Walking into the ballroom at the Pennsylvania Convention Center on draft day, it was hard not to think about the first NWSL draft that was open to the public, which was also held in Philadelphia at the Convention Center, but in a much, much, much smaller space in 2014.
Some things stayed the same: the Spirit Squadron was there, ready and willing to shout and chant for their team and their new rookies. Conference attendees filed in and out, taking in a few minutes of the draft before heading off to their next session.
Some things had changed: like the last few years, there was an actual livestream broadcast of the draft happening in one corner, with recognizable names like Aly Wagner, Jordan Angeli, and Jen Cooper dissecting the draft picks and Union sideline reporter Marisa Pilla acting as host.
The Washington Spirit held the top pick, after a disappointing 2017 season that was marred by catastrophic injuries to multiple players. To no one’s surprise, Stanford’s Andi Sullivan was the first off the board. The Boston Breakers held the second pick, and took the University of South Carolina’s Savannah McCaskill. (Both Sullivan and McCaskill are currently in camp with the USWNT.) Third off the board was Canadian international Rebecca Quinn from Duke University.
Sky Blue FC held the fourth and fifth picks, having traded Kelley O’Hara and Taylor Lytle to Utah Royals FC for the fourth pick, Christina Gibbons, and Shea Groom in late December. Until draft day, this had been the largest and most surprising off-season trade to date.
Sky Blue selected Michaela Abam from West Virginia with the fourth pick, and Duke’s Imani Dorsey with the fifth pick. The room was surprised when Sky Blue remained on the clock with the sixth pick, which had belonged to Houston.
Slowly word trickled out that there was a trade in place, and it would be a big one, but when Amanda Duffy went to the podium to announce it, no names were given, only “players to be named later.”
A few hours later, everything was official, and the biggest trade in the history of the league had happened. After all the dust had settled, the Houston Dash sent Carli Lloyd, Janine Beckie, and the sixth draft pick to the Chicago Red Stars for Christen Press and the seventh pick in the draft. Chicago then sent Lloyd, Beckie, Jen Hoy, the sixth and 13th picks in the draft to Sky Blue in exchange for Sam Kerr, Nikki Stanton, and the 24th pick in the draft.
On paper it certainly appears that Chicago got the better end of the deal, since Sam Kerr is arguably the best player in the world right now, but only time will tell.
The full results of the 2018 draft are below.
Round 1
- Washington Spirit — Andi Sullivan, M, Stanford
- Boston Breakers — Savanna McCaskill, F, South Carolina
- Washington Spirit — Rebecca Quinn, M, Duke
- Sky Blue FC — Michaela Abam, F, West Virginia
- Sky Blue FC — Imani Dorsey, F, Duke
- Sky Blue FC — Amadine Pierre-Louis, D, West Virginia
- Houston Dash — Haley Hanson, M, Nebraska
- Portland Thorns FC — Sandra Yu, M, Notre Dame
- Portland Thorns FC — Gabby Seiler, M, Florida
- North Carolina Courage — Frannie Crouse, F, Penn State
Round 2
- Washington Spirit — Schuyler Debree, D, Duke
- Houston Dash — Kimberly Keever, F, Washington
- Sky Blue FC — Casey Murphy, GK, Rutgers
- Utah Royals FC — Taylor Isom, D, BYU
- Chicago Red Stars — Emily Boyd, GK, California
- Washington Spirit — Mallory Eubanks, M, Mississippi State
- Boston Breakers — Elizabeth Wenger, D, Georgetown
- Chicago Red Stars — Indigo Gibson, D, California
- Chicago Red Stars — Brianna Visalli, M, Pepperdine
- North Carolina Courage — Rebecca Rasmussen, M, Colorado
Round 3
- Washington Spirit — Brittany Basinger, D, Penn State
- Boston Breakers — Ashton Miller, M, Duke
- Orlando Pride — Nadia Gomes, F, BYU
- Chicago Red Stars — Megan Buckingham, M, North Carolina
- Seattle Reign — Alyson Haran, D, Wake Forest
- Washington Spirit — Maddie Huster, M, Wake Forest
- Chicago Red Stars — Zoey Goralski, D, UCLA
- Houston Dash — Veronica Latsko, F, Virginia
- Portland Thorns — Annabella Geist, GK, Oregon State
- Houston Dash — Abby Elisnsky, M, North Carolina
Round 4
- Washington Spirit — Rachel Moore, M, William & Mary
- Boston Breakers — Joanna Boyles, M, North Carolina
- Houston Dash — Sarah Shimer, GK, Washington
- Utah Royals FC — E.J. Proctor, GK, Duke
- Sky Blue FC — Kiama Palacios, M, UC Irvine
- Seattle Reign FC — Celia Jimenez Delgado, D, Alabama
- Chicago Red Stars — Alexa Ben, M, Depaul
- North Carolina Courage — Morgan Reid, D, Duke
- North Carolina Courage — Carlin Hudson, D, Yale
- North Carolina Courage — Ryan Williams, D, TCU
