“It was just kind of a crazy call, and one of those things where I was like, I can’t say no to this,” senior goalkeeper Tyler McCamey told The Daily Princetonian. “It was kind of out of nowhere.”
McCamey was talking about being tapped to join the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) on Gotham FC as a temporary replacement goalkeeper. Gotham, which is based out of Sports Illustrated Arena in Harrison, N.J., announced the signing on Thursday, April 17.
McCamey was working on a paper in the library on Friday, April 11 when she got a call from her agent. Gotham’s second and third-string goalkeepers had been injured, and they needed a replacement — stat. The team reached out to McCamey to serve as a short-term injury replacement goalkeeper, on contract through the end of June. The following Wednesday, she was on her way to Los Angeles.
“Everything was moving at lightning speed,” McCamey said to the ‘Prince.’ “Five days later, I was on a plane to LA [for Gotham’s game versus Angel City].”
McCamey joins Gotham four games into their season, adding to a roster that boasts world-class players such as the U.S. Women’s National Team’s Rose Lavelle, Emily Sonnett, and Tierna Davidson, recent world-cup winner Esther González of Spain, and top German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger. While Berger is healthy and continues to start for Gotham, the injuries to backups Ryan Campbell and Shelby Hogan forced the team to field their replacements — a necessary precaution should anything happen to Berger.
In her professional soccer career since first playing Gotham FC back on April 18, McCamey has already recorded three road games, traveling to Los Angeles for the team’s dominant 4–0 victory over Angel City, followed by a loss against the Portland Thorns and fellow Tiger Pietra Tordin, and then shutting out the Washington Spirit 3–0.
McCamey follows teammates Tordin and Heather MacNab, who joined the NWSL in January and February, respectively, following the Tigers’ successful 2024 season. As co-captain, McCamey led Princeton to both an Ivy League title and an Ivy League Tournament title in 2024, as well as an NCAA tournament bid.
With the addition of McCamey, the Tigers now record six active players across the NWSL, speaking to the program’s success in producing soccer players who compete at the highest level.
“The jump [to playing professionally] wasn’t so astronomical that I couldn’t handle it,” McCamey noted. “I knew I was ready to go into that environment because of what I’ve gotten from Princeton.”
She credits her Princeton coaches, particularly goalkeeper coach Chris Duggan, with her preparation.
McCamey, who graduates in May, hadn’t planned on playing professionally until after college. She stressed her education as a “priority,” crediting her professors for allowing her to take this opportunity and still graduate on time.
“I didn’t actually have to miss a ton of school,” McCamey explained. McCamey, a politics major, has been able to work with her professors to make up any missed material and ensure she will still be able to graduate on time with the Class of 2025.
“I think it’s a good reflection of the school and their ability to kind of work with student-athletes,” she added.
McCamey also spoke of her teammates’ support for this decision. “It was nice to kind of be in an environment where people knew why it was such an obvious yes.”
McCamey is happy that Gotham’s location still allows her to train with Gotham in the morning and return to campus in the evening for a meal with her friends. The Gotham stadium is just a one-hour train ride from Princeton.
“That was definitely a big part of the decision making … not having to give up everything to say yes to this,” McCamey stated.
Following her stint with Gotham, McCamey hopes to play professionally in Europe. She plans to enter the European draft portal in July, following the end of her Gotham contract.
However, rejoining the NWSL sometime in the future is not out of the question for McCamey. “[The NWSL] is such a strong league; it’s one of the best in the world, so it’s a hard one to not want to be a part of.”
For the moment, McCamey plans to make the most of this experience.
“It’s so crazy that I even have this opportunity,” she told the ‘Prince.’ “I think the biggest thing is just kind of embracing it and having fun and getting the most out of it I can in order to hopefully be even more ready to go to Europe than I would have been.”
Leila Eshaghpour-Silberman is a staff Sports writer and contributing Features writer for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com
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