Meggie Dougherty Howard was picked by the Washington Spirit in today's NWSL Draft held in Los Angeles.
Two Gators Taken in NWSL Draft
Thursday, January 12, 2017 | Soccer
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Two recent Gator graduates – Meggie Dougherty Howard and Savannah Jordan –were drafted in today's National Women's Soccer League's draft. The Portland Thorns chose Jordan in the second round and Dougherty Howard was selected in the third round by the Washington Spirit at the draft held at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Convention in Los Angeles.
Jordan wants to play overseas and that dropped her in the draft. Portland Thorns traded in the second round to draft her, but Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh confirmed that Jordan will not be with the Thorns when the NWSL season opens this spring.
The pair both earned a spot on the NSCAA All-America team in 2016, as well as collecting All-Southeastern Conference first team honors and SEC All-Tournament honors. Here's more about the two Gator draftees:
Forward – Savannah Jordan
Midfielder – Meggie Dougherty Howard
Jordan wants to play overseas and that dropped her in the draft. Portland Thorns traded in the second round to draft her, but Florida Head Coach Becky Burleigh confirmed that Jordan will not be with the Thorns when the NWSL season opens this spring.
The pair both earned a spot on the NSCAA All-America team in 2016, as well as collecting All-Southeastern Conference first team honors and SEC All-Tournament honors. Here's more about the two Gator draftees:
Forward – Savannah Jordan
- First Gator to earn four NSCAA All-America honors
- All-Southeastern Conference first team for fourth consecutive year – only other Gator to earn four consecutive All-SEC first-team honors is Gator Great Abby Wambach
- Second in SEC with 41 points and 16 goals - in NCAA Division I statistics, tied for eighth in points and T-9th in goals
- SEC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 1, Week 8)
- Four double-goal matches (at No. 15 UCLA, at Oklahoma State, vs. Georgia, at Mississippi) - turned in 21 multi-goal matches as a Gator
- No. 2 on Florida's career goals (81) and points (189)
- One of 19 in NCAA Division I history to score 81 or more goals and one of seven to do it since 2000
- Third player since 2000 to rank among the NCAA Division I top 10 goal scorers each season of collegiate career
- Semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy award
- College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-American first-team selection
- Part of U.S. U-23 team in Nordic Tournament in England, scoring three goals in the tournament's three matches
Midfielder – Meggie Dougherty Howard
- All-Southeastern Conference first team - second consecutive All-SEC honor, as a second-team selection in 2015
- SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player – registering an assist in each match of event - also recorded an assist or goal (or both) in each NCAA Tournament match
- Started every match at defensive midfield
- Led Gators with 12 assists, second in points (28) and tied for second in goals (8) – all collegiate highs
- Tied for 10th in Gator career charts with 25 assists
- Scored golden goal in 103rd minute at Kentucky -provided game-winning goal in NCAA First Round versus FGCU and hit penalty kick to open scoring in Wisconsin match
- Played the entirety of 15 matches in 2016
- Part of U.S. U-23 team in Nordic Tournament in England, starting first and final matches.
| Jan. 12 Draft Selections | Club | Round |
| Savannah Jordan | Portland Thorns | Second |
| Meggie Dougherty Howard | Washington Spirit | Third |
| Other Gators in NWSL | ||
| Adriana Leon | Western New York Flash | |
| Havana Solaun | Washington Spirit | |
| Erika Tymrak | FC Kansas City | |
| Christen Westphal | Boston Breakers | |
| Kathryn Williamson | Portland Thorns TC |
| 2017 NWSL College Draft | ||||
| Round 1 | ||||
| 1 | Boston Breakers | Rose Lavelle | M | Wisconsin |
| 2 | NC Courage | Ashley Hatch | F | BYU |
| 3 | Boston Breakers | Morgan Andrews | M | Southern California |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | Kayla Mills | D | Southern California |
| 5 | FC Kansas City | Christina Gibbons | D/M | Duke |
| 6 | Seattle Reign | Maddie Bauer | D | Stanford |
| 7 | NC Courage | Darian Jenkins | M/F | UCLA |
| 8 | Boston Breakers | Ifeoma Onumonu | F | California |
| 9 | Boston Breakers | Margaret Purce | F | Harvard |
| 10 | Sky Blue FC | Mandy Freeman | D | Southern California |
| Round 2 | ||||
| 1 | Chicago Red Stars | Michele Vasconcelos | M/F | BYU |
| 2 | Chicago Red Stars | Morgan Proffitt | D/M | Marquette |
| 3 | FC Kansas City | Toni Payne | M | Duke |
| 4 | Portland Thorns | Rachel Hill | F | Connecticut |
| 5 | Houston Dash | Jane Campbell | G | Stanford |
| 6 | Seattle Reign | Katie Johnson | F | Southern California |
| 7 | FC Kansas City | Stephanie Ribeiro | F | Connecticut |
| 8 | Portland Thorns | Savannah Jordan | F | Florida |
| 9 | Washington Spirit | Lindsay Agnew | F | Ohio State |
| 10 | NC Courage | Claire Wagner | D | Clemson |
| Round 3 | ||||
| 1 | Portland Thorns | Tyler Lussi | F | Princeton |
| 2 | Orlando Pride | Danica Evans | F | Colorado |
| 3 | Sky Blue FC | Kailen Sheridan | G | Clemson |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | Madison Tiernan | M/F | Rutgers |
| 5 | FC Kansas City | Alexis Shaffer | M | Virginia |
| 6 | Seattle Reign | Arielle Ship | F | California |
| 7 | NC Courage | Jaycie Johnson | D | Nebraska |
| 8 | Houston Dash | Nichelle Prince | F | Ohio State |
| 9 | Washington Spirit | Meggie Dougherty-Howard | M | Florida |
| 10 | Sky Blue FC | Catrina Atanda | M | Clemson |
| Round 4 | ||||
| 1 | Boston Breakers | Sammy Jo Prudhomme | G | Southern California |
| 2 | Orlando Pride | Nickolette Driesse | D/M | Penn State |
| 3 | Houston Dash | Erin Smith | D | Rutgers |
| 4 | Sky Blue FC | McKenzie Meehan | F | Boston College |
| 5 | FC Kansas City | Rashida Beal | D | Minnesota |
| 6 | Washington Spirit | Cameron Castleberry | M | North Carolina |
| 7 | Seattle Reign | Kristen McNabb | D | Virginia |
| 8 | Boston Breakers | Hayley Dowd | F | Boston College |
| 9 | Chicago Red Stars | Lauren Kaskie | M | UCLA |
| 10 | Portland Thorns | Caroline Flynn | M/F | Nebraska |
Players Mentioned
MF
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