Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By CAITLIN MURRAY
Let the stealing begin.
The list of players up for grabs in the National Women’s Soccer League’s Friday expansion draft was released Wednesday, with the Houston Dash having plenty to pick from.
Unprotected players include a few U.S. National Team players, mostly on the back line. USWNT defender Kelley O’Hara played forward for Sky Blue FC before injury ended her 2013. (O’Hara was just added to the USWNT’s January camp, with U.S. Soccer announcing her recovery is nearly complete.) Defender Rachel Buehler is a veteran of the USWNT and served the Portland Thorns well last season. Other defensive options include Meghan Klingenberg and Amy LePeilbet.
A batch of USWNT goalkeepers are unprotected now that the Dash have signed the Canadian National Team’s primary keeper, Erin McLeod. The unprotected Americans include Ashlyn Harris, Nicole Barnhart and Jill Loyden. The Seattle Reign apparently didn’t think it was worth the risk to let Hope Solo go.
But the Dash – the expansion team that joined the league last month and will select up to 10 players in the draft – will need to pick their USWNT allocations wisely. Per the rules, they only get two of them and if they take a U.S. allocated player from a team, they can’t take a second player from that team.
The full list of unprotected players after the jump:
2014 EXPANSION DRAFT PROTECTED LISTS
BOSTON BREAKERS:
Protected
Courtney Jones
Julie King
Kaylyn Kyle (CAN)
Joanna Lohman
Kia McNeill
Kristie Mewis (USA)
Alyssa Naeher
Heather O’Reilly (USA)
Lianne Sanderson
Catherine Whitehill
Unprotected
Jazmyne Avant
Michelle Betos
Bianca D’Agostino
Maddy Evans
Dinora Garza (MEX)
Meghan Klingenberg (USA)
Jessica Luscinski (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Melissa Ortiz
Kathryn Schoepfer
Chelsea Stewart (CAN)
CHICAGO RED STARS:
Protected
Zakiya Bywaters
Lori Chalupny
Taryn Hemmings
Jennifer Hoy
Adriana Leon (CAN)
Leslie Osborne
Christen Press (USA)
Rachel Quon (CAN)
Casey Short (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Taylor Vancil
Unprotected
Shannon Boxx (USA)
Amy LePeilbet (USA)
Ella Masar
Alyssa Mautz
Jacqueline Santacaterina
Julianne Sitch
Melissa Tancredi (CAN)
Lindsay Tarpley (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Lydia Vandenbergh
Michelle Wenino
FC KANSAS CITY:
Protected
Jen Buczkowski
Melissa Henderson
Lauren Holiday (USA)
Nikki Krzysik
Merritt Mathias
Leigh Ann Robinson
Amy Rodriguez (USA)
Becky Sauerbrunn (USA)
Erika Tymrak
Unprotected
Nicole Barnhart (USA)
Elizabeth Bogus
Sinead Farrelly
Jamie French
Bianca Henninger
Katie Kelly
Casey Loyd
Cecilia Santiago (MEX)
Desiree Scott (CAN)
Lauren Sesselmann (CAN)
Nia Williams
Discovery Player #1
Discovery Player #2
Discovery Player #3
Discovery Player #4
Discovery Player #5
Discovery Player #6
PORTLAND THORNS:
Protected
Jackie Acevedo (MEX)
Amber Brooks
Tobin Heath (USA)
Allie Long
Nikki Marshall
Alex Morgan (USA)
Rebecca Moros
Christine Sinclair (CAN)
Kat Williamson
Unprotected
Rachel Buehler (USA)
Becky Edwards
Tina Ellertson
Angie Kerr
Karina LeBlanc (CAN)
Jessica McDonald
Emilee O’Neil
Casey Ramirez
Meleana Shim
Nikki Washington
Tiffany Weimer
Michele Weissenhofer (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Courtney Wetzel
Discovery Player #1
Discovery Player #2
Discovery Player #3
Discovery Player #4
SEATTLE REIGN:
Protected
Lauren Barnes
Jessica Fishlock
Danielle Foxhoven
Beverly Goebel-Yanez
Sydney Leroux (USA)
Kim Little
Megan Rapinoe (USA)
Elli Reed
Hope Solo (USA)
Keelin Winters
Unprotected
Stephanie Cox (USA)
Kiersten Dallstream
Kate Deines
Kaley Fountain (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Alina Garciamendez (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Carmelina Moscato (CAN)
Mariah Nogueira
Arianna Romero (MEX)
Discovery Player #1
Discovery Player #2
Discovery Player #3
Discovery Player #4
Discovery Player #5
Discovery Player #6
SKY BLUE FC:
Protected
Lisa De Vanna
Caitlin Foord
Katy Freels
Courtney Goodson
Lindsi Cutshall
Monica Ocampo (MEX)
Christie Rampone (USA)
Sophie Schmidt (CAN)
Discovery Player #1
Unprotected
Danesha Adams
Brittany Bock
Brittany Cameron
Alison Falk (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Jonelle Filigno (CAN)
Kendall Johnson
Meghan Lenczyk (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Jillian Loyden (USA)
Taylor Lytle
Ashley Nick
Kelley O’Hara (USA)
Madeleine Thompson
Kandace Wilson (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Discovery Player #1
WASHINGTON SPIRIT:
Protected
Yael Averbuch (USA)
Renae Cuellar (MEX)
Robyn Gayle (CAN)
Victoria Huster
Ali Krieger (USA)
Diana Matheson (CAN)
Christine Nairn
Stephanie Ochs
Toni Pressley
Jodie Taylor
Unprotected
Marisa Abegg
Jordan Angeli (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Candace Chapman
Ashlyn Harris (USA)
Chantel Jones
Natasha Kai (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Lori Lindsey
Tiffany McCarty
Caroline Miller
Julia Roberts
Jasmyne Spencer
Kika Toulouse
Colleen Williams
Discovery Player #1
Discovery Player #2
WESTERN NEW YORK FLASH:
Protected
Adrianna Franch
Samantha Kerr
Carli Lloyd (USA)
Adriana Martin
Katherine Reynolds
Brittany Taylor
Abby Wambach (USA)
McCall Zerboni
Discovery Player #1
Unprotected
Amy Barczuk
Vicki DiMartino
Val Henderson (2013 Hold-over Rights)
Sarah Huffman
Selenia Iacchelli (CAN)
Estelle Johnson
Veronica Perez (MEX)
Angela Salem
——
Who should the Dash select in the expansion draft? Are you surprised by any of the teams’ decisions of who to leave exposed? What will the Dash do?
Share your thoughts below.