NWSL Draft: Complete Tracker With Every Pick By Round And Club – Sporting News

The NWSL is heading into its most competitive season yet with two ambitious new expansion teams joining the league. And before a ball is even kicked in 2022, the competition is ramping up this offseason when it comes to player signings. Two days after the Expansion Draft, all 12 teams scooped up top college talent in the NWSL Draft.  

One of those expansion teams, San Diego Wave FC, came away with five players including the No. 1 pick in the draft which it used on Stanford center back Naomi Girma, who is projected to be a future U.S. women’s national team regular. With its other pick in the first round, Wave FC made another surprise selection by taking Grand Canyon’s German midfielder Marleen Schimmer.

Expansion counterpart Angel City FC traded away its early picks and didn’t make a selection until the third round: Hope Breslin (Illinois), Lily Nabet (Duke) and Miri Taylor (Hofstra) were the selections by ACFC head coach Freya Coombe.

MORE: The seven players picked in the NWSL Expansion Draft

Racing Louisville FC and OL Reign had the most picks of any club with six each, but Racing benefited from two picks in the top four. The Houston Dash had a draft-low one selection which came toward the end of the five-hour draft. 

Among the other top prospects, Jaelin Howell of recently-crowned NCAA champs Florida State, who many thought could go No. 1, dropped to No. 2 for Racing Louisville. Highly touted UCLA scorer Mia Fishel dropped to No. 5 to her former UCLA coach Amanda Cromwell, who just took over at the Orlando Pride.

NWSL Draft tracker & picks

Here is every pick of the four-round NWSL draft followed by a breakdown of the picks by club.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

NWSL Draft picks by club

NWSL Draft rules

The draft was conducted as a standard four-round draft, with a few tweaks regarding the pair of expansion teams:

• San Diego Wave FC held the No. 1 draft pick thanks to a coin flip, but since there were two expansion teams in this draft, they rotated the top spots in each of the four rounds, meaning Wave FC picked first in Rounds 1 & 3, while Angel City picked first in Rounds 2 & 4, though Angel City traded its Round pick.
• The two expansion sides got two extra picks at the end of Round 2, giving the draft an even 50 overall picks. Angel City traded its pick to Houston Dash, which in turn traded it to Racing Louisville FC.

DECOURCY: Spirit’s NWSL title was the most remarkable in U.S. sports history 

Several slots were traded before the draft, including two of the top three picks: Racing Louisville acquired Angel City FC’s first round pick (No. 2 overall) from the trade involving Christen Press, and NC Courage owned Kansas City Current’s first round pick (No. 3 overall) from the trade involving Sam Mewis.

NWSL Draft player list

Here are the 190 players who were registered and eligible to be selected in the NWSL SuperDraft (selected players in bold):

NWSL Draft prospects & top talents

Nearly 200 players registered for the draft hoping to be one of the 50 picks at the event. The college ranks were bursting with talent this past season, but it wasn’t as top-heavy as in recent years. But there was an upper echelon, with the following players standing out in the lead-up to the draft.

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Jaelin Howell (MF, Florida State)

All the buzz has Howell going first overall to San Diego Wave, having proven her worth over a number of years at one of the best teams in the NCAA. Howell made three College Cups over her four years, won a MAC Hermann Trophy (and could win another), and has senior USWNT experience. A natural No. 8, one would be hard-pressed to find a more experienced and battle-tested player in this entire draft.

Naomi Girma (DF, Stanford)

Unanimously the top defender in the draft, Girma was injured last year and chose to stay in college for another season at one of the country’s most vaunted programs. Stanford’s season was somewhat of a disappointment, but her talent is undeniable, finishing as a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist two years in a row as a defender, an impressive feather in the cap.

Mia Fishel (FW, UCLA)

A two-time All American at UCLA, Fishel is only a junior but took the opportunity to leave early with a chance to go high in the draft. She scored 36 times in 59 matches across her three seasons at UCLA. The payoff for that performance was an October 2020 callup into senior USWNT camp, and being named a finalist for the 2020 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year award.

Claudia Dickey (GK, North Carolina)

We are entering sleeper territory, and Dickey is the top goalkeeper in the draft. Goalkeepers aren’t quite as prioritized in the draft as the outfield positions, but Dickey is a veteran with USWNT buzz (although the position is quite logjammed at the moment). She had fabulous numbers at UNC, sporting a 75.5 percent save percentage and 131.5 mins/goal conceded mark in her senior season.

Gi DeMarco (MF, Wake Forest)

One of the pure talents in the draft, DeMarco was a fixture for Wake Forest and provides a versatility that is difficult to find. What keeps DeMarco down the list is primarily her injury history, but a classic No. 8 who can play as a No. 6, DeMarco has calm ball control abilities and fabulous field vision. She’s not a flashy player, preferring to do the dirty work in midfield for a possession-oriented style of play, but she will pop up on the scoresheet every so often.

How to watch the NWSL Draft

• Date: Saturday, Dec. 18
• Time: 2 p.m. ET
• TV Channel: CBS Sports Network
• Streaming: fuboTV, Paramount+, CBS Sports HQ, Twitch (CBS Sports HQ), YouTube (CBS Sports HQ)

The 2022 NWSL Draft will be televised by CBS Sports Network which is available to stream on fuboTV. New users can sign up for fuboTV with a free 7-day trial.

The stream is also available on multiple other channels, including Twitch, YouTube and Paramount+.