Canadian defender taken by Chicago

CHICAGO— Defender Tierna Davidson, who decided to skip her senior season at Stanford to play professionally in the National Women’s Soccer League, went to the Chicago Red Stars with the No. 1 pick in the league’s draft Thursday.

Davidson, named U.S. Soccer’s Young Player of the Year for her play last season, is also a hopeful for the team that will represent the United States at this year’s World Cup in France.

Davidson, 19, is currently training with the U.S. team in Portugal.

West Virginia defender Bianca St-Georges was the lone Canadian taken in the four-round draft. She went in the third round (20th overall) to the Chicago Red Stars.

A native of St. Felix de Valois, Que., St- Georges has represented Canada at the under-17 and under-20 levels. The 21-year-old, named the Big 12 defensive player of the year in 2018, helped the Mountaineers post 12 shutouts this season.

Sky Blue selected Hailie Mace out of UCLA with the second pick of the draft while Stanford’s Jordan DiBiasi went third to Washington.

Davidson played mostly at centre back in her 12 appearances last year with the U.S. national team, all starts.

Davidson’s junior season with Stanford was cut short when she fractured her ankle in a game against North Carolina in September.