on what I've done and where I am, and I sit here today incredibly proud of what I've done,” she continues. “I love that I get to retire the way that I am.”
Mathias came to ACFC after spending four seasons in Cary, NC with the Courage, where in 2018, she was an integral part of a defense that broke the league record for fewest goals conceded, with 17. She helped the Courage win the 2018 Supporter Shield and NWSL Championship—the first time any team had won both in the same season—after scoring three goals in 22 matches, and recording an assist in the championship game. Her performance landed her a spot on the 2018 NWSL Second XI. Mathias helped North Carolina win the double once again in 2019.
Originally signed by the New York Fury in the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) Elite in 2012, Mathias was drafted as the 22nd overall pick for FC Kansas City at the start of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013, where she would start in 20 of the 23 regular-season matches her rookie season, scoring two goals. In 2014, Mathias compiled 18 starts and 22 appearances in the regular season; she also started the championship game against Seattle Reign FC and contributed to a 2–1 win.
The following year, she was traded to Seattle Reign FC, where she would spend two seasons, including the 2015 season that saw the team win the Shield and reach the championship match.
Mathias attended the University of North Carolina from 2008–2009 and Texas A&M from 2010–2011, compiling a total of 20 goals.
As far as what’s next, Mathias says, “I'm ready to go and make my name doing something else or doing something within this league. I want to be in the rooms where decisions are made. I want to be the one that drives this league in a direction that I believe it should go in.”
