Jump to content

List of first overall NWSL draft picks

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The National Women's Soccer League's first overall pick is the player who is selected first among all eligible draftees by a team during the annual National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) draft.

Two first picks have been named the NWSL Most Valuable Player: Crystal Dunn and Sophia Smith.[1][2] Only one first overall pick was ever named NWSL Rookie of the Year: Naomi Girma.[3]

Three collegiate programs have multiple players that were selected first overall: Stanford with four, North Carolina with three, and Virginia with two.

On August 22, 2024, the NWSL announced the elimination of its draft in its renegotiated collective bargaining agreement with the National Women's Soccer League Players Association.[4] NWSL teams could pursue and sign any prospective collegiate and international players as free agents.[5]

Key

[edit]
! Denotes player who has been inducted to the National Soccer Hall of Fame
+ Denotes player who won Most Valuable Player
* Denotes player who has been selected for an Best XI or Second XI team
Bold Denotes player who won Rookie of the Year

List of first overall picks

[edit]
Draft Selected by Player Country Position College / high school /
former club 		NWSL rookie statistics Ref.
Caps Goals Assists
2013 Chicago Red Stars Zakiya Bywaters  United States Forward / Midfielder UCLA 6 2 0 [6]
2014 Washington Spirit Crystal Dunn * + Forward North Carolina 21 0 3 [7]
2015 Houston Dash Morgan Brian Midfielder Virginia 10 0 3 [8]
2016 Portland Thorns FC Emily Sonnett * Defender 15 0 0 [9]
2017 Boston Breakers Rose Lavelle * Midfielder Wisconsin 10 2 1 [10]
2018 Washington Spirit Andi Sullivan Stanford 23 0 1 [11]
2019 Chicago Red Stars Tierna Davidson Defender 13 1 0 [12]
2020 Portland Thorns FC Sophia Smith * + Forward 21 7 1 [13]
2021 Racing Louisville FC Emily Fox * Defender North Carolina 23 0 0 [14]
2022 San Diego Wave FC Naomi Girma * Stanford 19 0 0 [15]
2023 Angel City FC Alyssa Thompson Forward Harvard-Westlake 20 4 2 [16]
2024 Utah Royals Ally Sentnor Midfielder North Carolina 21 3 4 [17]
The NWSL Draft was abolished in the 2024 collective bargaining agreement between the league and its players' association[4]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Spirit Forward Crystal Dunn Voted NWSL MVP". National Women's Soccer League. 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on 2015-09-25.
  2. ^ Kriger, Rachael (October 27, 2022). "Sophia Smith wins 2022 NWSL MVP Award". The Equalizer.
  3. ^ Lauletta, Dan (2022-10-27). "Naomi Girma named 2022 NWSL Rookie of the Year". The Equalizer.
  4. ^ a b Gregory, Sean (August 22, 2024). "Why Women's Soccer Ditched Its Draft". TIME. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  5. ^ Barrington, Talia (August 22, 2024). "'It's important we attract the best': inside the NWSL's groundbreaking deal that abolishes the draft". The Guardian.
  6. ^ Oshan, Jeremiah (January 18, 2013). "NWSL College Draft, results: Red Stars pick Zakiya Bywaters No. 1". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  7. ^ Gordon, Jennifer (January 17, 2014). "Crystal Dunn selected first in NWSL College Draft". Equalizer Soccer. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  8. ^ "Morgan Brian No. 1 pick by Houston Dash in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 16, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  9. ^ Duke, JJ (January 20, 2016). "2016 NWSL College Draft Recap". Our Game Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  10. ^ McCauley, Kim (January 12, 2017). "NWSL draft 2017 results: All the picks from all 4 rounds". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  11. ^ Purdy, Jacqueline (January 18, 2018). "Spirit select Andi Sullivan with the No. 1 pick in the College Draft". NWSL. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  12. ^ Yang, Stephanie (January 12, 2019). "2019 NWSL draft class goes all in on a dream". The Athletic. The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  13. ^ McCauley, Kim (January 17, 2020). "5 big stories from the 2020 NWSL Draft". SB Nation. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  14. ^ Herrera, Sandra (January 14, 2021). "2021 NWSL draft results: Emily Fox, Trinity Rodman and Brianna Pinto lead list of picks in trade filled night". CBS Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  15. ^ Hruby, Emma (December 18, 2021). "San Diego Wave FC select Naomi Girma with No. 1 pick of college draft". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  16. ^ Gibson, Charlotte (January 12, 2023). "Angel City picks Alyssa Thompson as NWSL's first No. 1 pick out of high school". ESPN. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
  17. ^ "Utah Royals FC pick UNC's Ally Sentnor first overall in NWSL draft". ESPN. January 12, 2024. Retrieved April 25, 2025.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_first_overall_NWSL_draft_picks&oldid=1287537327"