2015 NWSL Expansion Draft

The 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft was a special draft held on November 2, 2015 by the National Women's Soccer League to allow expansion side Orlando Pride to select players from existing teams in the league.^[1] The Pride were allowed to select up to ten players total from the existing nine NWSL teams from a list of unprotected players previously provided by the clubs.^[2]

Format

• 2015 playoff teams (Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Seattle Reign FC and Washington Spirit) were allowed to protect up to 9 players, and 2015 non-playoff teams (Boston Breakers, Houston Dash, Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC and Western New York Flash) up to 10.
• Clubs with more than two U.S. allocated players could protect up to two of them; the remaining allocated players would be left unprotected.
• The Pride were allowed to pick up to two players from any existing team, or just one if they selected a US allocated player.
• The Pride were allowed to pick no more than two US allocated players total.
• When an existing club loses a player, they may protect one of their remaining unprotected players.
• Eligible players included those left unprotected by their club encompassing:
  • Any current NWSL players including U.S., Mexican and Canadian allocated players
  • Any unsigned player who was previously claimed via waivers
  • Any player that has been loaned to a club outside the NWSL
  • Any player whose rights are held by a specific team
• Players on a team’s Discovery List were not eligible to be selected by the Pride.

Expansion draft results

The following players were selected by the Orlando Pride during the Expansion Draft on Monday, November 2, 2015.^[3]

#	Team	Player	Previous Team	Next Protected
1	Orlando Pride	Meghan Klingenberg^1	Seattle Reign FC	Team Protected
2	Orlando Pride	Ashlyn Harris	Washington Spirit	Team Protected
3	Orlando Pride	Taryn Hemmings	Chicago Red Stars	Michele Dalton
4	Orlando Pride	Jasmyne Spencer	Western New York Flash	Elizabeth Eddy
5	Orlando Pride	Jamia Fields	Western New York Flash	Team Protected
6	Orlando Pride	Cami Levin	Sky Blue FC	Maya Hayes
7	Orlando Pride	Lianne Sanderson	Portland Thorns FC	Meleana Shim
8	Orlando Pride	Toni Pressley	Houston Dash	Tiffany McCarty
9	Orlando Pride	Maddy Evans	Boston Breakers	Stephanie Verdoia
10	Orlando Pride	Aubrey Bledsoe	Sky Blue FC	End of Draft

¹On October 26, 2015, it was announced that the expansion Orlando Pride had trade the #1 pick in the 2015 NWSL Expansion Draft as well as the #1 pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft and an international roster spot for the 2016 and 2017 seasons to the Portland Thorns FC in exchange for USA star forward Alex Morgan and Canadian midfielder Kaylyn Kyle.^[4]

Team-by-team breakdown

• Bold indicates a player was selected in the expansion draft
• Blue highlights indicate US allocated players
• ^Indicates a player that was protected after a teammate had been drafted

Boston Breakers Protected Unprotected Sinead Farrelly Andressa Alves da Silva Kassey Kallman Amy Barczuk Julie King Maddy Evans Stephanie McCaffrey Nkem Ezurike Kristie Mewis Jami Kranich Alyssa Naeher Lauren Lazo Mollie Pathman Francielle Katie Schoepfer Morgan Marlborough Kyah Simon Bianca Sierra McCall Zerboni Stephanie Verdoia^   Rachel Wood

Chicago Red Stars Protected Unprotected Danielle Colaprico Brittany Bock Vanessa DiBernardo Hayley Brock Arin Gilliland Zakiya Bywaters Jen Hoy Lori Chalupny Sofia Huerta Michele Dalton^ Samantha Johnson Abby Erceg Julie Johnston Taryn Hemmings Alyssa Mautz Adriana Leon Christen Press Michelle Lomnicki   Mary Luba   Kecia Morway   Rachel Quon   Melissa Tancredi   Cara Walls

Houston Dash Protected Unprotected Morgan Brian Rachael Axon Amber Brooks Poliana Barbosa Ellie Brush Rosana dos Santos Augusto Allysha Chapman Jen LaPonte Bianca Henninger Camila Martins Pereira Carli Lloyd Tiffany McCarty^ Andressa Cavalari Machry Erin McLeod Jessica McDonald Toni Pressley Stephanie Ochs Lauren Sesselmann Kealia Ohai

FC Kansas City Protected Unprotected Yael Averbuch Liz Bogus Nicole Barnhart Leigh Ann Brown Shea Groom Jen Buczkowski Mandy Laddish Kaysie Clark Rebecca Moros Katrina Gorry Amy Rodriguez Caroline Kastor Katelyn Rowland Sara Keane Becky Sauerbrunn Amy LePeilbet Erika Tymrak Meghan Lisenby   Heather O'Reilly   Nikki Phillips   Jenna Richmond   Frances Silva

Portland Thorns FC Protected Unprotected Michelle Betos Alyssa Kleiner Dagny Brynjarsdottir Clare Polkinghorne Stephanie Catley Lianne Sanderson Tobin Heath Meleana Shim^ Kendall Johnson Rhian Wilkinson Allie Long   Emily Menges   Christine Sinclair   Jodie Taylor   Kat Williamson

Seattle Reign FC Protected Unprotected Lauren Barnes Michelle Cruz Rachel Corsie Kiersten Dallstream Jess Fishlock Danielle Foxhoven Kendall Fletcher Meghan Klingenberg Kim Little Haley Kopmeyer Megan Rapinoe Merritt Mathias Hope Solo Elli Reed Keelin Winters Havana Solaun Beverly Yanez Caroline Stanley   Katrine Veje   Abby Wambach

Sky Blue FC Protected Unprotected Brittany Cameron Aubrey Bledsoe Caitlin Foord Kim DeCesare Katy Freels Jonelle Filigno Kristin Grubka Courtney Goodson Samantha Kerr Shawna Gordon Sarah Killion Hayley Haagsma Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall Maya Hayes^ Nadia Nadim Cami Levin Kelley O'Hara Taylor Lytle Christie Rampone Monica Ocampo   Nikki Stanton

Washington Spirit Protected Unprotected Estefania Banini Josephine Chukwunonye Crystal Dunn Whitney Church Victoria Huster Amanda DaCosta Estelle Johnson Laura del Rio Diana Matheson Caprice Dydasco Christine Nairn Natasha Harding Francisca Ordega Ashlyn Harris Megan Oyster Ali Krieger Katherine Reynolds Joanna Lohman   Ngozi Okobi   Veronica Perez   Hayley Raso   Arianna Romero   Angela Salem   Tiffany Weimer   Kelsey Wys

Western New York Flash Protected Unprotected Lady Andrade Tatiana Coleman Halimatu Ayinde Sabrina D'Angelo Abby Dahlkemper Elizabeth Eddy^ Becky Edwards Kristen Edmonds Whitney Engen Jamia Fields Jaelene Hinkle Amanda Frisbie Sydney Leroux Kristen Hamilton Samantha Mewis Michelle Heyman Brittany Taylor Chantel Jones Lynn Williams Ashley Nick   Haley Palmer   Jasmyne Spencer   India Trotter

See also

• List of NWSL drafts
• 2016 National Women's Soccer League season

References

1. "NWSL ANNOUNCES EXPANSION DRAFT PROCEDURES". National Women's Soccer League. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
2. "NWSL ANNOUNCES PROTECTED AND UNPROTECTED PLAYERS". National Women's Soccer League. October 26, 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
3. Tenorio, Paul (2 November 2015). "Orlando Pride continues building roster through NWSL expansion draft". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
4. "Orlando Pride Acquires Alex Morgan, Kaylyn Kyle and Sarah Hagen". Orlando Pride. October 26, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.

External links

• Official draft procedures release
• League list of protected and unprotected players