New England Athletes for the 2023 National Women’s Soccer League Draft

From Northern VT to Southern CT, New England’s collegiate soccer stars dream of turning professional on Thursday in Philadelphia

Written by Abbi Holt, edited by Laura Everett

After thousands of hours of practice, hundreds of games, and millions of minutes of play, on Thursday January 12, 2023  beginning at 6pm EST, forty-eight athletes will be drafted by the twelve teams of the National Women’s Soccer League. Over the course of four rounds, the twelve teams will choose from a pool of over two hundred players who have registered for the draft and met the league criteria.  And while we are sure that there are very interesting players from the rest of the country, at Boston Women’s Sports, we want to focus on the excellent athletes from and playing in New England.  Read below for a brief bio of the sixteen players from our region. 

And while not surprising, we’re dismayed how few Black, Latina, and Asian players are being encouraged to put their names forward for the NWSL draft. Football is a global sport with a wide diversity of players, and the “pay-to-play” club system is another way white supremacy limits access for all. 

We note with regret names that are not on this list, particularly stand out senior star from Brown University Brittany Raphino, of Randolph MA. Raphino is a MAC Hermann trophy semifinalist and Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year.  We can only hope that, if she is not planning to stay a fifth year at Brown, she’s looking seriously at European clubs, Liga Femenil Mx, an even a larger DI school, or following in the steps of Mia Fishel and other young, gifted, and Black players betting on themselves. 

To see if these New England players get drafted, tune it to CBS Sports Network, Paramount+ and CBS Sports HQ, from 6 to 7 p.m. ET. The draft livestream will continue on Paramount+ and CBS Sports HQ from 7 to 11 p.m. ET. Fans tuning in outside the U.S. can watch the entirety of the draft on NWSLSoccer.com and the NWSL’s YouTube channel. 

New England players registered for the 2023 NWSL Draft presented by Ally in alphabetical order

First Name	Last Name	University/School	Position(s) Played	Hometown	Youth Club	Citizenship
Lauren	Bonavita	University of Massachusetts, Amherst	Forward  Midfielder	Hanson, Massachusetts	FC Boston / NEFC	United States
Ruby	Diodati	Michigan State University	Defender	Mendon, Massachusetts	FC Stars ECNL	United States
Chelsea	Domond	Syracuse University	Forward	Stamford, Connecticut	Yankee United	United States
Lily	Fabian	University of Massachusetts Lowell	Forward Midfielder Defender	Monson, Massachusetts	Western Mass Pioneers	United States
Sarah	Hammond	Wesleyan University	Goalkeeper	Canton, Michigan	Canton Celtic	United States
Sophie	Hirst	Harvard University	Midfielder	Seattle, Washington	Crossfire Premier	United States
Natalie	Kelchner	Marist College	Goalkeeper	Fairfield, Connecticut	Connecticut FC	United States
Marykate	McGuire	University of Mississippi	Forward	Portsmouth, Rhode Island	New England Football Club	United States
Emily	Nelson	University of Massachusetts Lowell	Forward Midfielder	Peabody, Massachusetts	Aztec SC	United States
Hannah	Pinkus	Providence College	Midfielder Defender	Manchester, Vermont	FC Stars	United States
Amanda	Schafer	University of Maryland	Forward  Defender	Pembroke, Massachusetts	Scorpians ECNL	United States
Cat	Sheppard	University of New Hampshire	Goalkeeper	Nesconset, New York	East Meadow SC	United States
Jenna	Tivnan	Syracuse University	Defender	Easton, Massachusetts	New England Football Club	United States
Madeline	Vergura	University of Utah	Forward Midfielder	Concord, Massachusetts	FC Stars	United States
Olivia	Wingate	University of Notre Dame	Forward	Wilmington, Massachusetts	FC Stars	United States
Breukelen	Woodard	Johns Hopkins University	Forward Midfielder	Rutland, Vermont	FC Stars	United States

Lauren Bonavita was UMASS Amherst’s leading striker for the ‘22 season.  She is in her 5th year as a Umass Minuteman after graduating from Whitman Hanson Regional in Hanson, MA.  She enjoys building play from deep and scoring. Bonavita notched a beautiful “olimpico,” when a corner taker puts the ball directly in the goal, in the second game of the ‘22 season.  

Ruby Diodati was this year’s “Big Ten Defender of the Year” for Michigan State, which finished the season ranked 15th in the NCAA.  She graduated from Worcester Academy and captained the Colgate University team for two years before coming to play for Michigan for grad school. At Michigan, she anchored a defense that only allowed 7 goals in 18 games. In addition to her defensive efforts, she also had 1 goal and 5 assists.

Chelsea Domond of Stamford, CT  is a striker and finished her undergraduate career at Boston’s own Northeastern University before going to Syracuse to play two graduate years.  She came back from a season ending injury in the ‘21 season with 5 goals and 5 assists in 13 starts in the ‘22 season.  Her Syracuse coach called her a “versatile” and “crafty” player in her final season who “has the ability to stretch other teams.”

Sophie Hirst is an attacking midfielder who graduated from Seattle Preparatory School before playing all four of her undergraduate years at Harvard, notching up 10 career goals for the Crimson.  She was selected to the All Ivy First team her senior year and co-captained the team all the way to the NCAA tournament.  

Natalie Kelchner graduated from Fairfield Ludlowe High School in Connecticut, before playing all 4 undergraduate and one graduate year for Marist College.  At Marist she worked her way up from the third string keeper to full-time starter and MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year and had a season high of 12 saves against Cornell.

Marykate McGuire is a forward from Portsmouth RI who, after an award-winning high school career, played four seasons at Duke University before transferring to Ole Miss for the ‘22 season.  She started in all 14 of her appearances and led the team with 7 goals and 4 assists.

Emily Nelson is an attacking midfielder who captained the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School soccer team before going on to play all four of her undergraduate years at ​​Umass Lowell.  She had 3 goals and 2 assists and was named NEWISA All-New England First Team in her senior year. 

Amanda Schafer, a defender who captained both the ice-hockey and soccer teams at Pembroke High School in Massachusetts, decided to focus only on soccer for her college career.  She played all four of her undergraduate years at University of Rhode Island and then almost retired from the sport until her sister convinced her to play another year. She contacted University of Maryland, only to find they were already interested in having her come play with them.  She became a key player for them with the speed to catch attackers that were out of reach for other defenders.

Cat Sheppard has played five years as a keeper for the University of New Hampshire after graduating from Smithtown East High School in Saint James, NY.  She played 17 out of 18 games her senior year and helped her team to its second appearance in the NCAA tournament, where she recorded 7 saves in 90 minutes of play against Harvard in the NCAA tournament.

A defender, Jenna Tivnan grew up in Easton and graduated from the Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA. She went on to play 5 years at Syracuse, captaining the team for her last two years and racking up 4 total goals in her career.  Syracuse’s coach called her their “vocal leader” who “keeps everyone in order” on the field.

Madeline Vergura has played both as a forward and a midfielder.  While attending Concord-Carlisle High School, she captained the USWNT U-18s against England.  She then played 4 years at the University of Southern California before coming to University of Utah for a graduate year where she became an important contributor, with 3 goals and 3 assists.

Olivia Wingate is a forward who was named to the All-ACC team in her final year at Notre Dame after helping her team to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.  She grew up in Wilmington MA and graduated from Wilmington High School where she won two league titles.  Her coach says that she is “a complete player” who can both press and attack.  In her final season at Notre Dame she had 14 goals and 5 assists.

Breukelen Woodard is a native of Rutland VT and played four years at Burr and Burton Academy in VT.  She went on to play a year at the University of South Carolina where she played every match and had 4 assists before transferring to University of Pennsylvania.  At U Penn she played two years before all competition was canceled in the pandemic. In 2019 she had 5 goals and 1 assist.  She was also named to the 2019 Second Team All-Ivy.  She then went to John Hopkins as a graduate student and in the ‘22 season had the team high of 21 goals and 5 assists and led the team to win the NCAA Division III National Championship.

Lily Fabian is a forward out of Monson, MA.  She played five years at UMASS Lowell and was named to the 2020 All-Conference First Team.  She is a very versatile player who played offensive, defensive and midfield positions for the River Hawks, although her focus has been more defensive recently.  Lily is the second River Hawk to declare for the draft following midfielder Emily Nelson.

Sarah Hammond played keeper for Wesleyan for four years, captaining the team in ’22 as a graduate student and leading her team to the second round of the DIII NCAA tournament.  When Hammond came into Wesleyan, it had won only one conference game the previous year.  She has noted how proud she is to be part of the class of players that turned that around so dramatically with their determination and hard work.

Hannah Pinkus is a midfielder who, like Breukelen Woodard, played for Burr and Burton Academy in VT. She then went on to play four years at Colgate, before coming back to Providence College in RI to play for the Friars as a graduate student.  She was named twice to the All-Patriot League First Team during her career at Colgate.