The Houston Dash have acquired the rights to forward Chioma Ubogagu (pronounced: chee-OH-ma uh-bo-GA-gu) from Sky Blue FC in exchange for the club’s fourth-round pick (No. 36 overall) in the 2016 NWSL College Draft and natural third-round pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft.
Born in London, Ubogagu was raised outside Dallas, in Coppell, Texas and was the 2010 Gatorade Texas Player of the Year. The 23-year-old starred at Stanford University while representing the United States at the Under-18, U-20 and U-23 levels before signing with Arsenal Ladies of The FA Women’s Super-League in February, for whom she scored seven goals in 18 appearances this season. Ubogagu made six appearances and scored the winning goal in extra time in a quarterfinal win over North Korea as the U.S. won the 2012 U-20 World Cup in Japan.
“I am extremely excited that Chioma has decided to come back to the NWSL after a very productive season with Arsenal,” Dash head coach Randy Waldrum said. “I coached Chioma when I was coaching the U.S. U-23 Women’s National Team, and I’ve also watched her for many years as a youth player in Dallas. I know Chi is excited about coming home to Texas to play, and her family is very excited as well. Our fans will love her creativity and her ability with the ball. She brings some flair to her game, and will certainly add some attacking quality to our team. She won a U-20 World Championship along with (Dash forward) Kealia Ohai, so reuniting these two players will be great for our club. I always had to play against her while she was at Stanford, so now it will be nice to actually have her on my team.”
At Stanford, she was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and College Cup All-Tournament team as the Cardinal won the national championship in 2011. She also helped Stanford reach the national championship again in 2012 and was captain of the squad that advanced to the national semifinals in 2014. Ubogagu tallied 27 goals and 37 assists in 89 appearances over four years at Stanford.
The Dash have the opportunity to sign Ubogagu before the start of the 2016 NWSL preseason next March.
Dash season ticket for the 2016 campaign begin at just $120 and are available here or by calling (713) 276-GOAL. Season ticket benefits include access to an exclusive presale for the 2016 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament next February at BBVA Compass Stadium as well as a presale for the 2016 Copa America Centenario, held at Houston’s NRG Stadium next June.
