WAVE ADD FOUR FROM EXPANSION DRAFT

The National Women’s Soccer League held its expansion draft Thursday afternoon and San Diego Wave FC had five picks. They passed on two of them, traded one of the three players they did select and still came away with four newcomers.

Yes, it was a bit confusing. But the end result was these four players are now part of the San Diego club:

Kristen McNabb, a 27-yearold defender and midfielder picked from OL Reign of Seattle, where she played starting in 2017.

Kaleigh Riehl, a 25-year-old defender picked from Racing Louisville after one season there.

Amirah Ali, a forward who just finished her senior season at Rutgers, where she helped the Scarlet Knights to the national semifinals. She was acquired in a trade with Portland (which drafted her last year) along with ...

Christen Westphal, a 28year-old defender who has been in the league since 2016.

“As we continue to build out our roster, the acquisition of these players from both the expansion draft and via subsequent trades are critical to our team’s success in year one. These selections follow our plan to build an organized defense that will aid in our attacking game,” said Wave FC head coach Casey Stoney.

With its first pick, the Wave drafted Kristi Mewis, a midfielder from the Houston Dash, but she was traded to Gotham FC.

The Wave also made several deals before the draft to acquire nine players including forwards Alex Morgan and Jodie Taylor from Orlando. Defender Abby Dahlkemper, Morgan’s U.S. Women’s National Team teammate, was acquired from North Carolina.

Four additional trades came in exchange for full protection from the expansion draft. Those deals brought defender Tegan McGrady from Washington, forwards Makenzy Doniak, Katie Johnson and Kelsey Turnbow from Chicago, midfielder Angharad James from North Carolina and goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan from Gotham FC.