In more ways than one, the 2019 NWSL Draft can be considered a Chicago draft. Held in Chicago, the Red Star’s would end the day drafting four players currently on the first team.
Beginning with the first overall pick of the 2019 Draft, acquiring the pick from then-Utah Royals FC in a trade, the Chicago Red Stars selected Tierna Davidson out of Stanford. Davidson left the Cardinal program as a 2017 NCAA champion, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, and the College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player. She would start all 14 of her appearances for the Red Stars in her rookie season while also appearing in three games during 2020 (one Challenge Cup game, two Fall Series games). Davidson boasts 26 senior caps for the USWNT and was the youngest member of the 2019 World Cup-winning team at age 20.
With the second pick of the third round (20th overall), the Red Stars would select Bianca St. Georges out of West Virginia. After missing the 2019 season due to a knee injury, St. Georges would break onto the NWSL scene during the 2020 Challenge Cup where she’d start in all five games she appeared in while also tallying a goal and assist in Chicago’s 3-2 victory over Sky Blue FC in the semifinal round. St. Georges also played in all four Fall Series games, starting in three of them.
Six picks later, the Red Stars went local as they selected Kayla Sharples out of Northwestern with the 26th overall pick. Sharples appeared in two games during her rookie season and would later play in three of Chicago’s Challenge Cup games, starting in two of them including the Challenge Cup Final. The Red Stars would later select Sharples’ college teammate, Hannah Davison, with the 33rd overall pick. Hannah appeared in three total games in 2020, starting in two of them.
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