Women's Soccer: Broad Run Grad Holly King Selected by Washington in National Women's Soccer League Draft

Broad Run grad Holly King

Indianapolis (Jan. 18, 2012) -- The Washington Spirit selected four of the brightest stars in NCAA women's soccer -- including Broad Run High School grad Holly King (Florida midfielder) -- in the National Women's Soccer League's inaugural draft on Friday morning at the Indiana Convention Center, bolstering the club's attack with several prolific goalscorers and further adding to the Spirits's local flavor with three draftees from the national capital region.


The Spirit took free-scoring Florida State striker Tiffany McCarty with their first-round pick, the draft's second overall selection. A native of Laurel, Md., McCarty is fresh off an excellent senior season with the Seminoles where she scored 17 goals and five assists in 24 starts, leading FSU into the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. The fast, powerful frontrunner was a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy in 2009 and 2011 and leaves Tallahassee with a whopping 63 career goals and 24 assists in 98 games.

"I'm really excited," said McCarty. "The Spirit will be a very good team. My family is also excited that I'm going back home, and I know a lot of people back home in Maryland. I feel like it will be a very good experience for me."

Washington took another prolific scorer with their second-round selection, picking Virginia striker Caroline Miller with the 10th overall pick. Miller notched 20 goals and seven assists for the Cavaliers in 2012, earning MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, NSCAA First Team All-American, ACC Offensive Player of the Year and All-ACC honors, among many others. The Rockville, Md. product racked up 45 goals and 19 assists over four years in Charlottesville.

The Spirit selected Florida midfielder Holly King in the third round, securing another highly-decorated NCAA standout with local ties. King grew up in Ashburn, Va. before joining Gators coach Becky Burleigh's program and logging 12 goals, nine assists and more than 7,000 minutes of play over her four-year college career. This past season was her most successful yet, as she garnered SEC All-America, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and All-SEC first team laurels after playing for D.C. United Women over the summer.

The Spirit concluded their draft with the acquisition of Dayton standout Colleen Williams in the fourth round. Another forward with a keen eye for goal, the Titusville, N.J. native bagged 58 strikes and set up 36 more during her time with the Flyers.

All told, Washington's newest additions netted 178 goals during their combined NCAA careers.

"It's hard to imagine how this draft could've gone any better for our club," said Spirit owner Bill Lynch. "We've had Tiffany in our sights from the very beginning of this process, and were shocked and delighted that Caroline was still available when the time came to make our second selection. We expect Holly and Colleen to contribute right away and are delighted to welcome all four to the Spirit."

The Spirit will now continue to build their roster with free-agent signings as the club continues to prepare for the kickoff of NWSL's inaugural season in April. Washington received U.S. Women's National Team stars Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger and Lori Lindsey, Canadian internationals Robyn Gayle and Diana Matheson and Mexican internationals Alin Garciamendez and Guadalupe Worbis via allocation earlier this month.

ABOUT THE WASHINGTON SPIRIT The Washington Spirit are a women's professional soccer team based at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Germantown, Md. Launched in 2012, the Spirit play in the National Women's Soccer League, the premier women's soccer competition in North America. For more information about the Spirit, visit www.washingtonspirit.com, follow the club on Twitter @WashSpirit and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/washingtonspirit.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOMEN'S SOCCER LEAGUE The NWSL is an eight-team league organized and administered by the U.S. Soccer Federation that will begin play in the spring of 2013. The eight founding clubs are the Boston Breakers, Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns FC, Sky Blue FC (New York/New Jersey), Seattle Reign FC, the Washington Spirit and the Western New York Flash.