Senior midfielder Betsy Brandon (Littleton, Colo.) of the UVA women’s soccer team was selected in the second round of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) by the Houston Dash on Thursday (Jan. 10). The draft was held in Chicago in conjunction with the United Soccer Coaches convention.
Brandon, the seventh pick of the second round and 16th pick overall, is the most recent Cavalier to be selected in an NWSL Draft as Virginia has had a player taken in every draft for a total of 13 picks.
She joins fellow Virginia players Caroline Miller, Molly Menchel, Annie Steinlage, Shasta Fisher, Morgan Brian, Danielle Colaprico, Emily Sonnett, Makenzy Doniak, Brittany Ratcliffe, Alexis Shaffer, Kristen McNabb and Veronica Latsko as NWSL draft selections.
Through her four-year career with the Cavaliers, Brandon started 71-of-88 matches played. She scored 15 goals for her career and added 10 assists for a total of 40 career points through her 5,347 minutes played. She hit a pair of game-winning goals and assisted on five game-winning goals in her career. This season she tallied five goals and three assists.
Brandon was named an ACC All-Freshman selection in 2015 and was named to the ACC Women’s Soccer All-Academic Team following the 2017 season. She is a three-time selection to the ACC Academic Honor Roll.
This season, she helped Virginia advance to the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the 14th consecutive season, the longest active streak. It was also the Cavaliers’ 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the nation’s second-longest active streak. Virginia’s 31 total appearances in the NCAA Tournament is also the second-most appearances in the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament.
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Chris Graham
