BY ALY KOHANOWSKI | Ball State Sports Link

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) hosted its annual draft Jan. 12 at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) in Los Angeles, Calif.

In order to be eligible for the draft, players must have completed their senior collegiate season, or have run out of NCAA eligibility. All players who are interested in entering the draft must register themselves to do so.

There are 10 professional teams in the NWSL including the Portland Thorns FC, Washington Spirit, Chicago Red Stars, Western NY Flash, Seattle Reign FC, FC Kansas City, Sky Blue FC, Houston Dash, Orlando Pride and the Boston Breakers. There are four rounds of the draft, each including 10 picks.

College players from all across the nation anxiously await for hours on end hoping that their name is one of the 40 which will be called. The draft’s order is based upon the final rankings in the previous season. Players who are not drafted can still be picked up by any NWSL team come the end of their respected season.

The first pick of the 2017 draft was made by the Boston Breakers who chose the Wisconsin Badger, Rose Lavelle.

The Cincinnati, Ohio native is a three-time All-American, a back-to-back Big Ten midfielder of the year and four-time first-team All-Big Ten selection. Lavelle played a huge role in the Badger’s success throughout her four years competing at the University.

It didn’t take long for Lavelle’s talent on the Big Ten collegiate platform to catch the eye of the United States National Team coaching staff. She earned herself a spot playing a midfielder for the U-18, U-20 and full United States Women’s National Team.

The Breakers also added USC midfielder Morgan Andrews (No. 3 overall), Cal forward Ifeoma Onumonu (No. 8 overall) and Harvard forward Margaret Purce (No. 9 overall) in the opening round of the draft.

Among Lavelle and the other 184 eligible draft picks stood four Ball State Cardinals including defenders Leah Mattingly and Lorina White as well as midfield players Gabby Veldman and Chay McNitt.

These seniors played key roles in helping the Ball State Soccer team win back-to-back MAC Championships for only the second time in school history. The Cardinals went 14-3-3 overall in 2016 and won the MAC regular season championship for the second year in a row with a 9-1-1 league mark.

This year’s senior class, which includes the four players entered in the draft, won a combined 50 games over four years in Muncie. That’s the second-most wins of any class in program history.

Although no Cardinals were picked in the top 40 of the NWSL draft, the Ball State players still have aspirations to play professionally either in the states or overseas.

In order to be prepared for their future professional soccer careers, all four seniors will return playing alongside the Ball State Women’s soccer team this spring. The 2017 spring schedule will be realeased in the upcoming weeks.

2017 NWSL College Draft Rd. 1