No surprises were offered in the first two picks of Saturday’s National Women’s Soccer League draft. Naomi Girma and Jaelin Howell were the obvious locks for the first two selections, and the only question was about if any team could offer enough to unearth the first-overall pick from expansion side San Diego Wave.
The answer was no, and Girma, 21, took the honor as the first-overall selection out of Stanford. Girma has yet to make her senior U.S. women’s national team debut but figures to get a call up in the near future. In San Diego, she joins a defensive unit headlined by Abby Dahlkemper and former Stanford teammate Tegan McGrady.
USWNT fans are a little more familiar with Howell, who broke into the senior team in 2020 and made another appearance in 2021. Howell, coming from Florida State, was a major part of the 2021 NCAA National Championship team. Howell heads to Racing Louisville where she will continue to hone her holding midfielder skills.
NWSL action is set to play out over international windows once again in 2022, and the North Carolina Courage bolstered their midfield via Virginia Tech product Emily Gray with the third pick. The Courage already lost Sam Mewis a couple of weeks ago and will have to do without Debinha who will spend significant time with Brazil, so Gray should be primed to make an instant impact in her rookie season.
There was plenty of moving and shaking in the aftermath of Thursday’s expansion draft. The Orlando Pride were among the most active as they seek to fill the holes left by the recent departures of Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, and Ashlyn Harris. Orlando moved up to grab three first-rounders in hopes of finding some readymade starters.
Here is a closer look at the 2022 NWSL Draft results:
Round 1
San Diego Wave: Naomi Girma, Defender, Stanford
Racing Louisville: Jaelin Howell, Midfielder, Florida State
North Carolina Courage: Emily Gray, M, Virginia Tech
Racing Louisville: Savannah Demello, M, USC
Orlando Pride: Mia Fishel, Forward, UCLA
North Carolina Courage: Diana Ordońez, F, Virginia
Kansas City Current: Elyse Bennett, F, Washington State
OL Reign: Zsanett Kajan, F, St. John’s
San Diego Wave: Marleen Schimmer, M/F, Grand Canyon University
Orlando Pride: Catilin Cosme, D, Duke
Orlando Pride: Julie Doyle, F, Santa Clara
North Carolina Courage: Kaitlyn Fregulia, D, Long Beach State
Round 2
Portland Thorns: Sydny Nasello, F, South Florida
Washington Spirit: Tinaya Alexander, F, LSU
Washington Spirit: Madison Elwell, M/F, Vanderbilt
Racing Louisville: Charmé Morgan, D, Oklahoma State
Chardonnay Curran, M, Oregon
Chicago Red Stars: Ava Cook, F, Michigan State
Chicago Red Stars: Sammi Fisher, M, Notre Dame
OL Reign: Claudia Dickey, GK, North Carolina
OL Reign: Ryanne Brown, F, Wake Forest
Portland Thorns, Gabby Provenzano, D/M, Rutgers
Washington Spirit: Lucy Shepherd, F/M, Hofstra
NJ/NY Gotham: Kelly Ann Livingstone, D, Georgetown
San Diego Wave: Sydney Pulver, M/D, Washington State
Racing Louisville: Jordyn Bloomer, GK, Wisconsin
Round 3
San Diego Wave: Belle Briede, F/M, Stanford
Angel City: Hope Breslin, M, Illinois
North Carolina Courage: Haleigh Stackpole, F/M, Ole Miss
Racing Louisville: Jenna Menta, F, Wake Forest
Orlando Pride: Jada Talley, F, USC
OL Reign: Kalie Halvorsen, F/M, Santa Clara
OL Reign: Olivia Van Der Jaght, M, Washington
NJ/NY Gotham, Hensley Hancuff, GK, Clemson
Chicago Red Stars: Sarah Griffith, F, Purdue
Angel City: Lilly Nabet, M, Duke
Chicago Red Stars: Kayla McKeon, M, Arkansas
Washington Spirit: Audrey Harding, F, UNC Wilmington
Round 4
Angel City: Miri Taylor, F, Hofstra
San Diego Wave: Kayla Bruster, D, Georgia
Kansas City Current: Jenna Winebrenner, D, TCU
Racing Louisville: Syndey Cummings, D, Georgetown
Kansas City Current: Izzie Rodriguez, D, Ohio State
Houston Dash: Ryan Gareis, F, South Carolina
North Carolina Courage: Marissa Bova, GK, Purdue
NJ/NY Gotham: Raleigh Loughman, M, Michigan
OL Reign: Marley Canales, M, UCLA
Portland Thorns: Natalie Beckerman, F, Denver
Chicago Red Stars: Jayda Hylton-Pelaia, D, Arizona State
Washington Spirit: Jordan Thompson, M/D, Gonzaga