The Tar Heels Long Gone Hero Is Coming Back Due To Hi..
ANAHEIM, California: With the first pick in the NWSL draft on Friday, the Utah Royals selected Ally Sentnor of the University of North Carolina, who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s midfielder of the year.
The 19-year-old sophomore led North Carolina in scoring this season with 11 goals and seven assists for a total of 29 points. Sentnor, a forward and midfielder, captained the United States in the 2022 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
With the second pick, San Francisco Bay Area expansion team Bay FC also selected 18-year-old defender Savy King, another teenage Tar Heel. The American youth international was selected to the ACC All-Freshman team after accruing a team-high 2,030 minutes of play.
Olivia Moultrie, a midfielder for the Portland Thorns, won the 2023 Young Female Player of the Year Award, which had Sentnor and King among its five contenders.
Croix Bethune, a midfielder for the University of Georgia, went third to the Washington Spirit, who traded defender Sam Staab to the Chicago Red Stars for the selection. Before moving on to Georgia, where she spent 15 games with four goals and five assists, Bethune spent three seasons playing for USC, where she was twice voted PAC-12 Midfielder of the Year.
Brecken Mozingo, a senior midfielder for BYU who led the Cougars in goals (14) and assists (15) this season, was selected by Utah with the fourth pick. After that, Washington dealt midfielder Ashley Sanchez to the North Carolina Courage in return for a $250,000 allocation and the fifth overall pick, which it utilized to choose midfielder/defender Hal Hershfelt of Clemson.
Racing Louisville selected UCLA striker Reilyn Turner and midfielder Ally Lemos sixth and ninth overall, respectively (via a trade with Angel City). Two players from Stanford, Penn State, and Clemson were also selected in the first round.
Maycee Bell, a defender, was a third Tar Heel who was selected by NJ/NY Gotham FC with the 14th overall last pick in the first round.
Zoe Burns, a Canadian international, was selected first overall in the third round (29th overall) by Utah. Born in the United States to Canadian parents, the 22-year-old defender-midfielder has two senior caps for his country.
The United Soccer Coaches Convention and the four-round draft took place at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Melissa Dagenais, a goalie from Canada, was available for the draft but chose to join with SF Damaiense of Portugal. Bev Priestman summoned the University of Miami goalie to Canada’s camp towards the end of the previous season, but nothing happened.
Going third overall to Washington in the 2018 NWSL draft, Quinn, as he goes by Quinn, is the highest Canadian picked in the history of the league. defender Amandine Pierre-Louis of West Virginia was
Last year, Sydney Collins, a defender, was selected eighth overall by the North Carolina Courage. The Oregonian Collins, whose mother was born in Canada, is a dual citizen, has six caps for her country.
One day after the Challenge Cup, which matches Gotham FC against the San Diego Wave—who won the NWSL Shield for the best regular-season record—the NWSL regular season gets underway on March 16.
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The Canadian Press initially released this news on January 12, 2024.
