Posted by

Melissa Tan,

April 14, 2014 Email

Melissa Tan

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Fifteen Canadians are rostered for the sophomore season of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), which begins this weekend. Here’s a breakdown on where CanWNT members will be playing.



BOSTON BREAKERS are the only team that selected a Canadian in the 2014 College Draft. • Making her professional debut is Nkem Ezurike, who was drafted eighth overall. She set University of Michigan records in goals (49) and points (118) and captained the team in her senior year. • Also starting her professional career is Chelsea Stewart. The Vanderbilt University (2009) and UCLA (2011-2013) midfielder was allocated to Boston in January. • Kaylyn Kyle was traded to Boston - after spending the inaugural season with the Seattle Reign - in exchange for Carmelina Moscato.



Leading the league with the most CanWNT players are the CHICAGO RED STARS. • Karina LeBlanc, last season’s winningest goalkeeper (11 wins) and third in shutouts (7), was traded from the Portland Thorns when they acquired German international and reigning FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Nadine Angerer. • It was crucial for the Red Stars to fill the goalkeeping void left by Erin McLeod when she was dealt to the Houston Dash. In exchange, the Red Stars strengthened their frontline with Melissa Tancredi. Tancredi is returning to professional soccer in June as she completes chiropractic school. • Adriana Leon and Rachel Quon are back with the Red Stars. Leon spent the first half of the 2013 season with the Boston Breakers before being traded. Lake Forest, Illinois native Quon, Chicago’s second round draft pick last year, finally received FIFA clearance to play for Canada, making her national team debut at the Cyprus Women’s Cup against Finland in March.



Expansion team HOUSTON DASH are hoping to see similar successes as the Portland Thorns, both of whom belong to MLS franchise owners (the Dynamo and Timbers, respectfully). • McLeod is serving as the captain in their first NWSL season. She’s the lone Canadian while Lauren Sesselmann is recovering from an ACL tear suffered during Cyprus Cup training. When national team allocation spots were announced in early January, Sesselmann was rumoured to be in negotiations with clubs overseas. Despite that, the Dash selected her from FC Kansas City in the Expansion Draft.



FC KANSAS CITY and WESTERN NEW YORK FLASH are the only teams without Canadian players. • FC Kansas City were initially allocated Sesselmann and Desiree Scott, returnees from last season. As speculated, Scott ended up signing with Notts County Ladies of the FA Women’s Super League (FAWSL) in England. The Notts County Ladies begin their season April 16 against Arsenal Ladies FC.



PORTLAND THORNS are looking to repeat in on-field performance and attendance records. • If a team only has one Canadian, it might as well be Christine Sinclair. While scoring 8 goals, Sinclair captained the Thorns to a third place finish in the 2013 regular season. They eventually stormed back to defeat Sky Blue FC and FC Kansas City in the playoffs before capturing the championship against the Western New York Flash. • The Thorns led the league with an average of 13,320 fans per game (also benefitted from a doubleheader with the Timbers) compared to the second highest overall average of 4,626 in Kansas.



SEATTLE REIGN are trying to live up to high expectations. • They were projected to be top contenders last season, yet finished second last in the standings. With the misfortunes of missing their US allocated players for a large portion of or the entire season and being victims of a few arguably phantom penalty kicks, the Reign are certainly hoping to get the most out of their allocations. However, Moscato, who’s on her third NWSL team, won't be playing this weekend due to a “right foot stress reaction”.



SKY BLUE FC: underdogs.

• Despite playing last season in front of an average of 1,666 fans, the New Jersey based team did just enough to secure the fourth and final playoff spot. • Sophie Schmidt was second in the team’s scoring with 7 goals (and shares a dubious honour with Sesselmann as Canadians who were red carded in the NWSL). • Jonelle Filigno of Rutgers University will soon be playing her first professional match, but is bringing along a wealth of national team experience: 6 years since she debuted for Canada at the age of 17.



WASHINGTON SPIRIT are battling their way out of the league basement. • After an abysmal 2013 with 3W-14L-5T, scoring the fewest goals (16) and allowing the most (39) in the league, the Spirit are looking to rewrite their history. Returning are Diana Matheson, the team’s top scorer (8 goals), and Robyn Gayle, both of whom interestingly enough lived in a local retirement community last season. Gayle is listed as “probable” for Sunday’s match due to a left quad strain.



Canadians having little influence for the WESTERN NEW YORK FLASH. • In the inaugural season, rookies Bryanna McCarthy (West Virginia University) and Jodi-Ann Robinson (University of West Florida) merely played 1 and 13 matches, respectfully, for the Flash. Neither received allocation spots for 2014. • This year, a Canadian international will not be playing for the Flash as Selenia Iacchelli is rehabbing a patellar tear. As reported by Steven Sandor, Iacchelli wasn’t able to “pass the mandated physical and NWSL opted not to sign her for the 2014 season”. However, the 27-year-old midfielder is seeking playing options in England upon her recovery. Fourteen out of 16 allocated Canadians (plus one draftee for a total of 15) will be in action this season. The two allocation spots vacated by Iacchelli and Scott are not being reassigned. In addition to McCarthy and Robinson, other Canadians who previously played in the NWSL but are not returning include Melanie Booth (retired), Candace Chapman (waived by the Washington Spirit), Rhian Wilkinson (personal decision; she was also appointed to the FIFA Strategic Committee) and Emily Zurrer (signed with Jitex BK in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan). Fans from around the world can catch NWSL action in HD as the league announced that all regular season games will be streamed live on YouTube for free and will be archived. Links are available on NWSLSoccer.com and through each team’s YouTube account.