Harvey-Led Side Concludes Preseason Signings with Pair of Past NWSL Champions;
Norweigan Women’s National Team Scorer, Toppserien Golden Boot Winner, Thorsnes
And Former U.S. U-20 Standout Taylor Now Call Utah Home
SANDY, Utah (Wednesday, February, 14, 2018) — Utah Royals FC has completed its preseason roster signings with the addition of Norway Women’s National Team FW Elise Thorsnes and former U.S. U-20 star Brittany Taylor Kolmel, General Manager Craig Waibel and Head Coach Laura Harvey announced today.
“Elise is a player that has a proven record at the international level, she can play in multiple positions on the pitch and is comfortable on both sides,” said Harvey, encouraging fans to get their tickets for the club’s April 14 inaugural game at Rio Tinto Stadium. “She has just come off the back end of her professional Australian season, where she showed she has a good eye for goal. Bringing any international player into the NWSL is always a fantastic thing for the league, and I think Elise’s style of play and her competitive attitude is something that allows her transition into our setup to be an exciting one.”
After years with the Norwegian national youth level teams, Thorsnes (pronounced TORSE – ness) was called up to the senior side in 2006, where she has since appeared in 110 games. A proven target striker for Norway with 17 career goals at the international level, Thorsnes played in every single game at the 2014 Beijing Olympics, also scoring a goal to get past Sweden in the 2009 European Championship quarterfinals. In the 2011 Women’s World Cup, she scored Norway’s final goal in the tournament in the 1-2 loss against Australia.
Thorsnes has also shined at the club level in her native Norway, where she was named the 2006 Toppserien Player of the Year and that league’s Golden Boot winner (19 goals) while playing for Arna-Bjørnar. She went on to receive other prestigious awards, again winning the scoring title in 2011 (27 goals) and 2013 (19 goals). Thorsnes made 55 appearances for Arna-Bjønar, scoring 39 goals, before announcing her move to Røa in 2008. Her time at Røa brought immense success, including two league championships in 2009 and 2011, with a total of 79 appearances and 61 goals.
Following her time at Røa, Thorsnes signed with Toppserian standout Stabæk in 2013, where she registered 31 goals in two seasons, winning both the Toppserien and Norwegian Cup championships. Her goal-scoring streak continued at Avaldsnes IL, where she played for three seasons, scoring 26 goals in 58 appearances, prior to her signing with the Utah Royals FC. In total, Thorsnes arrives in Salt Lake with three Toppserien championships, four Norweigan cup victories, and three Toppserien goal-scoring titles.
A former FC Kansas City defender, Brittany Taylor Kolmel began her professional career in 2010, after being drafted in the first round of the 2010 WPS College Draft. A product out of the Univ. of Connecticut, where she was honored with back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2008/09, Kolmel earned rookie honors as a 2010 WPS All-Star in her first season with Sky Blue FC. In just two seasons, she appeared in 40 matches for Sky Blue FC, scoring twice.
In 2013, Kolmel signed with the Western New York Flash for the inaugural NWSL season. In her three-year stint with the club, Kolmel missed just three games, accumulating 45 appearances, scoring five goals and adding five assists. In 2015, Kolmel was traded to FC Kansas City, where she played every minute in all 20 games, in a title-winning campaign. In August 2017, Kolmel played a full match against the Houston Dash, making her the third player in NWSL history to reach 100 league games, totaling 9090 league minutes.
Player: Elise Thorsnes
Position: Forward
Height: 5 foot 8
Date of Birth: August 14, 1988
Hometown: Leikanger, Norway
Previous Club: Avaldsnes IL (Toppserien)
Player: Brittany Taylor Kolmel
Position: Defender
Height: 5 foot 8
Date of Birth: September, 18, 1987
Hometown: Washingtonville, New York
Previous Club: FC Kansas City (NWSL)
Utah Royals FC kick off its inaugural campaign with road games on the weekends of both March 24 and March 31 prior to an international break in early April, finally christening its Rio Tinto Stadium home on Saturday, April 14 at 1:30 p.m. MT (opponent TBD). Season tickets for the 2018 Utah Royals FC season are now on sale via www.RSL.com/NWSL or by calling 844.Real.Tix.
Preparations for the NWSL’s sixth season commence locally in Herriman, Utah, this Monday, February 19, when the club’s available preseason roster convenes for its initial sessions at the world-class Zions Bank Training Center.
