Sky Blue FC sign Daphne Corboz

Sky Blue FC has signed Daphne Corboz for the upcoming 2017 NWSL season, pending receipt of her International Transfer Certificate.

Corboz, a 23-year-old midfielder, is returning to play soccer in the United States after spending the last year and a half playing for Manchester City Women FC.

“We are delighted to have signed Daphne Corboz,” said head coach Christy Holly said in a statement released by the team. “She is going to be a key piece to what we are trying to achieve over the next number of seasons, and she is an attractive player to us for many reasons. For starters, she is a New Jersey girl and has a full appreciation of what it means to wear the Sky Blue FC crest. She is someone who brings a huge amount of qualities on the field, and she also has a great personality off the field as well.”

Despite being taken by Sky Blue in the third round of the 2015 College Draft, Corboz decided to forgo the NWSL to finish college and attend Rutgers medical school. However, she again changed her mind and signed with Man City on July 7 2015. Corboz debuted with the English club on July 12, 2015, and scored her first professional goal the following weekend. Since then, she had made 20 appearances and scored three goals for the club.

Corboz tweeted on November 25 that she had decided to leave Man City, spurring many fans of the NWSL to speculate she may be leaving to return home and play in the NWSL. Not only is she doing just that, but Corboz has signed with her hometown team, Sky Blue FC. Although she was born in Mobile, Ala., Corboz’s family moved to New Jersey, where she graduated from Watchung Hills High School.

Sky Blue initially drafted Corboz after an impressive four-year collegiate career at Georgetown University. There, Corboz played in 82 games, scored 47 goals, recorded 39 assists and tallied a total of 133 points, a program record. Eighteen of Corboz’s assists came in her senior year, ranking her as fourth in the nation in total assists. She also led the Big East Conference in scoring and assists and tied for the lead in goals with 12. In doing so, she helped the Hoyas advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year.

For her senior year performance, Corboz was also named a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist, the Big East Conference Midfielder of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year—the first time a player won both awards in the same season—and was an unanimous selection to the All-Big East First Team selection. She also was named to the United States U-23 women’s national team in 2014 and played in the 2015 Four Nations tournament in Norway.

Corboz is the daughter of Michel Corboz, who played third-division soccer in France for Grenoble. Her brother Mael played soccer at Rutgers before transferring to Maryland. He signed a homegrown contract with the New York Red Bulls in 2015 but was waived before the season began. He signed with MSV Duisburg in August 2016. Their sister Rachel is a junior at Georgetown, where she also plays soccer.