The odds are kind of amazing, really, that Dallas Trinity and the USL Super League are going through a calendar transition at almost the exact same time as FC Dallas and Major League Soccer.
MLS is playing a mini-season in early 2027 as they align with most of the rest of the world. The Super League is playing its mini-season this Fall, to align with NWSL, which chose not to align with the world… at this time.
That means Dallas Trinity, just like FC Dallas, is in the middle of transitioning its roster to contracts that align with the new calendar.
For Dallas Trinity, there’s the added complication of new owners (USL Dallas) plus a new TD and coach, who happen to be the same person, Lee Nguyen, just a few months before the new season. Brian Corcoran, the USL Dallas (aka Atletico Dallas) Sporting Director, is filling the same role for Trinity and is Nguyen’s boss.
While the former TD and coach, Chris Petrucelli and Nathan Thackeray, had begun putting together the Trinity roster, it wasn’t complete when Coach Nguyen took over.
Without knowing specific details, it’s a safe’ish assumption that Nguyen finished off the roster with some NWSL loans that were announced late in training camp and that most of the free agent signings came from the previous group.
Regardless of how it was assembled, the roster is the roster, and in this space we’re going to try and show the elements in transition and deduce the work ahead for Coach Nguyen when the season ends at the end of 2027.
Inbound Loans
With one exception, all seven of these loans were executed in camp prior to this Fall season. While it wasn’t announced, all these loans almost certainly are for just the Fall of 2026, as they are from NWSL sides whose season ends in December of 2026.
Stainbrook is the exception; her loan was from earlier this year and was announced to be through the end of 2026.
| No. | Player | Pos. | Loan Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Onyeka Gamero | F | Bay FC |
| 7 | Heather Stainbrook | 8 | Washington Spirit |
| 19 | Aria Nagai | 6 | Utah Royals |
| 22 | Jamie Shepherd | 8 | Bay FC |
| 30 | Seven Castain | W | Orlando Pride |
| 32 | Sofia Cedeño | 10 | Seattle Reign |
| 35 | Meeku Purcell | G | Seattle Reign |
All seven of these players will return to their parent clubs at the end of December. If the players are let go, perhaps they might sign with Trinity? If they are retained by their clubs, maybe new loans will be on offer?
Either way, there’s no guarantee we would see any of them with Trinity past the end of the Fall mini-season. I think you can assume it will take some work to get back the best ones. See Sam Meza, for example.
Enjoy them while you can, cause you probably won’t see them past December.
New Signings
Here’s the list of new signings the club made prior to the Fall 2026 mini-season.
The team would have known there was a mini-season coming before the new full seasons begin. So most of the deals should include a half season, then align with calendar-year-style contracts.
The bulk of these were probably made by Petrucelli before the team changed owners.
The speculation on my part is that veterans of the Super League with some skins on the wall would, I imagine, get two-year deals (plus the 1/2 season) and then an option. Call it a 2.5+1, if you will. So a deal through 2028 plus an option? These are players that should be part of your core going forward. Or at least were meant to be.
Then there are rookies or fringe players with no resume to speak of. Players who need to prove themselves to carve out a career. Might they get just a one-year (and a half) plus an option? That would be through 2027 plus an option? Although I can imagine cases of just the fall plus an option.
I’ve made some guesses.
| No. | Player | Pos. | Last Club & Contract Guess |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maddy Anderson | G | Lens. Through 2028 plus an option? |
| 6 | Felicia Knox | CM | Spokane Zephyr. Through 2028 plus an option? |
| 8 | Sophie Braun | 6/CB | Spokane Zephyr. Through 2028 plus an option? |
| 9 | Kalea Eichenberger | F | Utah Royals. Through 2027 plus an option? |
| 11 | Rajanah Reed | W | Angel City. Through 2027 plus an option? |
| 23 | LJ Moore | AM | U of Houston. Through 2027 plus an option? |
| 25 | Drew Coomans | D | Princeton. Through 2027 plus an option? |
| 28 | Carissa Boeckmann | 6/RB | Benfica. Through 2028 plus an option? |
| 33 | Ally Cook | 9 | Spokane Zephyr. Through 2028 plus an option? |
| 88 | Heather MacNab | CB | NC Courage. .5+1. Just 2026 plus an option? |
Just one group left.
Players Already Under Contract Before the Fall
These players are the core of the Trinity roster coming into the Fall of 2026, and they will be the core going forward.
They all should have contracts on the “wrong” old calendar. If the club wants to re-sign them, they will want to shift them to the new calendar. That’s something we’re seeing FC Dallas do as well.
With 1 or 2 exceptions, the club will want to retain most of these Golden Girls.
| 5 | Lauren Flynn | CB | Signed Jan 2026. Deal through June 2028? |
| 10 | Lexi Missimo | 10 | Loaned to Olympique de Marseille through the end of her original contract (End of June, 2027). Her time with Trinity is almost certainly done. |
| 12 | Sydney Cheesman | D | Signed March 2026. Deal through June 2028? |
| 13 | Cyera Hintzen | LB | Signed July 2024. Likely in final year of original contract? Expires June 2027? |
| 14 | Chioma Ubogagu | W | Signed July 2024. Likely in final year of original contract? Expires June 2027 as she returns from the ACL? |
| 17 | Jasmine Hamid | W | Acquired via trade from Ft. Lauderdale in April 2026. Our sources indicated a new deal when she arrived. Expires June 2028? |
| 21 | Camryn Lancaster | W | Signed Feb 2025. Contract through June 2027? |
| 24 | Wayny Balata | 8 | Signed July 2025. Contract through June 2027? |
