A lot happened today.
After roughly a week of anticipation for the Trade that Would Not Be Kept Secret, the Thorns today announced that, yes, forward Alex Morgan would be sent to Orlando for the 2016 season along with teammate and Canadian international Kaylyn Kyle. In exchange, the Thorns will get the rights to Orlando’s top expansion draft pick (expected to be Meghan Klingenberg, who was traded from Houston to Seattle and left unprotected for the upcoming draft), the top pick in the 2016 college draft, and an additional international roster spot for both 2016 and 2017.
Got it? Good. There’s more.
Thorns Sinead Farrelly and McCall Zerboni are now Boston Breakers. The Thorns received Boston’s first-round (second overall) and second-round (20th overall) college draft picks. That second-round pick was then dealt back to Boston along with Portland’s fourth-round (number 35) draft pick for Icelander Dagny Brynjarsdottir.
Since that wasn’t quite enough excitement for the day, NWSL also released the protected lists for next week’s expansion draft. Among the surprises on the list, Portland left England international Lianne Sanderson unprotected. For fun and the sake of stoking the flames of speculation, here they are in their entirety:
COMPLETE LIST OF PROTECTED AND UNPROTECTED PLAYERS
( ) = Allocated
Boston Breakers
Protected
Sinead Farrelly
Kassey Kallman
Julie King
Stephanie McCaffrey
Kirstie Mewis
Alysa Naeher (USA)
Mollie Pathman
Kathryn Schoepfer
Kyah Simon
McCall Zerboni
Unprotected
Andressa Alves da Silva
Amy Barczuk
Maddy Evans
Nkem Ezurike (CAN)
Jami-Ann Kranich
Lauren Lazo
Francielle Manuel Alberto
Morgan Marlborough
Bianca Sierra (MEX)
Stephanie Verdoia
Rachel Wood
Chicago Red Stars
Protected
Danielle Colaprico
Vanessa DiBernardo
Arin Gilliland
Jennifer Hoy
Sofia Huerta
Samantha Johnson
Julie Johnston (USA)
Alyssa Mautz
Christen Press (USA)
Unprotected
Brittany Bock
Hayley Brock
Zakiya Bywaters
Lori Chalupny
Michelle Dalton
Abby Erceg
Taryn Hemmings
Adriana Leon (CAN)
Michelle Lomnicki
Mary Luba
Kecia Morway
Rachel Quon (CAN)
Melissa Tancredi (CAN)
Cara Walls
Houston Dash
Protected
Morgan Brian (USA)
Amber Brooks
Ellie Brush
Allysha Chapman (CAN)
Bianca Henninger
Carli Lloyd (USA)
Andressa Cavalari Machry
Jessica McDonald
Stephanie Ochs
Kealia Ohai
Unprotected
Rachael Axon
Poliana Barbosa
Rosana dos Santos Augusto
Jen LaPonte
Camila Martins Pereira
Tiffany McCarty
Erin McLeod (CAN)
Toni Pressley
Lauren Sesselmann (CAN)
FC Kansas City
Protected
Yael Averbuch
Nicole Barnhart
Shea Groom
Amanda Laddish
Rebecca Moros
Amy Rodriguez (USA)
Katelyn Rowland
Becky Sauerbrunn (USA)
Erika Tymrak
Unprotected
Liz Bogus
Leigh Ann Brown
Jen Buczkowski
Kaysie Clark
Katrina Gorry
Caroline Kastor
Sara Keane
Amy LePeilbet
Meghan Lisenby
Heather O’Reilly (USA)
Nikki Phillips
Jenna Richmond
Frances Silva
Portland Thorns FC
Protected
Michelle Betos
Dagny Brynjarsdottir
Stephanie Catley
Tobin Heath (USA)
Kendall Johnson
Allie Long
Emily Menges
Christie Sinclair (CAN)
Jodie Taylor
Kat Williamson
Unprotected
Alyssa Kleiner
Clare Polkinghorne
Lianne Sanderson
Meleana Shim
Rhian Wilkinson (CAN)
Sky Blue FC
Protected
Brittany Cameron
Caitlin Foord
Katy Freels
Kristin Grubka
Samantha Kerr
Sarah Killion
Lindsi Lisonbee-Cutshall
Nadia Nadim
Kelley O’Hara (USA)
Christie Rampone (USA)
Unprotected
Aubrey Bledsoe
Kim DeCesare
Jonelle Filigno (CAN)
Courtney Goodson
Shawna Gordon
Hayley Haagsma
Maya Hayes
Cami Levin
Taylor Lytle
Monica Ocampo (MEX)
Nikki Stanton
Seattle Reign FC
Protected
Lauren Barnes
Rachel Corsie
Jessica Fishlock
Kendall Fletcher
Kim Little
Megan Rapinoe (USA)
Hope Solo (USA)
Keelin Winters
Beverly Yanez
Unprotected
Michelle Cruz
Kiersten Dallstream
Danielle Foxhoven
Meghan Klingenberg (USA)
Hayley Kopmeyer
Merritt Mathias
Elli Reed
Havana Solaun
Caroline Stanley
Katrine Veje
Abby Wambach*
* = Allocation Status TBD
Washington Spirit
Protected
Estefania Banini
Crystal Dunn (USA)
Victoria Huster
Estelle Johnson
Diana Matheson (CAN)
Christine Nairn
Francisca Ordega
Megan Oyster
Katherine Reynolds
Unprotected
Josephine Chukwunonye
Whitney Church
Amanda DaCosta
Laura Del Rio
Caprice Dydasco
Natasha Harding
Ashlyn Harris (USA)
Ali Krieger (USA)
Joanna Lohman
Ngozi Okobi
Veronica Perez (MEX)
Hayley Raso
Arianna Romero (MEX)
Angela Salem
Tiffany Weimer
Kelsey Wys
Western New York Flash
Protected
Lady Andrade
Halimatu Ayinde
Abby Dahlkemper
Becky Edwards
Whitney Engen (USA)
Jaelene Hinkle
Sydney Leroux (USA)
Samantha Mewis
Brittany Taylor
Lynn Williams
Unprotected
Tatiana Coleman
Sabrina D’Angelo
Elizabeth Eddy
Kristen Edmonds
Jamia Fields
Amanda Frisbie
Kristen Hamilton
Michelle Heyman
Chantel Jones
Ashley Nick
Haley Palmer
Jasmyne Spencer
India Trotter
The NWSL expansion draft will begin at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 2.
