PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — North Carolina painted the NWSL Draft Tar Heel blue on Friday.

When the Washington Sprit pulled Crystal Dunn off the board with the No. 1 overall pick in Friday’s NWSL Draft, there were few, if any, surprised looks in the crowded space inside the Philadelphia Convention Center. The North Carolina winger was far and away the draft’s top prospect, and pretty much everyone who paid attention expected her to come off the board first. And so it went.

Just minutes later, as Dunn was conducting interviews, her teammate Kealia Ohai was snapped up by the expansion Houston Dash at No. 2. That didn’t just reunite her geographically with her sister, who lives in Houston with her husband Brian Cushing, who plays for the NFL’s Houston Texans. 

It also made for a rare North Carolina sweep of the top two picks. North Carolina might not have won its 22nd NCAA championship this season, but it did claim a rare honor in the draft this year. In the short history of the NWSL, Ohai and Dunn set a standard that’ll be hard to match.

“This is great for UNC,” Dunn said. “(Ohai) is a great player. She’s probably just as excited as I am. It’s just an honor. It really is.”

And they weren't the only North Carolina players selected, either. Defender Megan Brigman went went 17th overall to the Seattle Reign in the second round.

Dunn and Ohai played integral roles in North Carolina’s customary success over the past four years. They were key cogs in the 2012 national championship team that went 15-5-3, and they helped the Tar Heels to a 67-18-7 record since 2010 in unarguably the most parity-driven era in women’s college soccer history.

Dunn won the 2012 Hermann Trophy as the nation’s best women’s college player as a junior, and for a follow-up she helped lead North Carolina to the NCAA quarterfinals with a team-leading 14 goals and six assists. She’ll walk into the Spirit this spring expected to contribute from day one.

As for Ohai, she gained a hard-won reputation as a tireless runner down the attacking channels, and the forward put together an 11-goal, six-assist season this year to close out her decorated college career. She also has valuable experience the the U20 WNT team, as she scored the winning goal in the 2012 U20 Women’s World Cup.

Now, she’s a pro alongside her longtime teammate.

“It’s awesome,” Ohai said. “I think me and Crystal have had a good career together kind of connecting, so I think it’s awesome that this is how it worked out. I’m so proud of Crystal, and I’m so excited for her as the number one pick. I’m honored to be the second pick after her."

Ohai and Dunn won’t be teammates in the NWSL, but they’ll both be there. The fact that two products come from the same background only added to the continuing backstory.

“I’m just excited," Dunn said. "I heard a lot of talk about the league last year, and all I could think about was trying to be apart of it. Now that I’m finally here, I’m super excited. Going first is also a great experience and just very exciting.”