The 2023 Washington Spirit roster will include six new players to the roster as they were able to find some bright stars in the 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally.
With the 26th overall pick the club acquired Arizona State forward Nicole Douglas. The 2022 Pac-12 Forward of the Year played five seasons with the Sun Devils. Douglas has been able to record 60 goals and 21 assists in 89 total appearances. During the 2021 season the forward was able to lead the country in scoring with 19 goals in 20 matches. The accolades do not stop there as Douglas was a First Team All-Pac-12 player in each of her final two seasons at Arizona State as well as a Second Team All-American in 2022 and Third Team All-American in 2021.
The Club made two trades before making the next selection. First, the team sent allocation money to the Orlando Pride in exchange for the 29th and 34th overall picks in the years draft. The Spirit then traded this year’s 29th overall pick and allocation money to Racking Louisville FC in exchange for the 28th overall pick.
With that 28th overall pick the club chose Gonzaga goalkeeper Lyza Gosselmann. The goalkeeper joins Nicole Barnhart and Aubrey Kingsbury in helping the team in keeping their opponents off the scoreboard. During her time in Gonzaga, Bosselman appeared in 62 matches and had a 0.87 goals against average (GAA). In addition Lyza has been able to make 192 saves in her collegiate career, as she has been able to stop almost 80 percent of the shots on target.
The hustle and bustle for the Washington Spirit did not stop as more trades abounded for the team. The first move the club made was to trade defender Emily Sonnett to the OL Reign for the 32 overall pick and the the team’s natural first round pick in 2024. Then the team sent the 32 overall pick and allocation money to the Houston Dash for the 30th overall pick.
The Spirit will be looking forward to welcoming 30th overall pick Riley Tanner to the squad, as Tanner had previously played in Alabama. The forward who played two seasons with the Crimson Tide and was able to score eight goals and 11 assists across 45 appearances.
In the third round the Spirit chose Long Beach State forward Lena Silano with the 34th overall pick. In four seasons of college soccer, Silano was able to score 27 goals and 10 assists across 62 matches. Silano has been able to earn First Team All-Big West honors in each of the final two seasons.
Later on in the fourth round, Colorado forward Civana Kuhlman was added to the roster with the 37th overall pick. Kulhman has won two national championships and three Pac-12 titles with Standofrd.
Another star for fans to watch for on the Spirit roster will be the team’s 40th overall pick in Duke midfielder Delaney Graham, who had played five seasons with the Blue Devils. Graham set school records for most career starts with 103 and most career minutes played with 8,767.
The Washington Spirit opens up the teams training camp with these new additions later this month as the start of the 2023 season is right around the corner.
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