The New Year now well underway, many around town have set their sights on FC Cincinnati's upcoming second campaign. The club's preseason schedule is now set, new player acquisitions have been announced, and more and more details about the 2017 season seem to come out every day.
But it's not as if the rest of the soccer scene has taken the winter off while waiting for FC Cincinnati to return after what's seemed like a lengthy off season. There's always something going on soccer-wise in the Queen City.
So moving forward, we'll take the opportunity to highlight some of the cool happenings across the Tri-State soccer scene on a somewhat regular basis!
LAVELLE TOP PICK IN NWSL DRAFT
Cincinnati native Rose Lavelle was selected with the first overall pick in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Draft by the Boston Breakers on Thursday at the 2017 NSCAA Convention in Los Angeles, California. The 2013 graduate of Mount Notre Dame and former city player of the year spent her youth career playing in the Cincinnati United Premier and Lakota United programs before moving on to an illustrious career at the University of Wisconsin. A three-time All-American selection for the Badgers, Lavelle also plied her trade for the semi-professional Dayton Dutch Lions during the summers and has made appearances for the US Women's National Teams at the U-18, U-20 and U-23 levels.
"What an amazing accomplishment for Rose," said Bobby Puppione, the Cincinnati United Premier Girls Director of Coaching. "She absolutely deserves this because she has put the work in throughout her years as a youth player, national team player, and student athlete at Wisconsin. We can't wait to watch her continue to excel as she takes on the NWSL and international soccer."
XAVIER'S BROWN SELECTED IN MLS DRAFT
Lavelle wasn't the only player selected in an American soccer professional draft this week at the NSCAA Convention with Cincinnati connections. Xavier University's senior forward Jalen Brown was selected in the second round of Friday's Major League Soccer (MLS) Draft by New York City FC. A native of Indianapolis, the forward selected 38th overall in the draft will join former FC Cincinnati forward and 2016 USL MVP Sean "Ugo" Okoli at the sky blue outfit for the 2017 season. Brown becomes the third Musketeer drafted into MLS in program history, along with current Toronto FC defender Nick Hagglund and former FCC striker Luke Spencer.
CINCINNATI D.A. LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
Launched in September of last year as a joint initiative between local youth soccer clubs Cincinnati United and Kings Hammer, the Cincinnati Development Academy (DA) is the region's first and only US Soccer sanctioned development academy program. And after the turn of the new year, the new DA launched its online presence with a nifty new orange and blue themed website and social feeds on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to bookmark the site and give them a follow to stay up to date on the city's premier youth development program.
