After a remarkable first season that saw San Diego Wave Fútbol Club make it to the semifinal round, the team, led by head coach Casey Stoney, selected Stanford University midfielder Sierra Enge (above) with the first pick in the second round (13th overall) of the 2023 NWSL Draft held on Jan. 12 in Philadelphia.

Enge, a 22-year-old native of Cardiff, will once again play alongside former Stanford teammates Isabella Briede and 2022 NWSL rookie and defender of the year Naomi Girma all of whom helped the Cardinal to the 2019 national championship.

“So excited to represent my hometown,” said Enge. “I can’t wait to get started. Thank you San Diego Wave FC.”

Among her other accolades are helping lead Stanford to three Pac-12 championships and scoring a game-winning goal against DePaul last September. She tallied six assists during her final season at Palo Alto tying her for the most on the squad with her eight points being a career-best. San Diego was able to acquire Enge after striking a deal with Gotham FC in exchange for $100,000 in allocation money.

“Welcome to the Wave, Sierra Enge,” said forward Alex Morgan. “Excited for you to get started with us at the fields you grew up playing on.”

Morgan finished as the NWSL Golden Boot winner with 16 goals. Besides Enge, San Diego Wave also drafted UCLA goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy with the 33rd overall pick. Brzykcy helped lead

the Bruins to their first women’s soccer national championship since 2013 after a dramatic 3-2 victory over North Carolina in the final.

The Wave also selected midfielder Giovanna DeMarco out of Wake Forest University with the 45th overall pick. DeMarco was team captain in 2020, 2021, and 2022 along with being named to the ACC All-Freshman team in 2018.