Seattle Reign FC acquired four players in today’s NWSL Dispersal Draft, as well as the NWSL rights to an additional player.
“We are very happy with the outcome of the draft, despite the unfortunate circumstances under which it occurred,” said Seattle Reign FC head coach Vlatko Andonovski. “Matt Beard and Lee Billiard should be commended for assembling a terrific group of players — it seems only right to acknowledge their efforts.”
Seattle was originally awarded the 3rd, 16th and 21st selections through a weighted draw that determined the selection order of the Dispersal Draft. Earlier today, Seattle traded its natural 1st round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft to the Orlando Pride for the 8th and 11th picks in the Dispersal Draft. Altogether, Seattle made selections in the 3rd, 8th, 11th, 16th and 21st positions.
With the 3rd overall pick in the Dispersal Draft, Seattle selected defender Megan Oyster. A NCAA College Cup winner with UCLA, Oyster was selected by the Washington Spirit with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Oyster played two seasons with the Spirit before being traded to Boston prior to the 2017 season. Oyster started in 23 matches for Boston last season. Oyster has two caps for the U.S. Women’s National Team, with the first coming in a friendly against Russia in 2017.
With the 8th overall selection, Seattle nabbed Ghanaian international midfielder Elizabeth Addo. For the last two seasons Addo played in the Swedish Damallsvenskan League for Kvarnsvedens IK. In 2017, Addo started in 19 matches, contributing 5 goals.
With the 11th pick Seattle chose midfielder Morgan Andrews. Andrews, a 2017 graduate of USC, was the 3rd overall pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft. Andrews played in 18 matches for Boston last season, starting 10. Andrews has also featured for the U.S. Youth National Teams at the U15, U17 and U20 levels.
With the 16th pick, Reign FC selected defender Christen Westphal. Boston selected the Florida graduate with the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 NWSL College Draft. Westphal started 13 matches for Boston in 2017, totaling 1129 minutes.
And with its last selection — the 21st overall- Seattle selected the NWSL rights to former Reign FC midfielder Lindsay Elston. Elston was traded to Boston just prior to the trade deadline in 2017 for Boston’s 2nd Round Pick in the 2018 College Draft. The pick was later sent to the Houston Dash in return for Australian international goalkeeper Lydia Williams.
“The demands of the 24-match season, coupled with our expectation that several key players may miss long stretches of the season on international duty, shaped our decision to expand our roster beyond 20 this season and our choice to trade with Orlando for their picks,” said Andonovski. “The four selections in the draft help us this season by adding significant depth to the squad and have the added benefit of helping us manage the potential impact of an expansion draft before the 2019 season. We went in believing we could get four strong players in the draft and walked away thrilled with the results. We are excited for camp to begin in a few weeks.”
