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Seattle Reign FC

Final Seattle Reign FC Roster Announced

April 12, 2013 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Seattle Reign FC News Release


Seattle, WA - April 12, 2013 - Seattle Reign FC has finalized its roster for the opening of the 2013 NWSL season, which for Seattle begins this Sunday, April 14 in Chicago with a match against the Red Stars. The club has named a total of 23 players to the roster. The group includes 10 players capped as full internationals and 5 current or former USA internationals at the U-20 and U-23 levels.

The NWSL requires that each team carry a minimum roster of 18 players and a maximum of 20 players. However, the NWSL granted Reign FC two additional roster slots and cap space as a result of the inability of two of its allocated players to play for medical and personal reasons. Additionally, one of Reign FC's allocated players is playing abroad and will not be counted as part of the active roster until she joins the club mid-season.

The club was built through a combination of means; an allocation of seven national team players from Canada, Mexico and the US; a four-round college draft; a five-round supplemental draft; free agency, a trade and multiple "discovery players".

The process started with the national team allocations in January. The league, working in conjunction with the national soccer federations of Canada, Mexico and the United States, provided each of the eight NWSL clubs with seven players (except WNY Flash, who received only six) - three US players, two Mexican and two Canadian players. The allocation process strived to achieve parity in the distribution of talent, but necessarily took into account the desires of the players, and to a lesser extent, the requests of the individual clubs.

"Overall we were quite pleased with the results of the allocation process, as we feel that every player we picked up is capable of making an impact on the squad," said Head Coach and GM Laura Harvey. "And although we've run into a few unexpected challenges with our US allocated players, we're one of the few clubs that will have its full group of Mexican and Canadian allocated players for the start of the season."

Additional details about the players acquired through the allocation process:

- The allocation provided Reign FC with seven members of its current roster; Goalkeepr Hope Solo, midfielder Megan Rapinoe and forward Amy Rodriguez from the US; midfielder Kaylyn Kyle and defender Emily Zurrer from Canada; midfielder Teresa Noyola and defender Jenny Ruiz from Mexico.

- Reign FC will start the season without any US allocated players on its active roster; Amy Rodriguez announced she was pregnant shortly after the allocation process-she will miss the entire 2013 season; Hope Solo required surgery for a pre-existing injury to her wrist-she is expected to be away until mid-season; Megan Rapinoe is playing for Olympique Lyonnais in France-her contract with Lyon will end on June 8. The international break in June is expected to further delay Rapinoe's first match with Reign FC - she is not expected on the play for SRFC until late June.

The college draft provided Reign FC with an opportunity to draft up to four players. Of the four ultimately drafted, Reign FC signed three to its current roster: midfielder Christine Nairn of Penn State in the first round; midfielder Kristin Meier of Wake Forest in the third round, and goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer from Michigan in the final round.

"The club is thrilled with the outcome of the college draft," noted Harvey. "We've picked up a game changer in Nairn as well as two players in Kopmeyer and Meier that are fully capable of starting for our club. We feel very lucky that the work invested to identify these standout players has paid off."

After the college draft, all NWSL were permitted to sign up to four "free agents". Reign FC (as well as a handful of other clubs) were permitted to sign up to five players during this period, as the league provided SRFC with a special dispensation due to the loss of Amy Rodriguez for the season. SRFC added five players during the "free agent" period, including two full internationals:

- Welsh national team captain, midfielder Jessica Fishlock.

- Forward Tiffany Cameron, a full Canadian international and graduating senior at Ohio State University.

- Local standout and former WPS player, defender Kate Deines.

- Former Stanford star, forward Lindsay Taylor.

- And with its fifth free agent pick, SRFC signed defender and former Boston Breaker Elli Reed, who most recently played with FCR Duisburg in Germany.

"With our free agent picks we've landed five solid players we believe will be frequent starters for the club," said Harvey. "In particular, we expect Jess Fishlock to be an impact player from her first touch on the ball. I believe she has the experience and quality to be ranked amongst the best players in the league."

The supplemental draft was an unexpected success as well, with the club drafting five players, three of which were ultimately signed to the current roster.

- Veteran forward Liz Bogus, Defender Liz (Lou) Barnes and Goalkeeper Michelle Betos were all added to the roster via the supplemental draft.

- Nikki Kryszik, Reign FC's first pick in the supplemental draft, did not sign with the team for the 2013 season for personal reasons, instead choosing to sign with a WPSL club in San Diego, where she recently moved. However, Kryszik may play a handful of matches for Reign FC in June during the international break and the club will retain her NWSL rights for the 2014 season.

One player was acquired via trade: Keelin Winters, a former midfielder on the USA U-23 squad and one of twenty-three players from the US allocated to NWSL clubs earlier this year, was acquired from the Chicago Red Stars in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2014 NWSL college draft, plus SRFC's choice of one of its (now) four allocated players from the US (Solo, Rodriguez, Winters and Rapinoe) by Sept 30, 2013. As part of the trade Reign FC also received Chicago's fourth- round selection in next year's draft.

"Keelin adds some real experience and quality needed at this level," said head coach Laura Harvey. "Although we have a strong group of midfielders, we felt we needed to add a more defensive-minded midfielder to a group of very attacking, creative midfielders and forwards. Having Keelin on the team allows us to be creative with our squad and gives us freedom with our formation and system of play."

Discovery players made up the last group from which the Reign FC squad was constructed. SRFC signed four discovery players to its roster:

- Defender Kiersten Dallstream, who recently played for Boston in the WPS.

- Midfielder Lindsey Patterson, a WPS veteran and hometown fan favorite.

- Defender Victoria Frederick, who played for the Sounders Women in 2012.

- Forward Kristina Larsen, who played with Atlanta and St. Louis in the WPS.

The complete 23-player Seattle Reign FC roster is included below:

Name Pos Birthdate Last Team

Lauren Barnes DEF 5/31/89 Philadelphia Independence (USA)

Michelle Betos GK 2/20/88 Apollon (Cyprus)

Liz Bogus FWD 2/24/84 Pallokerho-35 (Finland)

Tiffany Cameron FWD 10/16/91 Ohio State University

Kiersten Dallstream DEF 3/5/88 Boston Breakers (USA)

Kate Deines DEF 7/17/89 Stjarnan FC (Iceland)

Jessica Fishlock MID 1/14/87 Melbourne (Australia)

Victoria Frederick DEF 6/23/89 Seattle Sounders Women (USA)

Haley Kopmeyer GK 6/28/90 University of Michigan

Kaylyn Kyle MID 10/6/88 Vancouver Whitecaps (Canada)

Kristina Larsen FWD 6/16/88 Atlanta Beat (USA)

Kristen Meier MID 2/8/91 Wake Forest University

Christine Nairn MID 9/25/90 Penn State University

Teresa Noyola MID 4/15/90 ADO Den Haag (Netherlands)

Lyndsey Patterson FWD 12/7/82 Seattle Sounders Women (USA)

Megan Rapinoe MID 7/5/85

Olympique Lyonnais (France)

Elli Reed DEF 8/10/89 FCR Duisburg (Germany)

Amy Rodriguez FWD 2/17/87

Philadelphia Independence (USA)

Jenny Ruiz-Williams DEF 8/9/83 Bay Area Breeze (USA)

Hope Solo GK 7/30/81 Seattle Sounders Women (USA)

Lindsay Taylor FWD 10/25/89 Arna Bjornar (Norway)

Keelin Winters MID 12/9/88 Turbine Potsdam (Germany)

Emily Zurrer DEF 7/12/87 Dalsjöfors GoIf (Sweden)

"Overall, we're really quite pleased with the group we've put together. Throughout our pre-season matches in Japan and our training in Seattle the last two weeks, they've all demonstrated the commitment and passion that it takes to win at this level," said Laura Harvey, GM and Head Coach of Seattle Reign FC. "They play with a heart and scrappiness that I think our supporters are going to love. And we've got a couple of kids that are going to be real surprises to the league. We can't wait to hit the pitch on Sunday."

The opening home match, against FC Kansas City, will take place on Saturday, May 4 at 8pm at Starfire Stadium. Prices for single match tickets are $26 for Grandstand Premium seating, $22 for Grandstand seating and $19 for Bleacher seating. Tickets can be purchased online at www.reignfc.com.

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