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KC Current Trade Cece Kizer for Houston’s Prince

In a surprise trade, Kansas City native Cece Kizer was sent back to her original NWSL team in Houston for Canadian winger Nichelle Prince.

Published

4 months ago

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Cece Kizer | Credit: Thad Bell

In a stunning announcement broken by The Equalizer, and since confirmed by the Kansas City Current, KC traded Blue Valley Northwest High School alum Cece Kizer to the Houston Dash for Nichelle Prince. The KC Current also included an outgoing international roster spot in the deal. Both players are signed through the 2024 season.

The Current just received that 2024 international roster spot in a trade last week that saw Morgan Gautrat and $50,000 in allocation money sent to the Orlando Pride. Only the roster slot came back in return.

In total, that means $50,000 in allocation money, Morgan Gautrat and Cece Kizer were traded for Nichelle Prince, when you add the trades together.

More on Prince

Prince is a 28-year-old winger and Olympic gold medalist for Canada. She has spent her entire NWSL career with Houston after being selected 28th overall (3rd round) in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. Prince went to college at Ohio State where she played for four years, making 72 appearances and scoring 27 goals.

In the NWSL, Price has appeared 88 times and added an additional 12 goals. As a Canadian international, she has played for both the U-17s, U-20s and the full national team. She has 96 appearances with the senior team and has added 16 goals internationally.

General Manager Camille Ashton and head coach Vlatko Andonovski both weighed in on the trade, which apparently materialized at last Friday’s draft, and was announced today.

“Nichelle is a dynamic attacking player with success in the NWSL and on the international stage,” said general manager Camille Ashton. “We are excited to bring her to Kansas City where her experience and professionalism will add great value to the club.”

“I am very happy to add Nichelle to this roster,” said head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “Bringing a player of her quality to the club continues to strengthen the team as the competition within the squad grows stronger.”

So Long Cece

Kizer, still just 26, has been a fan favorite since she was traded to Kansas City in the 2022 NWSL season from Racing Louisville. She came and made an immediate impact for a team that eventually made it all the way to the NWSL Finals where they fell to the Portland Thorns. In her 35 matches played for the Current, she’s scored 13 times and added three assists.

Kizer is second in single season goal scoring for KC (seven) and the team’s all-time leading scorer (13).

“We are incredibly grateful for the impact Cece has made on our club over the past two seasons,” said Ashton. “These decisions are always difficult, but we want to thank her and wish her the best going forward.”

Houston will be a return to the team that drafted Kizer. She was a second-round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft and played two seasons in Houston before being selected in the expansion draft by Louisville.

“I’m excited for my return to Houston to get to play with old and new teammates,” Kizer said. “I look forward to being welcomed back by the Houston Dash fans and to be a part of more Dash history. I’m grateful I get another chance to Hold It Down for H-town.”

[Update 4:57 PM: Cece Kizer seems to be blindsided by the trade. Bad optics for the KC Current front office, especially after similar messages from Alex Loera and Lynn Williams.]

The KC Soccer Journal will bring you more on the Kizer/Prince trade in the future as we look to see how all the parts will start to fit together in the system that Vlatko is building. They are definitely different players stylistically and here are some stats from FBref to take a peek at.

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