Women's Soccer

Nine Women's Soccer Players Selected to NWSL Draft

Greensboro, N.C. -  Led by three first-round selections, nine Atlantic Coast Conference student-athletes were selected in the 2019 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft held Thursday in Chicago.

Representing 7 schools, the ACC’s 9 draftees were the most of any conference.

Clemson
Clemson women’s soccer defender Sam Staab was selected by the Washington Spirit as the fourth overall selection in the first round of the National Women’s Soccer League Draft on Thursday, Jan. 10 in Chicago, Ill. Staab becomes the highest NWSL draft pick in Clemson history. She is also the fourth Tiger to be drafted in the past three seasons under Head Coach Eddie Radwanski, as Claire Wagner, Kailen Sheridan and Catrina Atanda were drafted in the 2017 NWSL Draft.

The San Diego, Calif. native finished her career at Clemson with 33 assists and five goals in her 7,360 minutes over 80 matches. The 33 career assists put her in fourth place in school history in that category. She also led the Tigers to four consecutive NCAA Tournament berths, including a trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2016. Staab also helped Clemson to the ACC Regular Season Championship that same season.

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Duke
After compiling one of the best careers in Duke women's soccer history, Kayla McCoy is officially taking her game to the professional level after being selected by the Houston Dash in the second round of the 2019 National Women's Soccer League College Draft at McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill.

Houston selected McCoy with the 18th overall pick in the draft, giving Duke 13 all-time selections and at least one pick in the last four drafts. McCoy will join former Blue Devil standout Rebecca Moros as the two DWS players to wear the Houston Dash shirt in history.

The Lincolnwood, Ill., native selection adds to an already impressive career resume, especially after an award-filled senior season. The Duke attacker was named All-ACC First Team, a United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American and First Team Scholar All-American, along with a spot on the Google Cloud CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team.

Florida State

Helping lead the Seminoles to the 2018 NCAA National Championship, Kaycie Tillman will now take her skills and talents to the professional level as she was drafted No. 36 overall by the NC Courage in the fourth round of the 2019 NWSL College Draft.

Tillman becomes the 11th Seminole player drafted by the NWSL in its seven-year history. Florida State is tied with Stanford for the most first round draft picks in the history of the league with six.

A native of Rowlett, Texas, Tillman finished her career in the Garnet and Gold with 93 matches played with 88 starts, tallying 46 points on 12 goals and 22 assists, including six game-winning goals.
 

North Carolina
Three members of the North Carolina women's soccer team were selected in the 2019 NWSL College Draft Thursday at McCormick Place. Defender Julia Ashley and midfielder Dorian Bailey were taken in the first round, with midfielder Alex Kimball tabbed in the fourth round. 

Ashley, who had six goals and 10 assists as a senior, was the No. 6 overall pick to Sky Blue FC. A native of Verona, New Jersey, Ashley was a tri-captain for UNC who started all 27 games in 2018, earned second-team All-ACC honors and scored the game-winning goal in the College Cup win over Georgetown.

Bailey, a Mission, Kansas, product, was taken eighth overall by the Washington Spirit. A third-team All-ACC pick, Bailey also started all 27 games for the national runners-up and tallied five goals and three assists on the year.

A native of Chapel Hill, Kimball was picked with the fifth pick of the fourth round by Utah Royals FC. After missing the entire 2017 season due to injury, Kimball capped her Carolina career with four goals and two assists last fall. 

Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame women's soccer midfielder Sabrina Flores was selected in the fourth round by Sky Blue FC in the 2019 National Women's Soccer League Draft Thursday afternoon.

Flores started all 18 games in her final season with the Irish and played a vital role in the midfield. She helped begin the attack for the Irish and tied for the team with five assists on the season. Flores also tallied one goal to bring her season point total to 7, which was third best on the squad.

The Livingston, N.J. native started 73 games in her four years with the Irish. She was tabbed on the ACC All-Freshman team in 2014 and was named to the ACC Honor Roll three times (2014, 2015, 2017). This season, she was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.

This is the second season in a row the Irish have had a player drafted in the NWSL draft. Last season, Sandra Yu was selected in the first round by the Portland Thorns. 

The Notre Dame women's soccer program has had no shortage of representation among the professional ranks. Since the founding of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2000, 25 former Irish players have played in American professional leagues, with a total of 27 making rosters around the world. Flores becomes the fifth Irish player to be selected in an NWSL College Draft since the league was formed in 2012.

Virginia
Senior midfielder Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) of the Virginia women's soccer team was selected in the second round of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) by the Houston Dash on Thursday (Jan. 10). The draft was held in Chicago in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches convention.

Brandon, the seventh pick of the second round and 16th pick overall, is the most recent Cavalier to be selected in an NWSL Draft as Virginia has had a player taken in every draft for a total of 13 picks.  

Through her four-year career with the Cavaliers, Brandon started 71-of-88 matches played. She scored 15 goals for her career and added 10 assists for a total of 40 career points through her 5,347 minutes played.

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Wake Forest
Wake Forest senior Bayley Feist was selected by the Washington Spirit with the No. 17 overall selection in the second round of the NWSL Draft on Thursday afternoon.

Feist becomes the highest draft pick from Wake Forest in the existence of the NWSL, and the highest in any league since Caitlin Farrell went No. 11 overall in the 2011 WPS Draft.

Feist finished her Wake Forest career tied for 10th all-time with 22 goals, also adding 10 assists. She led the team in goals both her junior and senior seasons, scoring eight goals in 2017 and seven in 2018.

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