Canadian defender Bianca St-Georges goes in third round of NWSL draft

Jan 10, 2019 | 12:30 PM

CHICAGO — Defender Tierna Davidson, who decided to skip her senior season at Stanford to play professionally in the National Women’s Soccer League, went to the Chicago Red Stars with the No. 1 pick in the league’s draft Thursday.

Davidson, named U.S. Soccer’s Young Player of the Year for her play last season, is also a hopeful for the team that will represent the United States at this year’s World Cup in France.

Davidson, 19, is currently training with the U.S. team in Portugal.

West Virginia defender Bianca St-Georges was the lone Canadian taken in the four-round draft. She went in the third round (20th overall) to the Chicago Red Stars.

A native of St. Felix de Valois, Que., St-Georges has represented Canada at the under-17 and -20 levels. The 21-year-old, named the Big 12 defensive player of the year in 2018, helped the Mountaineer defence post 12 shutouts this season.

Sky Blue selected Hailie Mace out of UCLA with the second pick of the draft while Stanford’s Jordan DiBiasi went third to Washington.

Davidson played mostly at centre back in her 12 appearances last year with the national team, all starts, and she belied her age with her composure on the ball and technical savvy. She scored her first goal, a header off a corner kick, against Chile.

Davidson’s junior season with Stanford was cut short when she fractured her ankle in a game against North Carolina in September.

With files from the Associated Press

The Canadian Press