2017 Season Update: NWSL Announces The U.S. WNT Allocated Players
Who made which team? Find out! The 2017 NWSL 24-game season starts April 15th and fans can cheer for their favorite players and teams at the games or tune into Lifetime TV! Great women’s soccer is about to take off!
NWSL Soccer News: The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) unveiled this morning the official list of U.S. Women’s National Team allocated players for the 2017 season.
There will be a total of 22 federation players hitting the field in the upcoming NWSL season.
In a nutshell: Portland Thorns FC has the most at five, Chicago Red Stars got four, and the Washington Spirit received none — with no allocated players the 2017 season. Ali Krieger and Alex Morgan get to return to Orlando Pride.
Here is the scoop on the U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team players from the NWSL press release:
In addition to returning federation players, there are four newly allocated U.S. Women’s National Team players that will be among the ten clubs, including Rose Lavelle (Boston Breakers), Allie Long (Portland Thorns FC), Casey Short (Chicago Red Stars) and Lynn Williams (North Carolina Courage).
The following is a club-by-club list of U.S. federation players for the 2017 NWSL season:
Boston Breakers: Rose Lavelle*
Chicago Red Stars: Julie (Johnston) Ertz, Alyssa Naeher, Christen Press and Casey Short*
Houston Dash: Morgan Brian and Carli Lloyd
FC Kansas City: Sydney Leroux, Amy Rodriguez and Becky Sauerbrunn
North Carolina Courage: Samantha Mewis and Lynn Williams*
Orlando Pride: Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger and Alex Morgan
Portland Thorns FC: Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, Meghan Klingenberg, Allie Long* and Emily Sonnett
Seattle Reign FC: Megan Rapinoe
Sky Blue FC: Kelley O’Hara
Washington Spirit: None
Here is the background from Orlando Pride:\
Harris, 31, will be allocated for her second straight season with the Pride after becoming the 2016 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year last year. Harris posted a 1.33 goals-against average, 62 total saves and led the league with nine Save of the Week wins.
Krieger, 32, joined the Pride in a blockbuster offseason trade with the Washington Spirit, and is gearing up to compete in her first season on Orlando’s back line. Last year, Krieger led Washington to the 2016 NWSL Championship match – the team’s third straight postseason appearance.
Morgan, 27, is currently competing with French club Olympique Lyonnais and will rejoin the Pride following the conclusion of Lyon’s season. In 2016, Morgan finished second in scoring, with four goals on the year, and one assist. The Pride will retain Morgan’s NWSL rights while she competes in France.
In January, all three players were awarded CONCACAF end of the year awards, with Morgan winning Female Player of the Year; Harris winning Female Goalkeeper of the Year; and Krieger named to the Best XI squad.
Key
* = New federation player in 2017
