Davidson goes No. 1 in NWSL draft, will skip her senior year

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.

“I’m very excited to start my club career in Chicago — it’s my kind of town,” Davidson said in a recorded message that was played at the draft in Chicago.

Davidson, 19, is currently training with the U.S. team in Portugal ahead of two European exhibition games. The defending World Cup champions play France on Jan. 19 and Spain on Jan. 22.

Sky Blue selected defender Hailie Mace out of UCLA with the second pick in the four-round draft. Stanford’s Jordan DiBiasi went with the third overall pick to the Washington Spirit. The Spirit also got the No. 4 pick, taking Clemson defender Sam Staab. USC forward Leah Pruitt went to the North Carolina Courage to round out the top five.

Davidson played mostly at center back in her 12 appearances last year with the national team, all starts, and she belied her age with her composure on the ball and technical savvy. She scored her first goal, a header off a corner kick, against Chile.

Las Vegas police seeking Ronaldo’s DNA

LAS VEGAS >> Cristiano Ronaldo is being asked by police to provide a DNA sample in an investigation of a Nevada woman’s allegation that he raped her in his Las Vegas hotel penthouse in 2009 and paid her to keep quiet, the soccer star’s lawyer and Las Vegas police said Thursday.

Attorney Peter S. Christiansen downplayed the development, denied the rape allegation and called evidence collection common in any investigation.

Police said in a statement that an official request has been submitted to Italian authorities for a DNA sample from the superstar player. Officer Laura Meltzer, a department spokeswoman, said the request involved a warrant.