Welcome to New Jersey: Gotham FC rolls out carpet for soccer stars Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger

Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger had a special feeling about Gotham FC, the New Jersey-based women's professional soccer team, from the start.

It was in those early conversations a few weeks ago with the club’s general manager, Yael Averbuch West, and head coach Scott Parkinson that, as Harris put it, they began to hear the passion and drive their would-be leaders had for the future of their new club.

“They’ve made us feel so wanted and appreciated and needed, and they value what we bring, not only as people on the field as players, but who we are off the field,” Harris said in a Zoom interview this week with Krieger, her teammate and wife, and NorthJersey.com.

Gotham FC on Monday confirmed what many already believed to be true: that Harris and Krieger were coming to Jersey. The team acquired the two United States Women's National Team standouts from Orlando Pride in a blockbuster deal that will transform the face of Gotham next season.

“It just really creates this special feeling inside that is really important to me — ‘cause Orlando was my home," Harris said. "I just really feel this new excitement between the two of us.”

In other words, the two national team icons are already feeling at home in their new Gotham family.

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By bringing on Harris and Krieger, the team has invested in veteran talent that team execs hope will lead Gotham to another successful post-season run. This past season, the team made the playoffs for the second time in club history.

“We ended the last season on a really high note for us as a club, but we still want to do better. We have more ambitions,” Averbuch West said in a press conference welcoming Krieger and Harris. “These are two athletes who will show up at training every day and push themselves to get better — as well as the people around them. Just welcoming them into this environment, I think, is a statement about who we want to be as an organization.”

Krieger and Harris, who joined the Orlando Pride in 2016, were on the World Cup-winning national teams in 2015 and 2019. Together, they bring a wealth of experience and veteran talent to Gotham.

Related:With new leaders in charge, Gotham FC women's soccer team pushes into next chapter

Krieger has more than 100 caps with the national team and was a key defender for the 2015 national team. She played in Women’s Professional Soccer, one of the early versions of professional women's soccer in the United States. She also played overseas in Germany and for multiple teams in the NWSL.

Harris is a two-time goalkeeper of the year, both in the WPS and NWSL. She has been the starting keeper for the Orlando Pride since 2016, and set a league all-time career save record with her 469th save against Gotham in a 1-0 victory at Red Bull Arena.

The pair also have big shoes to fill. After a whirlwind of a week, Gotham brokered a string of deals that secured the club protection from the upcoming expansion draft, but not after losing some of its most promising stars, including goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who was a member of the Canadian national team that won Olympic gold this summer.

The club traded the rights for Sheridan to San Diego FC. As part of the trade, Gotham FC secured expansion draft protection. On Wednesday, Gotham also announced that goalkeeper DiDi Haracic’s rights were traded to expansion Angel City FC. As part of that trade, Gotham FC received further protection.

The team next year will also be without one of its most recognizable faces, Carli Lloyd, who retired from professional soccer at the end of the season. Krieger and Harris said that Lloyd, while on vacation in the Maldives, spoke highly to them about Gotham, which helped convince them that the club would be a good fit.

“She actually had nothing but incredible things to say about playing here and representing this club, so, it was a no-brainer for us,” Harris said.

Family values in Jersey

For Harris and Krieger, they moved to Jersey as much for their family as for their careers, they said. The pair met at the U.S. women’s national team training in 2010 and married in 2019. In February, the couple welcomed their first child, daughter Sloane Phillips, into their family.

“I think it’s going to spark a definite excitement to our game, and thrill for us that I don’t think maybe we’ve felt for a little bit now,” Krieger said of the move. “This is going to be a really happy time for us, and for our family — and ultimately for Sloane to be around more ... women who she can see do their job and what they love, and that they’re all passionate about, just as much as we are at home."

Related:More people than ever watch women's sports, but investment and media coverage still lag

When talking about their move to Gotham, Harris said the fact that there are former players in leadership roles was critical. Averbuch West is a former professional player, and so is assistant coach Beverly Goebel Yanez.

“When you talk to someone who understands it, who’s been in it, it just makes it easier, which is something I’m really looking forward to,” Harris said. “Because they’ve been in it, they understand it, and they’re going to try to make it the most professional because they know we deserve it, and I am very excited to see young, powerful, smart women in these roles who just honestly want the best, and they want to leave the game better than what they had. And, we do, we need more people like this.”

The pair still have plenty of decisions to make. They need to finish packing, and their two dogs — “I mean we basically have three kids,” Krieger joked — and are narrowing down where they'll live.

They haven’t decided yet, but are leaning to one side of the Hudson. A debate that many in the New Jersey and New York area have likely had.

"We want to make sure we don’t spend all of our time in the car, because we do have our baby at home who we really enjoy," Krieger said. "After work and recovery and all of the good things, we like to get home to her. So, we don’t want to be too, too far from our job.”

“Yeah, we’re looking in Jersey, for sure,” Harris said.

Melanie Anzidei is a reporter for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: anzidei@northjersey.com

Twitter: @melanieanzidei