The Houston Dash acquired U.S. Women’s National Team forward Christen Press, the seventh overall selection in the 2018 NWSL College Draft and a 2018 International roster slot from the Chicago Red Stars in a trade for midfielder Carli Lloyd, forward Janine Beckie and the sixth and 24th overall selections in this year’s draft, the club announced today.
“That is like a dream come true for a coach, because she will be the face of the team, we will build everything around here,” Dash Head Coach Vera Pauw said. “For a club like the Houston Dash with the facilities that we have, the professional organization that we have around it, the team needed a star like Christen Press. The fact that we were able to make this trade is fantastic. It’s really fantastic and I’m really looking forward to working with her.”
Press, 29, has been one of the most consistent goalscorers for the USWNT since earning her first cap in 2013. Over the last four-plus years, she has made 96 appearances and scored 44 goals, an average of a goal every 2.2 games. She added four goals in 2017 at the international level, most recently in a 6-0 win over South Korea on Oct. 22.
The forward earned NWSL Best XI honors in 2017 after she scored 11 goals and added four assists in 23 appearances, an average of a goal or assist every 133 minutes, or 0.68 goals plus assists per 90 minutes played. Her 11 goals ranked third in NWSL, and her four assists were tied for 10th-most in the league.
In four seasons with Chicago, Press has scored 36 goals in 68 appearances. She has earned NWSL Best XI accolades in each of the last three seasons and was a Second XI selection in her first season, 2014. Press and Becky Sauerbrunn are the only players to have earned Best XI honors in each of the last three years.
An Academic All-American at Stanford, the Los Angeles native was named the 2010 Pac 10 Scholar Athlete of the Year after double majoring in Communication and Psychology.
With the seventh overall pick acquired from Chicago, the Dash selected Haley Hanson, 21, from the University of Nebraska.
