Colorado women’s soccer reached another milestone Saturday.
Fossil Ridge High School alum Jaelin Howell was selected second overall in the NWSL draft by Racing Louisville FC, making her the third Colorado native to be drafted in the top three in league history.
In 2019, Highlands Ranch native Jordan DiBiasi was taken third overall, while fellow Fossil Ridge alum Sophia Smith was the No. 1 selection in 2020. Now, Howell joins that list after a decorated career at Florida State.
“Yeah, I’m super psyched. I’m super excited to get started with Louisville,” Howell said on Saturday’s CBS broadcast. “Obviously, I had a great program with Florida State, and Mark Krikorian as a coach. I’m just trying to take everything I learned from my past games and bring them to Louisville.”
The midfielder captained the Seminoles to their third NCAA national title in four seasons this fall, which was also Howell’s second national championship. She already has one Mac Hermann trophy for the best player in women’s college soccer for the spring 2021 season, and she is a finalist for this season’s edition as well.
Howell was a workhorse at FSU, starting 86 out of a possible 90 games. The United States Women’s National Team came calling, as she earned her first cap in a friendly against the Netherlands last November, and second cap in the SheBelieves Cup against Argentina in January.
USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski spoke highly of Howell recently, telling the site Just Women’s Sports, “Jaelin is a talented young player with a lot of good qualities,” he said. “She’s always very competitive and great in the team environment. We’ve enjoyed working with her during the few times we’ve had her in with the national team.”
Howell was a consensus top pick, but ultimately, expansion side San Diego Wave FC chose central defender Naomi Girma from Stanford first overall.
“Jaelin has many qualities that will help Louisville to help maintain possession and relieve pressure,” former USWNT player Aly Wagner said on the CBS broadcast. “I think the question for Jaelin is, she needs to be challenged. Watching what she can do will be really interesting and it will be fun to see her evolve. She’ll have to take control of the reins immediately.”
Howell is the daughter of Super Bowl champion and CSU alum John Howell, who played in the NFL with Tampa Bay and Seattle. Her bother, Jack, is currently a defensive back for the CSU Rams.
She should fit in well with Louisville, where she will play alongside fellow Colorado native Lauren Milliet from Durango, a Colorado College alum.
“I think Louisville has a great team already and I’m trying to bring what I know to do best, and that’s being physical and also connect the game,” Howell said. “Whatever they need me to do, I’m 100% in, and I’m excited to get started like I said.”
If there’s any indication of just how talented Colorado athletes are, take a look at the rest of the NWSL draft. There were a total of 50 picks spread among 189 draft-eligible players. Five Coloradans aside from Howell were eligible to be picked, including:
- Natalie Beckman, Denver, University of Denver
- Hannah Edwards, Aurora, Grand Canyon University
- Sydney Pulver, Parker, Washington State
- Athena Kuehn, Colorado Springs, LSU
- Emerson Layne, a TCU commit from Fort Collins
In the end, two Coloradans were selected, Pulver and Beckman.
Pulver, a rugged defensive midfielder, was selected late in the second round by San Diego Wave FC. She was the second product from Real Colorado to be selected on Saturday, and is a Regis Jesuit High School alum. Pulver was nicknamed the “iron woman” of the Cougars program, as she left Pullman as the all-time leader in games played (98) and starts (91).
Beckman was selected with the third-to-last pick in the fourth round by the Portland Thorns. She was the two-time Summit League Offensive Player of the Year and was considered to be one of the draft’s best crossers. She set a league-record with 18 assists, and is the school’s all-time record holder with 47.
Throw in two more from Colorado who were drafted in January’s edition but came back for a final collegiate season and will make their debuts next season, and it’s been a stacked 2021.
Alex Loera from Thornton, was a three-time West Coast Conference Defender of the Year and second-team All-American for Santa Clara and helped the Broncos win one national title last spring, and were runners-up in the fall. She will be heading to the Kansas City Courage.
Brianna Alger was selected 25th overall by the Chicago Red Stars back in January and after tearing her ACL, opted to come back to Washington State. The Monument native and Lewis-Palmer grad will be off to Chicago next season.
All told, there will be 15 players from the Centennial State playing in the NWSL next season, while four more are currently playing overseas at the highest level of the women’s game in England, Germany, Scotland and Sweden.
