The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) held a six-round Free Agent Supplemental Draft Thursday afternoon via conference call. Each team originally submitted a list of eight to ten players eligible for the draft to make up the player pool. Each team then had the opportunity to select a player per round or to pass on their pick. Below is the results of today’s draft:
Round 1
Washington- Stephanie Ochs (F)
Seattle- Nikki Krzysik (D)
Boston- Jo Lohman (M)
Chicago- Lindsay Tarpley (F)
Sky Blue- Katy Frierson (M)
FC Kansas City- Courtney Jones (F)
Western NY- Estelle Johnson (D)
Portland- Tina Ellertson (D)
Round 2
Washington- Tori Huster (M)
Seattle- Lauren Barnes (D)
Boston- Katie Schoepfer (F)
Chicago- Lauren Fowlkes (D)
Sky Blue- Brittany Cameron (G)
FC Kansas City- Bianca Henninger (G)
Western NY- Angela Salem (D)
Portland- Angie Kerr (M)
Round 3
Washington- Jordan Angeli (M)
Seattle-Laura Heyboer (F)
Boston-Bianca D’Agostino (M)
Chicago- Michelle Wenino (D)
Sky Blue- Coco Goodsen (D)
FC Kansas City- Merritt Mathias (F)
Western NY- Kim Yokers (M)
Portland- Michele Weissenhofer (F)
Round 4
Washington- Tasha Kai (F)
Seattle- Liz Bogus (F)
Boston- Jasmyne Spencer (F)
Chicago- Jackie Santacaterina (D)
Sky Blue- Meghan Lenczyk (F)
FC Kansas City- Casey Nogueira (M)
Western NY- Val Henderson (G)
Portland- Marian Dalmy (D)
Round 5
Washington- Megan Mischler (F)
Seattle- Michelle Betos (G)
Boston-Lauren Alkek (D)
Chicago- Alyssa Mautz (M)
Sky Blue- Kandace Wilson (D)
FC Kansas City-Tina DiMartino (M)
Western NY- Ashley Grove (F)
Portland- Jessica Shufelt (F)
Round 6
Washington- Heather Cooke (D)
Seattle- Kaley Fountain (D)
Boston- Jess Luscinski (M)
Chicago- PASS
Sky Blue- Alison Falk (D)
FC Kansas City- Casey Berrier (D)
Western NY- PASS
Portland- PASS
Breaking The Draft Down:
– 22 of the 45 players that were selected played in the WPSL Elite last season. The league gave many players an opportunity to still play at a high level domestically after the folding of WPS.
– All of Chicago’s five draft picks are players who have played with the Red Stars before. Tarpley played with them in 2009 when the Red Stars were in WPS and the rest played with Chicago last year in the WPSL Elite.
-Boston returns three players from last years WPSL Elite team but still has not added a secondary goalkeeper, leaving them with only young Cecilia Santiago at the moment.
-Eight former US Women’s National Team players were drafted, most notably Tasha Kai and Lindsay Tarpley.
-There were some flyer picks today, especially with Portland taking Tina Ellertson, who Tweeted a few days ago saying that she was taking the year off and will consider playing in 2014.
– Only four goalkeepers were taken in todays draft, leaving most teams with only one or two goalkeepers on their rosters after today. The teams with three goalkeepers at the moment are Seattle, Sky Blue and Western New York Flash. Also with Washington not knowing if Ashlyn Harris is coming back in time for the start of the season, they only have one confirmed ‘keeper in recently signed Chantel Jones.
-It seems very unlikely that all of the players drafted will actually suit up for their teams. Tina DiMartino (announced via Twitter by Dan Lauletta) will not be playing in the league, Nikki Krzysik is undecided about playing in the league and Kaley Fountain announced herself that she won’t be playing this season. (More of this will come, I’m sure)
In the coming days, we will post an updated roster list of all the NWSL teams on the website to keep everyone up to date on who is on which team.
Other NWSL News:
-Boston announced that Australian International Kyah Simon will return to the Breakers for the 2013 season. That is Boston’s last allotted Free Agent player but she was one of the top scorers with the Breakers in 2012 and is just coming off a W-League title with Sydney FC.
-Kansas City have announced two more Free Agent signings today, Melissa Henderson and Leigh Ann Robinson.
– Chicago added their fifth Free Agent player by signing Jessica McDonald for the season. McDonald spent the winter playing for Melbourne Victory in the W-League, leading them to the Grand Final.
-Washington and Kansas City have yet to formally announce all four of their Free Agent signings. The Spirit have announced two signings while Kansas City have announced three.
– There is speculation about a possible trade between Western New York and Seattle, with the Flash sending Veronica Perez to Seattle with the Reign sending the rights to Amy Rodriguez back to Western New York.