Washington Spirit release initial 2018 preseason roster

With today being the first official day of the NWSL preseason, the Washington Spirit have announced their first roster of 2018. The Spirit are starting off with 31 players in their preseason squad, with three non-roster invitees joining 28 players that Washington either has under contract, selected in the College Draft, or added via the Dispersal Draft.

Despite having that many players on the squad list, many players will not be present for the first three weeks of training due to international duty. The United States is holding a camp ahead of the SheBelieves Cup, which will take place during the first week of March. Five Spirit players (Ashley Hatch, Mallory Pugh, Rose Lavelle, Taylor Smith, and Andi Sullivan) are with the USWNT for now, and won’t be in town any earlier than March 8th.

That date is also when Francisca Ordega, whose loan to Atletico Madrid in Spain has expired, is supposed to report. She’ll spend the meantime on international duty with Nigeria. Similarly, Rebecca Quinn will join Canada for the Algarve Cup (which runs from February 28th to March 7th), though she was able to take part in some team orientation activities over the weekend.

On top of that, offseason addition Aubrey Bledsoe only just finished up her loan with Sydney FC in Australia over the weekend. She has not reported yet as she wraps up her time in Sydney and makes her way to the DMV. Finally, Cheyna Matthews (formerly known as Cheyna Williams) just got married, and is not yet with the team.

That leaves 14 players currently under contract who are in camp: goalkeepers DiDi Haracic and Kelsey Wys; defenders Whitney Church, Caprice Dydasco, and Estelle Johnson; midfielders Estefania Banini, Meggie Dougherty Howard, Tori Huster, Joanna Lohman, Morgan Proffitt, and Havana Solaun; and forwards Yanara Aedo, Cali Farquharson, and Arielle Ship.

They’ll be joined by draft picks Mallory Eubanks, Brittany Basinger, Maddie Huster, and Rachel Moore, as well as dispersal draft acquisition Elizabeth Wenger. Schuyler DeBree, selected 11th overall at last month’s draft, will remain at Duke University to complete her studies and get her degree. She will presumably join the team at a later date.

Washington has bolstered their ranks with three non-roster invitees, as forwards Chimy Asher, Ashley Meyers, and Marissa Sullivan will round out the Spirit’s preseason squad.

The Spirit also confirmed that their two previously announced preseason games will comprise their full preseason schedule. Washington will play the North Carolina Tarheels at the Evergreen Sports Complex in Leesburg on March 10th, followed by a March 17th contest with the North Carolina Courage at Richmond’s City Stadium.

The full preseason roster is below: