The Dayton Dutch Lions FC club congratulates Rose Lavelle on being the #1 overal pick in Womens Professional soccer. She was a member of the Lions the past two summer seasons and we wish her continued success.
The 2017 NWSL College Draft kicked off today at 3 p.m. EST at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention in Los Angeles and the Boston Breakers selected Dayton Dutch Lions alumni, Rose Lavelle, as the #1 overall pick. She is joined with three other top ten Boston Breakers draft choices.
First Round
No. 1 – Boston Breakers: Rose Lavelle (Wisconsin)
No. 2 – North Carolina Courage: Ashley Hatch (BYU)
No. 3 – Boston Breakers: Morgan Andrews (USC)
No. 4 – Sky Blue FC: Kayla Mills (USC)
No. 5 – FC Kansas City: Christina Gibbons (Duke)
No. 6 – Seattle Reign FC: Maddie Bauer (Stanford)
No. 7 – North Carolina Courage: Darian Jenkins (UCLA)
No. 8 – Boston Breakers: Ifeoma Onumonu (California)
No. 9 – Boston Breakers: Margaret Purce (Harvard)
No. 10 – Sky Blue FC: Mandy Freeman (USC)
The pick comes as no surprise to most followers of the NWSL, as Lavelle was projected by many to be this years top draft pick. She is a true attacking midfielder as her balls skills and speed have led her to success at every level of her career.
In her four-year career at Wisconsin, Lavelle played in 84 matches for the Badgers, scoring 22 goals and tallying 29 assists. She was also named the Big Ten Midfielder of the Year in both 2015 and 2016, the first player to receive consecutive honors, and was a three time All-American.
After her selection, she shared with the media.
"I want to thank my teammates at Wisconsin and my coaches there," she said. "They have really pushed me and challenged me to be the best person I can be day in and day out. Second, my family, friends and everybody back in Cincinnati, my club, my high school. They've all supported me endlessly throughout my soccer career. It's really nice to know you can go out and follow your dreams and know that you can back home and have a support system that's going to be proud of you regardless of what happens."
Lions Coach Ian Richardson stated, "Delighted to see Rose drafted as the #1 pick. She's only going to go on to bigger and better things from here."