A pair of Penn State senior midfielders were drafted by the new National Women’s Soccer League on Friday.
Christine Nairn was taken by the Seattle Rein while Maddy Evans was chosen by the Boston Breakers in a new league that begins play this year. The NWSL was organized by U.S. Soccer and is subsidized by the U.S. national team and the Canadian Soccer Association.
Nairn was picked seventh overall in the first round of the eight-team, four-round draft. Evans was taken 29th overall with the fifth pick of the fourth round.
Nairn was excited about her first step into a life of professional soccer.
“My voice is quivering I’m sure you can tell,” she told USA Socccer. “I’ve grown up with soccer, with my two brothers and everybody kind of laughing at me at ‘I want to be a professional women’s soccer player’ at that time it wasn’t really in the works. A lot of the girls in the draft, we always said we wanted to be a part of a professional women’s soccer league and today’s the day that our dreams come true. I can’t be more thrilled to represent where I come from, the east coast, Maryland, Penn State, they’ve given me this opportunity to become my dream, which is to be a professional athlete.”
Also on rosters in an allocation draft held last Friday, Penn State has a few other representatives. U.S. soccer veteran Ali Krieger is a member of the Washington Spirit, while Canadian stars Erin McLeod and Carmelina Moscato will be with the Chicago Red Stars.
Seven teams received three members of the U.S. team, with the other club receiving two, and members of the Canadian and Mexican teams also were allocated.
