Hailie Mace

Hailie Jenae Mace (born March 24, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for the Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the United States national team.

Mace played college soccer for the UCLA Bruins, where she helped reach the national title game and was named first-team All-American in 2017. She was chosen second overall in the 2019 NWSL College Draft but began her professional career overseas in Australia and Sweden. She entered the NWSL with the North Carolina Courage before being traded to the Current in July 2021.

Mace debuted for the United States national team while in college in 2018.

Mace was born and raised in Ventura, California, where she attended Buena High School and played soccer as a forward and also played volleyball. She played youth club soccer for Ventura FC, then moved to Eagles SC of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) in her senior year of high school.

Mace lacked recruitment offers during high school, and drew the attention of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) only after her mother created and sent a highlight tape for them. The tape impressed UCLA coach Amanda Cromwell, who traveled to a tournament in San Diego, California, to scout Mace in person. UCLA then offered Mace a soccer scholarship.

Mace played as a center back during her first two seasons with the UCLA Bruins. In 2015, Mace led all Bruin freshmen in games played at 19. In 2016, she started all 22 games for UCLA and helped the team record 9 shutouts.

In 2017, Mace moved from defense to forward. Playing as an attacker, Mace led the Bruins with four game-winning goals, led the Pac-12 Conference with 13 goals, and once again started every game for the Bruins. UCLA advanced to the 2017 College Cup final, where they would lose 3–2 to rival Stanford. Mace was named a Hermann Trophy semifinalist, first-team All-American, All-West Region, and All-Pac-12.

Mace was drafted by Sky Blue FC with the second overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft. However, she did not sign with the team and instead joined Australian club Melbourne City FC on a guest-player contract. In her professional debut, Mace scored twelve minutes after subbing on and helped Melbourne City win 4–0 against the Newcastle Jets.