LOS ANGELES — The Boston Breakers selected Rose Lavelle with the first pick of the 2017 NWSL College Draft on Thursday. Lavelle, a midfielder from Wisconsin(w), ended her college career with 22 goals, 24 assists in 84 appearances over four seasons. She is the first Big Ten player to be selected with the first overall pick. 

Lavelle’s already had experience with the stars of the league as she started to fight her way into the picture for the U.S. Women’s National Team over the past year. Her status at the international level and an impressive college career made Lavelle the obvious pick at No. 1. The blissful humble star did not want to believe until she heard her name called by NWSL Commission Jeff Plush on Thursday. 

“It’s awesome,” Rose Lavelle said after being selected by the Breakers. “I started thinking about at the end of my college season and had an idea, but it doesn’t seem real until it happens. I was thinking I was going to show up and have a curve ball thrown at me.” 

The Breakers made that dream a reality and Lavelle is optimistic about the improvement of the team heading into the 2017 campaign. 

“I’ve actually watched a ton of NWSL games,” Lavelle said. “I’m super confident going into next season. I know the staff has made a lot of changes to ensure we will be good for next season.” 

Lavelle’s trait isn’t being boisterous though. It’s the humility of a player who always looks that she has more to prove that made her a star at the college level. It’s a quality that has endeared her to her past coaches. 

“One of the things that I said to her was I’m most proud of how you have inspired countless players at Cincinnati United,” Bobby Puppione, Cincinnati United Girls Director of Coaching, told TopDrawerSoccer. “Early on, she wasn’t selected for the Youth National Teams. She kept fighting. She proved people wrong. She was part of building the culture at Cincinnati United. Players come back and help the next generation and then that generation leads the next one.”

Lavelle is the sixth alum of the club to be selected in the past six professional soccer drafts (men and women). She still returns to the club to inspire the next group of  players and recently was training alongside U16 Girls National Team members Sydney Jones and Kailyn Dudukovich at the club. 

“Her skill and she intelligence allowed her to be successful on the field,” Puppione added. “Rose is a creative, intelligent soccer player who is able to unlock defenses on the dribble and with her passing. She has worked so hard for this opportunity.”

Lavelle was one of four players selected by the Breakers in the first round on Thursday as the club looked to rebuild through the draft. Boston also picked Morgan Andrews (USC), Ifeoma Onumonu (California) and Margaret Purce (Harvard).