PHILADELPHIA, PA – (January 15, 2010)— Washington Freedom selected University of Colorado defender Nikki Marshall in the first round of the 2010 Women’s Professional Soccer draft. Washington Freedom picked seventh overall. The draft began this morning at 10:00 a.m. with Atlanta Beat selecting New Jersey native, Tobin Heath for the overall first pick. 
  
Marshall is a member of the United States U-23 Women’s National Team and was also a member of the United States U-20 Women’s National Team while in her sophomore and junior year at University of Colorado. Nikki was one of two players who played every minute of every game in the 2008 U-20 World Cup in Chile. 
  
Marshall’s coach from Colorado, Bill Hempen, is confident Marshall will transition seamlessly to the professional level. “Nikki has incredible work ethic and respect for the team. She’ll take every bit of coaching Jim has to offer and put it immediately into action.” 
  
Marshall first made an impression on head coach Jim Gabarra with her performance on the US U-20 Women’s National Team. “We believe she will bring a very good defensive presence and will fit in very well with the rest of the Freedom team.” 
  
Gabarra says the final deciding factor for the first round pick was her personality. 
  
Hempen agrees, “Washington Freedom has a great player – a great person to represent that franchise.”

 

2010 WPS Draft

FIRST ROUND
1. Atlanta Beat – Tobin Heath, M, UNC
2. Boston Breakers # - Lauren Cheney, F, UCLA
3. FC Gold Pride – Kelley O’Hara, F, Stanford
4. Chicago Red Stars – Whitney Engen, D, North Carolina
5. Los Angeles Sol # - Nikki Washington, F, North Carolina
6. Sky Blue FC – Brittany Taylor, D, Connecticut
7. Washington Freedom – Nikki Marshall, D/M/F, Colorado
8. Los Angeles Sol # - Casey Nogueira, F, North Carolina
9. Los Angeles Sol – Kiersten Dallstream, F, Washington St.
10. FC Gold Pride # - Ali Riley, D, Stanford
11. Boston Breakers # - Alyssa Naeher, GK, Penn State
 
SECOND ROUND
12. FC Gold Pride # - Becky Edwards, D/M, Florida State
13. Philadelphia Independence – Malorie Rutledge, M, LSU
14. Los Angeles Sol # - Michelle Enyeart, F, Portland
15. Chicago Red Stars – Jessica McDonald, F, North Carolina
16. Boston Breakers – Jordan Angeli, D, Santa Clara
17. Saint Louis Athletica # - Kristina Larsen, F, UCLA
18. Washington Freedom – Carly Dobratz, M, Washington State
19. Saint Louis Athletica – Ashlyn Harris, GK, North Carolina
20. FC Gold Pride # - Kaley Fountain, F, Wake Forest
 
THIRD ROUND
21. Atlanta Beat – Blakely Mattern, D, South Carolina
22. Los Angeles Sol # - Kiki Bosio, F, Santa Clara
23. Atlanta Beat # - Shameka Gordon, D/M, West Florida
24. Chicago Red Stars – Kelsey Davis, GK, Portland
25. Los Angeles Sol – Estelle Johnson,  D, Kansas
26. Sky Blue FC – Katie Schoepfer, F, Penn State
27. Washington Freedom – Beverly Goebel, M, Miami
28. Saint Louis Athletica – Amanda Poach, M, Santa Clara
29. Sky Blue FC # - Melissa Clarke, M, LSU

FOURTH ROUND
30. Atlanta Beat – Jill Hutchinson, F, Wake Forest
31. Philadelphia Independence – Kelly Henderson, D/M, Boston College
32. FC Gold Pride – Erin Guthrie, GK, Rutgers
33. Chicago Red Stars – Michele Weissenhofer, F, Notre Dame
34. Boston Breakers – Katherine Reynolds, D, Santa Clara
35. Sky Blue FC – Danielle Johnson, D, Ole Miss
36. Washington Freedom – Kristi Eveland, D, UNC
37. Saint Louis Athletica – Veronica Perez, M/F, Washington
38. Los Angeles Sol – Mary Casey, GK, Maryland

ROUND FIVE
39. Atlanta Beat – Mallori Lofton-Malachi, GK, South Florida (traded to Philadelphia)
40. Philadelphia Independence – Carrie Patterson, F, Georgia (traded to Atlanta)
41. FC Gold Pride – Ashley Bowyer, M/D, Ohio State
42. Chicago Red Stars – Sophie Reiser, M/F, Columbia
43. Boston Breakers – Cynthia Morote-Ariza, F, Loyola-Chicago
44. Sky Blue FC – Meagan Snell, F, Santa Clara
45. Washington Freedom – Lauren Robertson, GK, Ohio State
46. Saint Louis Athletica – Carolyn Blank, M/D, WVU
47. Los Angeles Sol - Lindsay Browne, M/F, Clemson

ROUND SIX
48. Atlanta Beat – Kasey Langdon, F, Oklahoma St.
49. Philadelphia Independence – Jennifer Anzivino, D/M, Rutgers (to Sky Blue FC)
50. FC Gold Pride – Eilzabeth Harkin, D, Arizona State
51. Chicago Red Stars – Fiona O’Sullivan, M/F, San Francisco
52. Boston Breakers – Carly Peetz, D, Nebraska
53. Sky Blue FC – Kelly Isleib, M, Utah
54. Washington Freedom – Mara Osher, D/M, Boston University
55. Saint Louis Athletica – Sarah Teegarden, M, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
56. Boston Breakers – Gina DiMartino, M/F, Boston College (pick traded from Los Angeles Sol)

ROUND SEVEN
57. Atlanta Beat – Shaneka Gordon, F, West Florida
58. Philadelphia Independence – Caitlin Farrell, D, Wake Forest
59. FC Gold Pride – Lauren Wilmoth, D, UCLA
60. Chicago Red Stars – Jackie Santacaterina, M, Illinois
61. Boston Breakers – Casey Brown, D, Boston University
62. Philadelphia Independence – Danielle Collins, D/M, William & Mary
63. Washington Freedom – Caitline Miskel, M/F, Virginia
64. Saint Louis Athletica – Elizabeth Redmond, M, Duke
65. Boston Breakers – Taryn Hemmings, F, Denver

#via trade

SELECTIONS BY COLLEGE
North Carolina             7
Santa Clara                  5
UCLA                         3
Wake Forest                3
Boston College             2
Boston University         2
LSU                            2
Ohio State                    2
Penn State                    2
Portland                        2
Rutgers                         2
Stanford                        2
Washington State           2
West Florida                  2
Arizona     State            1
Clemson                       1
Colorado                       1
Columbia                      1
Connecticut                  1
Denver                         1
Duke    `                       1
Florida State                 1
Georgia                        1
Illinois                          1
Kansas                        1
Loyola-Chicago            1
Maryland                     1
Nebraska                     1
Notre Dame                1
Oklahoma State            1
Ole Miss                      1
South Carolina              1
South Florida                 1
University of Miami       1
University of San Francisco    1
Utah                            1
Virginia                        1
Washington                  1
West Virginia               1
William & Mary           1
Wisconsin-Milwaukee   1