Who’s who on the Carolina Ascent’s 2025-26 roster

CAROLINA ASCENT

Forward Mackenzie George is one of 10 newcomers on the Carolina Ascent's second season.

Veterans of the inaugural season will work to blend in new talent in year two of Gainbridge Super League

Building a roster is like a high-stakes poker game. A good hand can always be better.

Carolina Ascent, which won the Players’ Shield in the inaugural Gainbridge Super League season, have drawn new cards to upgrade the league’s best offensive team (46 goals) and defense (12 clean sheets).

Perhaps that’s not an appropriate analogy, as there’s no bluffing on the pitch. Talent and technical skill, when honed with smart tactics and effort, usually rule the day. Towards that, the Ascent have added 10 new players for the season, which started last week with a 2-2 draw at Fort Lauderdale. The home opener is Saturday, 7 p.m. at American Legion Memorial Stadium.

Eighteen players return from last season when the Ascent made their intentions clear on matchday one, with the first win in GSL history, and the largest crowd (10,533). After losing to Fort Lauderdale in the semifinal, the opportunity for an almost perfect season was lost, so there’s no lack of urgency or determination in what the team intends to do this season. 

Returning players

Here’s a breakdown of who’s back and who’s new for the Ascent. 

Forwards

Back on the attack are Mia Corbin, Riley Parker, Audrey Harding, Rylee Baisden, Stella Spitzer, and Maria Tapia. 

Voted Player of the Year by the USL Players Association, Corbin was the leading scorer in 2024 with her 12 goals one fewer than Dallas’ Allie Thornton for the Golden Boot award. Corbin proved herself versatile on both sides of the ball, as influential in defending as she was in scoring, so she may also be used in an attacking midfield role. 

Corbin teamed well with Parker (goal, two assists), who played for Tampa Bay against the Ascent in the fall before coming to Carolina in January for the Ascent’s high press. 

Harding’s five goals were even with the now-retired Eli Hutchinson for second-most on the team. Baisden started 16 of 21 appearances with a goal and 4 assists.

At 14, Spitzer became the youngest player to compete in the GSL last year when she made her professional debut against Brooklyn. Now 15, she is the youngest professional player in the league. Tapia is one of two remaining players on academy contracts, which allows them to retain collegiate eligibility while training and playing in a professional environment. 

Midfield

The midfield will be decidedly different with only four players returning. That includes 2024-25 captain Taylor Porter, who shared that role last season with Vicky Bruce. porter was one of only four players in the league to go 90 minutes in every regular-season match. Also back are Giovanna DeMarco, B Hylton, and Sarah Troccoli. 

Troccoli started 17 of her 20 appearances and scored three times and gave the Ascent a physical presence in the middle of the pitch.

DeMarco was limited by injury last season, getting 12 starts in 16 games played. She is back to training with the squad. 

Hylton became the first Ascent academy player to sign a professional contract last season and also made her debut for England’s U-17 women’s team. Her eligibility comes through her father, Andy, who previously played for the Charlotte Eagles. 

Defenders
The defensive line returns Jill Aguilera, Jenna Butler, Addisyn Merrick, Emily Moxley, Sydney Studer, and Isa Franco. Named the Super League’s Defensive Player of the Year, Aguilera also led the league in assists (seven) from her left back position (and sometimes midfield). She also scored twice.

Butler joined the Ascent over the winter break and became an immediate starter, first at right back and then filling the centerback role after Bruce’s essentially season-ending injury.

Merrick (goal, assist) started all of her 20 matches and was second on the team, along with Aguilera, in tackles (46) and first in tackles won (35). She is returning from injury. 

Moxley was limited to six appearances due to injury. Franco is the remaining Academy contract player.

Keepers
No one kept the ball out of the net better last season than Meagan McClelland, who earned the Golden Glove award with six clean sheets and 17 goals conceded in 18 games. But when the equally talented

Samantha Leshnak-Murphy joined for the second half of the season, she moved to the bench. McClelland was back in the net for the season opener last weekend. Also back is Charlotte Burge, 19, who was the youngest women’s professional goalkeeper in the U.S. last year. Leshnak Murphy returned to Europe, where she plays for FC Rosengard in Sweden.

Who’s new

From back to front, the Ascent added goalkeeper Sydney Martinez, defenders Brianna Martinez and Meaghan Nally, midfielders Maddie Mercado, Emily Morris, and Maggie Pierce. The new forwards include Macy Bader, Mackenzie George, Luana Grabias, and Alyssa Walker.

Four – George, Mercado, Morris, and B. Martinez – were starters against Fort Lauderdale in the 2-2 draw last Saturday. Walker and Nally came in off the bench.

A trio of the new players come from Brooklyn FC, the only other team to win six consecutive games last season. Across 27 games, Brazilian Grabias had five goals and two assists, while George had four goals and five assists in 28 games. Sydney Martinez strengthens the keeper corps, having played 11 matches with four shutouts. 

Two players are on loan from NWSL teams. Brianna Martinez comes on loan from the defending NWSL champions Orlando Pride, where she’s made 27 appearances for Orlando since joining the club in 2023. Mercado, who scored the first goal just 43 seconds into her Ascent career last week, joins on loan from the Seattle Reign. She scored two goals in 19 appearances since joining Seattle in 2024 as the 27th overall pick in the 2024 NWSL draft.

Nally also brings NWSL experience with 37 appearances for the Portland Thorns from 2021-24, which included winning the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup and 2022 NWSL title, where she was a teammate of Taylor Porter. She last played in Denmark before coming to Charlotte.

A former North Carolina standout from Cary, Pierce most recently played professionally in Ireland for Shelbourne FC, with 55 starts across all competitions in 2023 and 2024. She scored twice and played in two UEFA Women’s Champions League matches.

Walker comes to the Ascent from HB Koge in Denmark’s top division, where she scored four goals in 16 league appearances. In 2023, she played 17 matches in Norway for SK Brann. The year before, she netted nine times for IFK Kalmar in Sweden.

Only two of the new signings are rookies, and both come from the Tar Heel State.

Bader grew up in Apex before playing collegiately for the Charlotte 49ers, where she logged 70 matches, with 17 goals and 13 assists. In 2024, she led the NC Courage team to a USLW Championship title, earning Finals MVP honors.

A Fort Mill native (Nation Ford High and Charlotte Soccer Academy), Morris played at Wake Forest, where she helped take the Deacons to their first NCAA College Cup final last year. Three of her 12 career goals came in the NCAA tournament. 

Comments