NWSL Draft: Top prospects, latest deals and updated order

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Dec 17, 2021

The 2022 NWSL Draft for college players will take place virtually on Saturday.

The top three picks are expected to be Jaelin Howell, who won his second national championship with Florida State two weeks ago, Stanford defender Naomi Girma and UCLA's Mia Fishel, who declared for the draft after her junior season.

The expansion San Diego Wave and Angel City FC started out with the top two picks. Angel City FC traded the No. 2 pick to Racing Louisville to obtain the NWSL rights to Christen Press.

On Friday, it traded the No. 6 pick it obtained from the Houston Dash to Racing Louisville for Savannah McCaskill. Racing Louisville turned around and gave the North Carolina Courage the No. 6 pick for former national team forward Jessica McDonald.

San Diego (1-9), Racing Louisville (2-4), Courage (3-6) and Kansas City (7-12) all have two first-round picks. The draft will consist of four rounds and 50 selections. San Diego and Angel City FC were given extra picks at the end of the second round.

Round 1:
1. San Diego
2. Racing Louisville (via Angel City FC)
3. NC Courage (via Kansas City)
4. Racing Louisville
5. Orlando
6. NC Courage (via Houston, Angel City FC, Racing Louisville)
7. Kansas City (via NC Courage)
8. Gotham FC
9. San Diego (via Washington, via OL Reign)
10. OL Reign (via Portland)
11. Chicago
12. Kansas City (via Washington)
(Click here for current order for the four rounds.)

Angel City FC:
2022 Roster:
Goalkeepers: DiDi Haracic.
Defenders: Vanessa Gilles, Sarah Gorden, Paige Nielsen, MA Vignola.
Midfielders: Katie Cousins, Julie Ertz, Savannah McCaskill, Cari Roccaro, Dani Weatherholt.
Forwards: Simone Charley, Claire Emslie, Tyler Lussi, Christen Press, Jasmyne Spencer.

San Diego Wave:
2022 Roster:
Goalkeepers: Kailen Sheridan.
Defenders: Abby Dahlkemper, Tegan McGrady, Kristen McNabb, Kaleigh Riehl.
Midfielders:
Forwards: Makenzy Doniak, Katie Johnson, Alex Morgan, Jodie Taylor, Kelsey Turnbow.