Tierna Davidson Selected No. 1 Overall at the 2019 NWSL College Draft
January 10, 2019 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) News Release
CHICAGO (Jan. 10, 2019) - The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) held the 2019 NWSL College Draft on Thursday with 36 players being selected over four rounds at the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Chicago. The Chicago Red Stars selected Stanford defender Tierna Davidson with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
A native of Menlo Park, Calif., Davidson was honored as the 2018 U.S. Soccer Young Female Player of the Year, following a stellar performance for the U.S. Women's National Team which won the 2018 SheBelieves Cup and Tournament of Nations. She is the fourth Stanford player taken in the first round - and the second taken No. 1 overall.
Davidson has 12 caps to her name with the U.S. Women's National Team and is the sixth consecutive player with prior experience as a senior U.S. international to be selected with the first pick - joiningCrystal Dunn (2014), Morgan Brian (2015), Emily Sonnett (2016), Rose Lavelle (2017) and Andi Sullivan (2018) as USWNT players to be taken with the top spot in the draft.
Washington Spirit became the sixth team in league history with at least three draft picks inside the first round when they selected Stanford University midfielder Jordan DiBiasi, Clemson University midfielder Samantha Staab, Stanford University defender Tegan McGrady and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill forward Dorian Bailey with the Nos. 3, 4, 7 and 8 picks, respectively.
Stanford University players DiBiasi and Tegan McGrady as well as University of North Carolina Chapel Hill players Julia Ashley and Bailey were the eighth and ninth pair of college teammates to be taken together in the first round of an NWSL Draft. At least one pair of players from the same college has been selected together in the first round in all seven years of the draft.
2019 Draft Notables:
The 2019 draft marks the first time in the history of the event that it was hosted in a city that's home to an NWSL team.
The hometown Chicago Red Stars had the first pick of the draft (Tierna Davidson) and it was their second No. 1 overall pick in league history (Zakiya Bywaters 2013). Chicago is now tied with Washington Spirit for most No. 1 picks (Crystal Dunn 2014 and Andi Sullivan 2018).
For the first time in the history of the NWSL Draft only one goalkeeper was selected as Sky Blue FC grabbed University of Florida's Kaylan Marckese with the No. 28 pick in the draft.
It also marks the second time that a team had zero picks in an NWSL Draft: Seattle (2019) and Portland (2015).
This is the third time a team has four first-round picks: Chicago (2019), Boston (2017) and Western New York (2016).
Stanford University is the second school to be blessed with two #1 picks: Andy Sullivan (2018) and Tierna Davidson (2019) joining the University of Virginia as the only other school to do so with Morgan Brian (2015) and Emily Sonnett (2016).
With eight picks, Sky Blue FC ties the record with Chicago (2016) for most picks in a single draft.
In addition, Sky Blue FC holds the record for most #2 overall picks (2019, 2016 and 2015).
There were three draft day trades down from six a year ago - with the No. 3 overall pick being sent to Washington Spirit, who used it to select Jordan DiBiasi. See below for a full breakdown of all three trades.
Trade(s):
1: Sky Blue FC trade the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft to Washington Spirit for three players to be named later and the No. 29 overall pick.
2: Washington Spirit acquires the No. 17 overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft from Portland Thorns in exchange for the No. 31 overall pick in the 2019 draft and Washington's Natural 2nd round pick for the 2020 NWSL College Draft.
3: Portland Thorns FC acquires the No. 24 overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft from Chicago Red Stars in exchange for the No. 31 and No. 35 overall picks in the 2019 draft.
Below are the complete 2019 NWSL College Draft Results:
-- Round 1 --
Player Team
No. 1 Tierna Davidson (Stanford University) Chicago Red Stars
No. 2 Hailie Mace (UCLA) Sky Blue FC
No. 3 Jordan DiBiasi (Stanford University) *1 Washington Spirit
No. 4 Samantha Staab (Clemson University) Washington Spirit
No. 5 Leah Pruitt (University of Southern California) North Carolina Courage
No. 6 Julia Ashley (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) Sky Blue FC
No. 7 Tegan McGrady (Stanford University) Washington Spirit
No. 8 Dorian Bailey (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) Washington Spirit
No. 9 Hailey Harbison (Pepperdine University) North Carolina Courage
-- Round 2 --
Player Team
No. 10 Paige Monaghan (Butler Univeristy) Sky Blue FC
No. 11 Julie James (Baylor University) Sky Blue FC
No. 12 Ally Prisock (University of Southern California) Houston Dash
No. 13 CeCe Kizer (University of Mississippi) Houston Dash
No. 14 Lauren Milliet (Colorado College) North Carolina Courage
No. 15 Maria Sanchez (Santa Clara University) Chicago Red Stars
No. 16 Betsy Brandon (University of Virginia) Houston Dash
No. 17 Bayley Feist (Wake Forest University)*17 Washington Spirit
No. 18 Kayla McCoy (Duke University) Houston Dash
-- Round 3 --
Player Team
No. 19 Kyra Carusa (Georgetown University) Sky Blue FC
No. 20 Bianca St. Georges (West Virgina University) Chicago Red Stars
No. 21 Jazmin Jackmon (University of Oregon) Houston Dash
No. 22 Grace Cutler (West Virgina University) Houston Dash
No. 23 Michelle Maemone (Pepperdine University) Utah Royals FC
No. 24 Emily Ogle (Penn State Unversity)*3 Portland Thorns FC
No. 25 Erin Greening (University of Colorado Boulder) Orlando Pride
No. 26 Kayla Sharples (Northwestern University) Chicago Red Stars
No. 27 Madeline Nolf (Penn State University) Utah Royals FC
-- Round 4 --
Player Team
No. 28 Kaylan Marckese (University of Florida) Sky Blue FC
No. 29 Kenie Wright (Rutgers University) *1 Sky Blue FC
No. 30 Marisa Viggiano (Northwestern University) Orlando Pride
No. 31 April Bockin (University of Minnesota)*2,3 Chicago Red Stars
No. 32 Alex Kimball (University of North Carolina Chapel Hill) Utah Royals FC
No. 33 Hannah Davison (Northwestern University) Chicago Red Stars
No. 34 Sabrina Flores (University of Notre Dame) Sky Blue FC
No. 35 Jenna Szczesny (Loyola University Chicago)*3 Chicago Red Stars
No. 36 Kaycie Tillman (Florida State University) North Carolina Courage
National Women's Soccer League Stories from January 10, 2019
- Tierna Davidson Selected No. 1 Overall at the 2019 NWSL College Draft - NWSL
- Washington Spirit Makes Four 1st Round Selections, 5 Total Picks in NWSL College Draft - Washington Spirit
- Washington Spirit Announces Three Players Included in Trade with Sky Blue FC - Washington Spirit
- Sky Blue FC Bolsters Roster with Addition of Dydasco, Haracic and Johnson - Sky Blue FC
- Orlando Pride Select Midfield Pair in 2019 NWSL College Draft - Orlando Pride
- Houston Dash Select Six Players in 2019 NWSL College Draft - Houston Dash
- North Carolina Courage Adds Depth to NWSL Championship Winning Team with Four Selections in 2019 NWSL College Draft - North Carolina Courage
- Utah Royals FC Select Three Players in 2019 NWSL Draft - Utah Royals FC
- Thorns FC Select Midfielder Emily Ogle in 2019 NWSL College Draft - Portland Thorns FC
- Sky Blue FC Picks Eight Players in 2019 NWSL College Draft - Sky Blue FC
- Sky Blue FC Receives Three Players in Trade with Washington Spirit - Sky Blue FC
- Washington Spirit Acquires No. 3 Pick in 2019 NWSL College Draft - Washington Spirit
- NWSL Increases Player Compensation Caps and Roster Size for the 2019 Season - NWSL
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