Maggie Pierce (soccer)

Maggie Pierce
Pierce with the Carolina Ascent in 2025
Personal information
Full name Margaret Julia Pierce[1]
Date of birth (2001-08-10) August 10, 2001
Place of birth New York City, U.S.
Height 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Position(s) Midfielder, defender
Team information
Current team
 Carolina Ascent
Number 28
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2022 North Carolina Tar Heels 80 (1)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2023–2024 Shelbourne 40 (2)
2025 Carolina Ascent (USL W) 6 (0)
2025– Carolina Ascent 0 (0)
International career
2017 United States U-17 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of October 20, 2024

Margaret Julia Pierce (born August 10, 2001) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder or defender for USL Super League club Carolina Ascent. She played college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels. She has also previously played for Shelbourne.

Early life

Pierce was born in New York City as one of three daughters to Scott and Jennifer Pierce.[1] She grew up in Cary, North Carolina, and attended Cardinal Gibbons High School and Crossroads Flex High School.[1] She announced her verbal commitment to the University of North Carolina at age 14.[2] In two seasons at Cardinal Gibbons, she scored 31 goals in 34 games, earned all-state and All-American honors, and helped the team to the state title game in 2017.[1] She also ran track in high school.[1]

Pierce played club soccer for the North Carolina Courage Academy (previously CASL) in the Elite Clubs National League and the Girls' Development Academy.[3] She also played for Oak City United in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[4] TopDrawerSoccer ranked Pierce as the 35th-best prospect of the 2019 class.[5]

College career

Pierce played in 80 games for the North Carolina Tar Heels, primarily off the bench.[1] In her freshman year in 2019, she helped the team win the ACC tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament title game, playing 24 minutes in the shootout loss to Stanford.[1] During her sophomore year in 2020, she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the ACC tournament final against Florida State, forcing her to sit out the spring portion of the pandemic-delayed season.[6] She scored her only college goal during her junior season in 2021, providing the overtime game winner against Boston College.[1] In her senior year in 2022, she made a career-high 13 starts and again helped the Tar Heels to the NCAA tournament title game, playing 37 minutes of the overtime loss to UCLA.[1]

Club career

Shelbourne

North Carolina Tar Heels assistant coach Heather O'Reilly, whose final professional stop was with Shelbourne, recommended that Pierce pursue the Irish club after college.[7] After a trial with Fortuna Hjørring in Denmark, Pierce joined the Irish title holders for the 2023 season.[8] On March 4, she started on the opening matchday and saved a shot off the goal line as Shelbourne won 6–0 against Cork City.[9] Her first professional goal came during a 4–1 win over league winners-to-be Peamount United on March 29.[10]

After initially playing at right back, Pierce was also deployed at center back and center midfielder over the course of the year.[8] In September, she played in both of Shelbourne's games in the 2023–24 UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying rounds.[10] She wound up appearing in every game for the club in all competitions in 2023, playing 97% of the available minutes.[11] She was named in the Women's Premier Division Team of the Season after Shelbourne placed second in the league.[12] Her contributions helped the club limit league opponents to 13 goals in 20 games, and her teammates voted her the 1895 Player of the Year.[11]

Pierce re-signed with Shelbourne for the 2024 season.[13] On September 7, she scored her only goal of the season, helping Shelbourne win 4–2 against Treaty United and remain top of the standings for the time being.[14] On October 20, she raised her first professional trophy when Shelbourne won the 2024 FAI Women's Cup, defeating Athlone Town by 6–1 in the final.[15] After another runner-up finish in the league, Pierce was again included in the Team of the Year.[16] Her teammates voted her the club's Player of the Year, while manager Eoin Wearen praised her "energy, selflessness, versatility, and ability on the ball".[17]

Carolina Ascent

USL Super League club Carolina Ascent announced on July 15, 2025, that Pierce had signed with the club, returning to her home state.[18] She had made six appearances that summer for the Ascent's USL W League side.[19]

International career

Pierce trained with the United States under-17 team in 2017, appearing in a friendly against England.[20]

Honors and awards

North Carolina Tar Heels

Shelbourne

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Maggie Pierce". North Carolina Tar Heels. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  2. ^ Badwan, Bryce (December 8, 2015). "Player: Maggie Pierce". The18. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  3. ^ "NC Courage Academy defender Maggie Pierce discusses transition from ECNL to Girls' DA". SoccerWire. August 8, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  4. ^ Morgan, Jessika (July 9, 2016). "Women's soccer league bridges age gap between players". The News & Observer. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  5. ^ "Final Women's DI Recruiting Class Rankings". TopDrawerSoccer. August 16, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  6. ^ Eskilson, J.R. (May 11, 2021). "A shot at history on line at College Cup". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  7. ^ O'Connor, Seán (November 18, 2023). "'These girls are our family and we're not ready to leave' – Sisters in arms hope to fire Shelbourne to Cup win". Irish Independent. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  8. ^ a b O'Mahony, Paul (September 12, 2023). "Irish Women's Football: Don't Stop Believin'". Hot Press. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  9. ^ "Shels Hit Cork For Six In Dominant Season Opener". FinalWhistle.ie. March 4, 2023. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Margaret Pierce". Flashscore. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  11. ^ a b c Doyle, Kevin (November 27, 2023). "The 1895 Awards | By the Numbers". Shelbourne F.C. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  12. ^ a b Fisher, Grace (November 25, 2023). "Peamount United sweep Women's Premier Division awards". Her Sport. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  13. ^ Merriman, Rory (January 4, 2024). "Pierce extends her stay at Tolka Park". extratime.com. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  14. ^ Geraghty, Darryl (September 7, 2024). "Shelbourne regain league lead with comfortable win over Treaty". RTÉ. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  15. ^ a b "Report | 2024 Sports Direct Women's FAI Cup Final – Athlone Town 1–6 Shelbourne". Football Association of Ireland. October 20, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  16. ^ a b "2024 SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division Award Winners Confirmed". League of Ireland. December 3, 2024. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  17. ^ a b Woods, Caiomhe (November 22, 2024). "Shelbourne FC Women's Player of the Year Awards". Shelbourne F.C. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  18. ^ Clark, Harrison (July 15, 2025). "Former Tar Heel Maggie Pierce Officially Signs For Carolina Ascent". Carolina Ascent FC. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  19. ^ "Carolina Ascent FC Pre-Professional". USL W League. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  20. ^ Eskilson, J.R. (October 3, 2017). "U.S. U17 WNT Player List – 2017/2018". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
    "U-17 WNT Downs England to Sweep Two-Game Set in Portland". United States Soccer Federation. August 26, 2017. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017.
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