OREM—Utah Valley University women's soccer standout
Brooklyn Nielsen has signed a professional contract to play for Íþróttafélagið Völsungur in Húsavík, Iceland.
"I'm so excited and it's so surreal," said Nielsen. "I've been wanting this since I was five years old and it's exciting to see it come to fruition. I really like the environment of the team and couldn't be happier to move to Iceland and play professional soccer."
Íþróttafélagið Völsungur is an Icelandic multi-sport club from the town of
Húsavík located on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay. In 2019, the club won the third tier of the women's league in Iceland and earned promotion into the second-tier league.
Nielsen played five seasons for the Wolverines from 2016-21. She is the career leader at Utah Valley in goalie minutes played (6137) and also ranks second in career saves (218), third in goalkeeper wins (19), third in shutouts (19), fourth in goalie games started (42), and fourth in minutes played (6172).
Niesen helped Utah Valley to a pair of WAC Tournament titles, a WAC regular season championship, and two NCAA Tournament appearances. She played in 75 matches, recording 218 saves, 19 wins, and a 1.39 goals against average.
"Signing a pro contract has been a goal of Brooke's for a long time and to see another UVU player turn professional is exciting," said Utah Valley head coach
Chris Lemay. "It's exciting for Brooke and its exciting for our team. Her teammates and our coaching staff are really proud of her."
"Utah Valley has changed so much from my freshman year to now," said Nielsen. "The competitiveness that coach Lemay has brought to the program has been so beneficial to everyone. From day one with coach Lemay, the expectation and belief is that we can win NCAA Tournament matches and consistently be one the best teams in the nation. That belief has been instilled in all of us and we know that we are one of the top programs in the country and it has given us faith that we can go on and play professional soccer."
Nielsen recently flew to Iceland and is currently training with her new professional club.
