On Thursday the NWSL held their fifth college draft in Los Angeles, California. In a week that saw two of the ten franchises change hands to new ownership, the focus shifted back to the players.
Notable events and stats from the draft:
The Boston Breakers had five of the first eleven picks in the draft, as they look to rebuild their last-place team from 2016.
USC had three players taken in the first round, and five overall from the total of 40 draft picks. They claimed the school’s second national title in 2016.
The PAC-12 led all conferences with 12 players drafted, followed by the ACC with 10.
Round 1
No. 1 – Rose Lavelle – Wisconsin (Boston Breakers)
No. 2 – Ashley Hatch – BYU (North Carolina Courage)
No. 3 – Morgan Andrews – USC (Boston Breakers)
No. 4 – Kayla Mills – USC (Sky Blue FC)
No. 5 – Christina Gibbons – Duke (FC Kansas City)
No. 6 – Maddie Bauer – Stanford (Seattle Reign FC)
No. 7 – Darian Jenkins – UCLA (North Carolina Courage)
No. 8 – Ifeoma Onumonu – CAL (Boston Breakers)
No. 9 – Margaret Purce – Harvard (Boston Breakers)
No. 10 – Miranda Freeman – USC (Sky Blue FC)
Round 2
No. 11 – Michele Vasconcelos – BYU (Chicago Red Stars)
No. 12 – Morgan Proffitt – Marquette (Chicago Red Stars)
No. 13 – Toni Payne – Duke (FC Kansas City)
No. 14 – Rachel Hill – UCONN (Portland Thorns FC)
No. 15 – Jane Campbell – Stanford (Houston Dash)
No. 16 – Katie Johnson – USC (Seattle Reign FC)
No. 17 – Stephanie Ribeiro – UCONN (FC Kansas City)
No. 18 – Savannah Jordan – Florida (Portland Thorns FC)
No. 19 – Lindsay Agnew – Ohio State (Washington Spirit)
No. 20 – Claire Wagner – Clemson (North Carolina Courage)
Round 3
No. 21 – Tyler Lussi – Princeton (Portland Thorns FC)
No. 22 – Danica Evans – Colorado (Orlando Pride)
No. 23 – Kailen Sheridan – Clemson (Sky Blue FC)
No. 24 – Madison Tiernan – Rutgers (Sky Blue FC)
No. 25 – Alexis Shaffer – Virginia (FC Kansas City)
No. 26 – Arielle Ship – CAL (Seattle Reign FC)
No. 27 – Jaycie Johnson – Nebraska (North Carolina Courage)
No. 28 – Nichelle Prince – Ohio State (Houston Dash)
No. 29 – Meggie Dougherty-Howard – Florida (Washington Spirit)
No. 30 – Catrina Atanda – Clemson (Sky Blue FC)
Round 4
No. 31 – Sammy Jo Prudhomme – USC (Boston Breakers)
No. 32 – Nickolette Driesse – Penn State (Orlando Pride)
No. 33 – Erin Smith – Rutgers (Houston Dash)
No. 34 – McKenzie Meehan – Boston College (Sky Blue FC)
No. 35 – Rashida Beal – Minnesota (FC Kansas City)
No. 36 – Cameron Castleberry – North Carolina (Washington Spirit)
No. 37 – Kristen McNabb – Virginia (Seattle Reign FC)
No. 38 – Hayley Dowd – Boston College (Boston Breakers)
No. 39 – Lauren Kaskie – UCLA (Chicago Red Stars)
No. 40 – Caroline Flynn – Nebraska (Portland Thorns FC)
Don’t forget the location. Throughout the event, which was streamed on YouTube the commentating crew mentioned the possibility of an expansion draft next year multiple times. While nothing is official, most expect the league to add two clubs before 2018. One of the most likely targets, and a need for their TV reach, Los Angeles could see need team either to new owners or as part as of the LA FC setup.
The NWSL 2017 schedule should be released within the next week.
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