FC Nantes Release (French)

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State senior midfielder Ashley Cardozo has signed a contract to play professionally with FC Nantes, a club in France that is within one point of being promoted into the top flight of French soccer. Nantes, located in western France along the Loire River, is home to more than 300,000 people and is the sixth-largest city in the nation.

Cardozo finished her career at Utah State as the all-time leader in assists, totaling 32 in 84 career matches played, the ninth-most in school history. Cardozo's 84 career starts in an Aggie uniform is the fourth-most in school history, while her 222 career shots ranks second and her 121 career shots on goal is the best in program history. In all, Cardozo totaled 23 goals in her career to rank sixth in school history. Additionally, Cardozo's 13 game-winning goals are the most by any Aggie since the program began.

Cardozo owns three of the top-10 single-season assist performances in school history, totaling a school-record 11 in 2021, seven in 2019 to rank fourth and six in 2017 to rank eighth. Cardozo recorded nine goals during the 2017 season to rank 10th in a single season, finishing with 24 points to rank ninth in school history. During her senior year, Cardozo did one better, finishing with 25 points to finish seventh in a single season in program history.

During her career, Cardozo earned numerous individual honors, including two first-team all-Mountain West (2017, 2021) and two second-team all-MW accolades (2018, 2019), two United Soccer Coaches all-region honors, including first-team honors in 2021 and second-team recognition in 2017. She began her career as a member of the MW all-newcomer team in 2017 and punctuated her time as an Aggie with MW all-tournament team honors as a senior in 2021.

"I'm so excited to start this new chapter in my life of playing professionally in Europe," Cardozo said. "I have so many people in my corner that have helped me get to this point and I would not have been able to reach these heights without them."

FC Nantes is currently second in the D2 Féminine table with 24 points, trailing only Metz by a single point. The club has scored the most goals of any team in its division and still has 11 matches remaining in its league schedule. Additionally, FC Nantes is playing in the Round of 16 in the Coupe de France Féminine, with the chance to win a pair of trophies in 2022.

Fans can follow the Aggie soccer program on Twitter, @USUSoccer, on Facebook at /USUSoccer and on Instagram, @USUSoccer. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.

-USU-