Sports Then and Now

UNC star Tobin Heath: The first pick in the WPS draft

As many had expected but the Atlanta Beat had yet to confirm until Draft Day, North Carolina’s Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, NJ) was the first player selected in the 2010 WPS Draft on Friday by Atlanta at the Philadelphia Convention Center.

Heath was the first of four North Carolina Tarheels selected during the first round including defender Whitney Engen at No. 4 (Sky Blue FC/Rolling Hills Estates, CA), forward Nikki Washington at No. 5 (Los Angeles Sol/Mesquite, TX), and forward Casey Nogueira at No. 8 (Los Angeles Sol/Raleigh, NC).

The first round included 11 selections for the nine WPS teams with expansion teams Philadelphia Independence and Atlanta Beat both receiving additional picks at the end of the first round, which they traded away prior to the draft.

The first overall four picks went largely how the experts had predicted with Heath going first, the Boston Breakers then selecting attacking forward and 2008 Olympics gold medalist Lauren Cheney (UCLA/Indianapolis, IN), and 2009 MAC Hermann Trophy winner Kelley O’Hara (Fayetteville, GA) of Stanford going to FC Gold Pride with the third pick.

Engen, the consensus top defender in the draft, went fourth, while Alyssa Naeher (Penn State/Seymour, CT) was the first goalkeeper selected at No. 11 by the Boston Breakers.

The draft festivities included a Commissioner’s Welcome from WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci and appearances from NSCAA President Randy Waldrum, NSCAA Executive Director Joe Cummings, as well as Los Angeles Sol goalkeeper and WPS All-Star Karina LeBlanc.

Draft day began with a panel of coaches discussing the growth of global professional women’s game including former

Heath while playing for Women's National Team

North Carolina and current Boston Breakers Head Coach Toni DiCicco.
2010 WPS Draft
FIRST ROUND
1. Atlanta Beat – Tobin Heath, M, UNC
2. Boston Breakers # – Lauren Cheney, F, UCLA
3. FC Gold Pride – Kelley O’Hara, F, Stanford
4. Chicago Red Stars – Whitney Engen, D, North Carolina
5. Los Angeles Sol # – Nikki Washington, F, North Carolina
6. Sky Blue FC – Brittany Taylor, D, Connecticut
7. Washington Freedom – Nikki Marshall, D/M/F, Colorado
8. Los Angeles Sol # – Casey Nogueira, F, North Carolina
9. Los Angeles Sol – Kiersten Dallstream, F, Washington St.
10. FC Gold Pride # – Ali Riley, D, Stanford
11. Boston Breakers # – Alyssa Naeher, GK, Penn State

SECOND ROUND
12. FC Gold Pride # – Becky Edwards, D/M, Florida State
13. Philadelphia Independence – Malorie Rutledge, M, LSU
14. Los Angeles Sol # – Michelle Enyeart, F, Portland
15. Chicago Red Stars – Jessica McDonald, F, North Carolina
16. Boston Breakers – Jordan Angeli, D, Santa Clara
17. Saint Louis Athletica # – Kristina Larsen, F, UCLA
18. Washington Freedom – Carly Dobratz, M, Washington State
19. Saint Louis Athletica – Ashlyn Harris, GK, North Carolina
20. FC Gold Pride # – Kaley Fountain, F, Wake Forest

THIRD ROUND
21. Atlanta Beat – Blakely Mattern, D, South Carolina
22. Los Angeles Sol # – Kiki Bosio, F, Santa Clara
23. Atlanta Beat # – Shameka Gordon, D/M, West Florida
24. Chicago Red Stars – Kelsey Davis, GK, Portland
25. Los Angeles Sol – Estelle Johnson,  D, Kansas
26. Sky Blue FC – Katie Schoepfer, F, Penn State
27. Washington Freedom – Beverly Goebel, M, Miami
28. Saint Louis Athletica – Amanda Poach, M, Santa Clara
29. Sky Blue FC # – Melissa Clarke, M, LSU

FOURTH ROUND
30. Atlanta Beat – Jill Hutchinson, F, Wake Forest
31. Philadelphia Independence – Kelly Henderson, D/M, Boston College
32. FC Gold Pride – Erin Guthrie, GK, Rutgers
33. Chicago Red Stars – Michele Weissenhofer, F, Notre Dame
34. Boston Breakers – Katherine Reynolds, D, Santa Clara
35. Sky Blue FC – Danielle Johnson, D, Ole Miss
36. Washington Freedom – Kristi Eveland, D, UNC
37. Saint Louis Athletica – Veronica Perez, M/F, Washington
38. Los Angeles Sol – Mary Casey, GK, Maryland

FIFTH ROUND
39. Atlanta Beat – Mallori Lofton-Malachi, GK, South Florida
40. Philadelphia Independence – Carrie Patterson, F, Georgia
41. FC Gold Pride – Ashley Bowyer, M/D, Ohio State
42. Chicago Red Stars – Sophie Reiser, M/F, Columbia
43. Boston Breakers – Cynthia Morote-Ariza, F, Loyola-Chicago
44. Sky Blue FC – Meagan Snell, F, Santa Clara
45. Washington Freedom – Lauren Robertson, GK, Ohio State
46. Saint Louis Athletica – Carolyn Blank, M/D, WVU
47. Los Angeles Sol  – Lindsay Browne, M/F, Clemson

ROUND SIX
48. Atlanta Beat – Kasey Langdon, F, Oklahoma St.
49. Philadelphia Independence – Jennifer Anzivino, D/M, Rutgers (to Sky Blue FC)
50. FC Gold Pride – Eilzabeth Harkin, D, Arizona State
51. Chicago Red Stars – Fiona O’Sullivan, M/F, San Francisco
52. Boston Breakers – Carly Peetz, D, Nebraska
53. Sky Blue FC – Kelly Isleib, M, Utah
54. Washington Freedom – Mara Osher, D/M, Boston University
55. Saint Louis Athletica – Sarah Teegarden, M, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
56. Boston Breakers – Gina DiMartino, M/F, Boston College (pick traded from Los Angeles Sol)

ROUND SEVEN
57. Atlanta Beat – Shaneka Gordon, F, West Florida
58. Philadelphia Independence – Caitlin Farrell, D, Wake Forest
59. FC Gold Pride – Lauren Wilmoth, D, UCLA
60. Chicago Red Stars – Jackie Santacaterina, M, Illinois
61. Boston Breakers – Casey Brown, D, Boston University
62. Philadelphia Independence – Danielle Collins, D/M, William & Mary
63. Washington Freedom – Caitline Miskel, M/F, Virginia
64. Saint Louis Athletica – Elizabeth Redmond, M, Duke
65. Boston Breakers – Taryn Hemmings, F, Denver

#via trade

The previous story excerpted from a  press release by the WPS.