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Orlando Pride Signs Midfielder Erika Tymrak

Orlando Pride Signs Midfielder Erika Tymrak

ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 5, 2021) - With the 2021 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) preseason officially underway, Orlando Pride has signed midfielder Erika Tymrak to a one-year contract with an option for an additional year, it was announced today.


The deal comes less than a week after the Pride acquired the rights to the 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year in a trade with Kansas City, marking Tymrak’s official return to the game after retiring in January 2020.


ā€œI'm very pleased that we've been able to agree terms with Erika so quickly after the trade that brought her to the Club. She is a two-time champion in this league, the quality of her play has earned her time with the U.S. WNT, and her versatility will afford us additional ways to play as a group moving forward,ā€ Orlando Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said. ā€œErika's return is a welcome addition to both our team and the NWSL as a whole.ā€


ā€œI took a year off, just took some time for myself and I got the itch to play again. I kind of knew, deep down I wasn’t done, but Orlando seemed like the perfect fit. Great environment, really good group of girls, I’ve heard great things about [Head Coach] Marc [Skinner] so I put myself in a position to get here and it worked out. I’m so pumped to be here,ā€ Tymrak said. ā€œI feel great. I feel giddy to play again. I have that excitement and I haven’t had that in a while so it feels really good to have that.ā€


Tymrak, 29, will enter her eighth NWSL season as a member of the Pride after spending two seasons with the Utah Royals FC from 2018-19, making 30 appearances with one goal and two assists in that span. Prior to that, she spent five years with FC Kansas City, winning back-to-back NWSL Championships in 2014 and 2015. 


As an international, Tymrak has featured three times for the U.S. WNT, scoring her first international goal on Nov. 10, 2013 in a friendly against Brazil in Orlando. 


With over 100 NWSL appearances in her professional career, Tymrak will feature in her home state for the first time at the club level. A native of Lakewood Ranch and a graduate from the University of Florida, she was a two-time NSCAA All-America honoree and earned All-SEC honors in each of her four years as a Gator. 


TRANSACTION: Orlando Pride signs midfielder Erika Tymrak to a one-year contract with an option for an additional year.